Byron Bay Bluesfest founder Peter Noble has every reason to be happy right now, having unveiled yet another sterling addition to his annual festival this morning, adding the likes of Madness and an acoustic set from Patti Smith.
But Noble also has a cause for despair and it comes in the form of the Liberal Party, both at the state and federal level. As far as Noble is concerned, the Libs are single-handedly destroying music and culture in Australia.
As The Music reports, Noble was on a panel at the recent Aus Music Week in Sydney. Joined by author Stuart Coupe, Icehouse’s Keith Welsh, and Diesel, Noble shared his thoughts about the Liberal Party’s attacks on music in Australia.
“I think the best way to get live music back in the inner west is to get rid of the Liberal Party,” he said. “They have cut funding to just about every arts funding. And if you’re Indigenous, forget about it.”
“Then they changed the visa fees… We’re trying to get new artists booked in this country — they have to pay the fees to come in and showcase! Imagine if it was Germany: no visa fees, no tax, [they’re like], ‘Come to our country to perform, because it’s called culture’. This is what we do, we present culture.”
“Sounds Australia — is Millie [Millgate from Sounds Australia] here? — she’s had two-thirds of their funding knocked off. She’s going, ‘There’s only three of us in the office anyway. Can we afford to showcase at SXSW next year? No.’”
Last month it was confirmed that whilst the Australia Council will fund Sounds Australia with $300,000 per year between 2017 and 2020, the federal government’s Ministry of Arts will no longer provide funding as of the end of this year.
“It’s not just happening in one area, it’s happening across arts funding,” said Noble. “They’re cutting our major body for Australian artists overseas. Increasing the costs of visas will mean less tours — at the lower end, not the higher end!”
“Thank you to anyone who goes out there and stands up and gets involved in protest, but Mike Baird’s gotta go!” Noble declared, adding that “the Labor woman in Queensland“, referring to Annastacia Palaszczuk, has also “gotta go”.
