Mayor Pushes For Live Music Venues To Be Exempt From Lockouts
22 February 2016 | 2:21 pm
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Neil Griffiths
And we're all for it.
After figures released last week showed that live music revenue in Sydney has taken a hit since the introduction of lockout laws, Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne is proposing that live music venues be exempt from the legislation.
In a proposal that will be voted on at Council this week, Byrne is calling for a new category to be created and exempted from lockouts, in a bid to encourage jobs and opportunities for the live music and performance sector.
"Everyone is concerned about assaults in our city, but live music venues can be the antidote to the plague of pub violence," Byrne said in a statement.
"It is now clear that because of the indiscriminate impact of the lock out laws, live music venues, with no record of violent incidents, are being punished for the mistakes of Kings Cross beer barns.
"It is now clear that because of the indiscriminate impact of the lock out laws, live music venues, with no record of violent incidents, are being punished for the mistakes of Kings Cross beer barns.
"Many have already closed their doors and still more are under threat, but what we need is to change the law to encourage their proliferation throughout the CBD and the inner west."
Byrne suggests that even before the lockouts were brought in, popular venues were suffering financially such as the Annandale and Sandringham, because of "local and state government harrassment".
"It’s time for governments to recognise the special status of live music venues in legislation and promote, rather than prosecute, these cultural institutions," Byrne said.
If the proposal is approved, the Leichhardt Council will team up with the City Of Sydney and Marrickville councils, as well as the National Live Music Office to prove unhealthy binge drinking is reduced in live music and performance venues.
"The Victorian Government has developed a definition of live music venues in order to protect them, there’s no reason NSW can’t do the same," Byrne said.
"The Government says they are open to new evidence and I think we can show them that allowing live music venues to be viable through later trading can create healthier drinking patterns in this city."
The Music has contacted Byrne for further comment.
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