Labor Party pushes new live entertainment policy

Image: Harold Park Hotel, Sydney

Under a new Labor Party plan, pubs and other venues would be able to host acoustic music and other forms of “low impact” entertainment without the need for government approval.

As reported by Fairfax, the proposal is currently under consideration for formal adoption by Labor, and is intended to secure and bolster the Australian live music scene.

In recent times, strict lockout laws have been enforced in Sydney’s CBD and surrounding areas, crippling the health and sustainability of the local live music industry and night time economy.

The South Australian government has already implemented similar measures to maintain the strength of its local live music scene. Low impact entertainment was made exempt from the state’s developmental controls, says Fairfax.

Labor advocacy group ’Labor Loves Live Music’ is behind the planned policy. Led by John Graham, as well as Labor MPs Jo Haylen and Michael Daley, and councillors Darcy Byrne and Linda Scott, they aim to remove the ability of councils to create development controls for live music entertainment.

Such controls have led to significant changes at Harold Park Hotel, one of Sydney’s most esteemed and historic live music venues. Its renowned Sunday courtyard music sessions were cancelled in January 2017 after the Glebe establishment failed to obtain approval from the council to host such events.

A single noise complaint from a neighbour was sufficient enough to bring down its long-standing Sunday sessions, a feature aspect of the pub’s live entertainment for the past six years.

At the weekend, Graham posted on Facebook, “It’s tragic to lose music at the Harold Park Hotel” and added, “Here’s one way to save Sydney’s music scene before it’s too late.” He proposed the idea for Labor to adopt as formal party policy.

Late yesterday, a spokesperson for Clover Moore, Sydney’s Lord Mayor, said: “We want to encourage other venues with live entertainment-related conditions they think are outdated or unnecessary to contact the City to discuss what changes can be made and what support we can offer.

“The City cannot make changes to development consent conditions unless a venue asks us to. We look forward to working with the industry and our local community to implement the changes in a way that balances support for live music and performance with the needs of the community.”