A formal investigation into NSW’s controversial festival license changes will kick off tomorrow with a Regulation Committee hearing from a number of members of the music industry.
The public hearing will be broadcast live from 11:30am, with members of the Australian Festival Association, the Live Music Office and Live Performance Australia set to give evidence.
Last month, ARIA, Chugg Entertainment, Secret Sounds Group and more made submissions ahead of the hearing, and out of the 40 submitted, only the NSW Government said it was in favour of the changes.
“NSW has already lost hundreds of live music venues. We are not prepared to lose our festivals as well,” John Graham, Labor’s Shadow Minister for Music, said.
“Many of the submissions point to these regulations as ill-thought-out and heavy-handed. I look forward to hearing how the implementation of the Government’s new music license scheme is proceeding.”
The hearing comes during a separate inquiry into “Sydney’s music venue crisis", with Keep Sydney Open today appearing at a parliamentary hearing into the city's night-time economy.
