live music and entertainment petition

Live music and entertainment in Australia has been hit extremely hard by COVID-19 and related restrictions – and the pain for the industry is far from over.

BluesFest in Byron Bay was forced to cancel its 2021 festival days before it was due to begin – when the marquees were already up, tourists had already arrived, and millions of dollars had already been spent which cannot be recovered.

This was not just devastating for the owners of the BluesFest, but for the hundreds of musicians, performers, tradies, lighting operators, food van workers, hospo employees and many more who had been counting on the income they would get from the festival.

The live music and entertainment industry has been warning of something like this happening for months – but their pleas for assistance from the government have fallen on deaf ears. The devastating impacts we’re seeing from the cancellation of BluesFest could have been avoided.

What the industry needs is the government to work with them on a Business Interruption Fund – an insurance scheme which is underwritten by the government to protect against the sudden, unforeseen cancellation of live events like what we’ve seen at BluesFest. The government announced a scheme like this for the screen industry last year, which has helped that industry get back on its feet – so why is live music and entertainment any different?

Jobs and livelihoods are at stake. Australian live music and entertainment needs this scheme to put on the big events and festivals that we know and love.

Sign your name below to call on Paul Fletcher and the Morrison Government to act – now.