NSW Govt Retables Festival Legislation Weeks After Rejected Changes

The NSW government continues to push for controversial changes to the state’s festival licenses, today tabling a new bill just weeks after its initial changes were disallowed.

Last month, the NSW Upper House voted to disallow the changes, which were put through by the Coalition in March, and the government has now tabled a similar bill for review.

Under the Music Festivals Bill 2019, organisers of “high-risk festivals” would have to “comply with approved safety management plans”.

Labor’s Shadow Minister for Music, John Graham, who was instrumental in taking the changes to the legislative council, told The Music “it’s not good news for the music sector”.

“It’s targeted at festivals and no one has sat down to talk with the festival sector, unbelievably,” he said.

“We’ll scrutinise the bill closely and try to encourage the government to talk directly to the industry and sort these issues out. It just shouldn’t be this complicated.”

In a post to Facebook, MusicNSW said: “We’re yet to see the detail of the new legislation but we’re disappointed that instead of taking this opportunity to consult with industry and experts, the govt has once again rushed the process.”

A formal investigation into NSW’s controversial festival license changes took place in August, with a Regulation Committee hearing from a number of members of the music industry including Splendour In The Grass promoter Jessica Ducrou, Live Performance Australia's Evelyn Richardson, Fuzzy Managing Director Adelle Robinson, Australian Festival Association's Julia Robinson and Live Music Office's John Wardle.