Victorian MP Martin Foley shades the Libs for trying ‘desperately to kill live music in NSW’

Martin Foley loves live music almost as much as he loves shading the Liberals.

The Victorian MP has been tweeting up a storm, with his political counterparts in NSW taking a thrashing over their music festivals licensing brouhaha.

“Hey live music lovers in NSW, It looks like it’s going to be a quiet few months up there as the Liberals try desperately to kill live music in NSW,” he tweeted.

Feel free to come south of the border and check out @PortFairyFF, @riverboatsmusic, @goldenplains, @THAAfestival and @DownloadFestAU all coming up on our music calendar.

— Martin Foley (@Martin__Foley) February 12, 2019

Foley wasn’t done there. “Feel free to come south of the border and check out Port Fairy Folk Fest, Riverboats Music Festival, Golden Plains, The Hills Are Alive! and Download all coming up on our music calendar.” (note to Foley: Download is also coming to Sydney)

And playing the role of Victoria’s chief cheerleader, he reminded the Libs, “Make no mistake, Victoria is the live music capital of Australia, and we’re proud to keep it that way,” bundling his message with a story published by the ABC which broke it all down for a national audience.

Make no mistake, Victoria is the live music capital of Australia, and we’re proud to keep it that way.https://t.co/YQOoyplK4S

— Martin Foley (@Martin__Foley) February 12, 2019

Melbourne just might be the live capital of the world. The Melbourne Live Music Census says so. Many would shrug their shoulders to all this. What’s not up for dispute is the scale of the problem facing music festivals in NSW right now, with strict new regulations set to come into effect March 1. Two festivals, Psyfari and Mountain Sounds, collapsed in recent days, with organisers blaming exorbitant policing costs for their demise. NSW’s touring circuit will be “wiped off the map” by the “heavy-handed new licensing plans,” warns Live Performance Australia.

Foley’s finger-pointing reminds us that, yes, music festivals carry enough emotional, cultural and economic weight to become a political hotcake, as they are right now. And this is a story worthy of national attention, with ramifications reaching well outside a single state.

The so-called “war on festivals” will play out on a different type of battlefield next Thursday (Feb. 21) when live music advocates gather at Sydney’s Hyde Park for the Don’t Kill Live Music Rally, almost nine  to the day after the SLAM rally took place in central Melbourne.

The state government “declared a war on music and culture in NSW, proclaiming that music, and music festivals are high risk activities,” rally organisers warn. “Don’t let the Premier Berejiklian and the State Government take music away from you. You deserve better. NSW deserves better.”

Register here for the rally and sign the petition here.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.