Will NSW venues get a funding bail-out before JobKeeper ends?

The question of when NSW music venues might see a dedicated assistance package when JobKeeper payments stop at the end of March was debated in NSW parliament yesterday.

The sense of urgency grows as the music industry lobbies for one.

85% of NSW music venues predict they won’t survive without it. A survey of 47 alone found $70 million in earnings were lost in six months.

Various ministers have urged the state treasury department to consider such a package, but venues fear an evaluation will not be made by the time the life support is switched off.

After all, as shadow minister for music and the night time economy John Graham noted, the decision by venues to shutter operations will most likely be a quick one, and staff, suppliers and bookers will need to be informed well in advance.

Graham was speaking at the Budget Estimates hearing for Portfolio Committee 1, which relates to the premier and finance cluster.

He said that while NSW had introduced legislation which lifted all lockout restrictions and paved the way for a more positive future, “This is the moment where we’re about to lose venues who’ll never get the chance to use those laws, because they’ll close the door, possibly in the coming weeks.”

Once those venues go, we’ll never get them back, Graham warned.

“We are losing venues right now, last week, today, next week – they can’t wait for NSW to take slow measured steps to fund those venues.

“The Government needs to take direct action now unless they want to be responsible for an irreversible loss of music, culture and nightlife in our city.”

“The music industry told us countless times that they were struggling and that 85% of venues might close yet the Government still hasn’t made up their mind on a financial assistance package for venues – how much it will be, who will be eligible, whether there will even be one.”

In responding, minister for tourism Stuart Ayres agreed, “We are both passionate advocates of the sector, there is no doubt that time will have an impact here.”

However, he said, it was not an issue to be rushed through, and gave a number of reasons.

Firstly, NSW was waiting to see what the commonwealth government was doing about extending JobKeeper for targeted industries like tourism, hospitality and entertainment.

Secondly, the venue landscape was changing, and this had to be considered.

Ayres expanded, “But specifically, and in the context of Save Our Stages, we’ve had a number of interactions with Save Our Stages

“They’ve amended their request of government recently to reflect the changing nature – some venues are starting to see activity and feeling more confident, others are still struggling.

“So we’ve taken that application and we have provided that through to Treasury and it’s currently being assessed right now.

“It’s definitely something that I think the government needs to be considering in that post-JobKeeper environment.”

A third delay, the minister spelled out, “is determining the threshold for when venues will be able to access that kind of support.

“Some venues are in stronger positions than others, some have actually used the period of time when music hasn’t been able to be played in their venues to undertake substantial refurbishments.

“Other venues are having quite intense discussions with existing landowners.”

The bottom line, ruled Ayres, was “As much as waiting is often painful, making sure where we deploy taxpayer funds and employing them where they’ll have the most impact is critical.

“It’s also fair to say that the taxpayer shouldn’t have to have the exposure to support every entertainment venue or every business.

“Some businesses, even in the entertainment sector, are not necessarily well run businesses or they don’t necessarily have the cash position to even survive a short term grant from the government.

“So I’m more than happy, and will continue to advocate for appropriate interventions in sectors that have been disproportionately impacted by covid but I want to make sure as best as we possibly can that where we deploy taxpayer funds it actually delivers an outcome.”

Graham brought up the issue of a well known Sydney music venue that was expected to close its doors last evening. He wouldn’t divulge its name until it was made official or delayed as bookings would be affected.

The point made was that Victoria has rolled out $30 million in assistance to the state’s venues. “If they (the imperilled venue) were in Victoria, they would have received more than $100,000 assistance, maybe $110,000, maybe $130,000 to get them through.

“In NSW they get zero. There is a time issue here.”

The minister indicated the case had been referred yesterday to the Small Business Commissioner for assistance.