The NSW Labor Party have announced a seven point plan by which they hope to save Sydney’s heavily-suffering live music scene. It’s no shock that draconian lock-out laws and restrictions on liquor purchasing have decimated the once-vibrant live music industry, despite the efforts of activist groups such as Keep Sydney Open.
Speaking to The Music, former Mayor of Leichhardt Darcy Byrne and former Sydney member Darcy Byrne slammed Mike Baird for the damage inflicted upon Sydney’s music live music scene.
“Mike Baird doesn’t understand what the lock-out laws have done to Sydney’s live music scene,” Haylen says. “We’ve lost venues, jobs and many of the things we love about Sydney.”
“Musicians and music lovers have been warning that as venues shut their doors across Sydney the next generation of artists are being left without any spaces get a start in the industry,” Byrne adds.
“Creating a new category of licensed live music venues can give the sector a shot in the arm and lead to the proliferation of a new kind of venue in the inner west and across metropolitan Sydney. Because people consume alcohol differently when it’s combined with cultural activity, live music venues can be the antidote to the the plague of beer barn violence.”
Laid out in brief, Labor’s seven-point plan proposes the following steps to improve the prospects of Sydney’s nightlife:
- All-night public transport on weekends through a trial of late-night trains, buses and light rail.
- Create a new class of liquor licenses for live music venues which allow later trading for venues across Sydney which focus on live music, such as Oxford Art Factory.
- Appoint a night time economy commissioner to work with stakeholders, local government and police to facilitate the growth of Sydney’s late night economy.
- Build a strategic plan for contemporary music which will identify short, medium and long-term actions to support the growth of live music and other small live cultural events.
- Establish a permanent night time economy roundtable that will support live music and jobs.
- Review regulation.
- Support small bars, including increasing venue capacities from 60 to 120 people.
