Motions

Local and Live Creative Venues

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. T.A. Franks:

1. That a select committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire into and report on local and live creative venues, with particular reference to:

(a) the impacts of, and reasons for, recent loss of live music and local creative venues in South Australia;

(b) understanding the cultural, social, economic and other contributions made by local and live creative venues;

(c) supporting South Australian artists and creatives with venues and spaces where they can develop their craft, audiences and communities;

(d) understanding the types of cultural infrastructure needed for a healthy art, culture and creative sector in South Australia;

(e) protecting local and live creative venues and performance spaces; and

(f) any other related matters.

2. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

(Continued from 28 August 2024.)

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:20): I rise to speak in favour of the motion from my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks. This proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into live music comes after the debate about the Crown and Anchor. It has really exposed some of the challenges that our live music venues face. As I indicated at the time when we were dealing with that debate, one of the big challenges, of course, has been planning laws and the lack of protection for our heritage buildings—and I am really pleased the parliament has dealt with that—but there are lots of other challenges that live music faces in our state. One need to only look at the closure of venues that we have seen in recent years.

Those challenges were magnified during COVID, but we have seen the closure of The Producers on Grenfell Street; the Tivoli on Pirie Street; Enigma, which closed after operating for nearly 25 years; and the King's Head, once the stomping ground for the original line-up of The Masters Apprentices, which rehearsed in the pub's back shed, has been closed down. The Wright Street Hotel has also been put on the chopping block, and that has closed down. The Edinburgh Castle on Currie Street—I have some good memories of that hotel back when it was a gay venue in the early 2000s. I used to go there a bit then. It has closed, it has reopened a few times, but, sadly, it has also fallen by the wayside and it closed in 2018, and it had been licensed since 1837. And then, of course, The Austral, which has faced challenges through planning.

I acknowledge that, as a result of the bill that passed the parliament the other day, there will be protection for some of those remaining live music venues. Some of our iconic venues potentially could get protection—that will be a decision the minister will make in terms of those that meet the criteria that he establishes—but that could theoretically ensure we do not have the problems that have been faced by pubs like The Austral, for instance, where they had a development pop up next to them and, in effect, that meant that their business model was no longer viable.

There are other challenges that live music venues face and, indeed, the arts community face more broadly in our state. The need for more government funding is one challenge, but I know the Hon. Tammy Franks has spoken previously about some of the peculiarities that exist in liquor licensing laws, for instance, and the impact that can have on business operations. This is a really worthwhile committee, and I am very pleased to hear that it has broad support across the parliament.

I very much look forward to hearing about the issues that come to light and having an opportunity for the parliament to look at the recommendations and see what can be done to ensure that we make Adelaide, and our state, a place that really celebrates live music and the arts well into the future.

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:24): I indicate that I have an amendment to this motion, which I believe is amenable to the mover, the Hon. Tammy Franks. I move:

After paragraph 1 insert new paragraph 1A as follows:

'1A. That the committee consist of four members and that the quorum of members necessary to be present at all meetings of the committee be fixed at three members.'

I will be very brief in indicating the government's support for the setting up of this committee. It is worth noting that Adelaide is Australia's first and only UNESCO Music City, an honour which was granted following Adelaide demonstrating decades of commitment to both live music and music festivals. I indicate that I am very much looking forward to being a participant on this committee should this motion be successful.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:25): I commend the motion of the honourable member, and I note her great interest in live music and the venues dotted around Adelaide, where local musicians get their chance to play in front of enthusiastic audiences. Without these venues the opportunities for musicians to share their music and give audiences a taste of their creative genre would be quite difficult. These days I am not a regular goer to live music venues still around and going strong—

The Hon. R.A. Simms: Oh, Frank!

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: —like The Governor Hindmarsh, The Wheatsheaf and the Arkaba—I think most of mine are starting to die off, Mr Simms—but as a boomer I grew up on the sounds of rock'n'roll, which was still in its infancy, with Australian artists fighting to get airplay on radio stations which were so biased towards overseas artists the federal government of the time had to enforce local content rules.

Living in the sixties and seventies, Australia was rich with young talent looking for that big break: bands like The Easybeats, AC/DC, Cold Chisel, The Angels, The Masters Apprentices, Twilight, Zoot, The Valentines, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Daddy Cool, Skyhooks, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, Dragon and my favourite Aussie band, INXS, along with many great local artists like Johnny O'Keefe, Renée Geyer, Marcia Hines, Colleen Hewett, Paul Kelly, John Farnham and the late Jon English, Brian Cadd and, of course, our own Mark Holden, who would be seen at many of the venues in and around Adelaide.

You would only get to see these talented up-and-coming performers in dingy nightclubs, pubs like The Old Lion; the Largs Pier; The Findon Hotel, which is also known as 'Fiesta Villa'; The Governor Hindmarsh; the Bridgeway at Pooraka; the Princeton Club at the Burnside Town Hall; the Thebarton Town Hall, which used to host Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds; the now-demolished Centennial Hall; and function centres like the St Clair Youth Centre on Woodville Road and the Combine Club at the then new Marion shopping centre, where I once saw The Angels, Cold Chisel and Fraternity with AC/DC's Bon Scott on vocals at that time. I still remember the day that Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs almost blew the walls down in a loud concert at the Adelaide Town Hall.

It was a thriving scene, although I have to say the older generation of the bobby socks era frowned upon it. Few would know this, but rock music hall of famers Daddy Cool had its genesis in Adelaide, playing at the Glenelg Town Hall in early 1971 as part of the first Adelaide blues festival, staged by legendary entrepreneurial live music pioneer and fashion store owner Alex Innocenti. Alex proudly told me that he was the one who suggested the seminal band's name to Ross Wilson during a trip to Adelaide. Ross, of course, is the lead singer and guitarist and famous for those licks on Eagle Rock.

Alex was a huge supporter of the local and national music scene. He was one of the prime movers of the Myponga Pop Festival in 1971, the first of its kind in Australia, which featured so many local artists in a Woodstock-like setting. In 1969, Alex opened the first blues club, called the Cellar Blues Club, in Twin Street, next to his menswear business, which sold the latest Carnaby Street fashions and footwear, including the first platform shoes to be sold in Australia. Alex told me he was so fascinated by them and so confident that they would take off that he bought 400 pairs on a trip to London, and he was right as they sold out in no time.

The Advertiser in 1969 described the dingy and dark Cellar as the birthplace of the blues trend, which in its first year of life has become the foremost place in Australia for its dissemination. Journalist Avon Lovell wrote in a colourful, yet somewhat conservative, tone:

Through the dark and narrow doorway you grope down the stairs into the strange excitement of vibrating psychedelic lights and electric rock blues.

The scene is a moving living thing and at the tables are 18-year-old plus kids turning on, identifying with the sound of as four musicians on stage force it from their instruments with total absorption.

Some really big names in world music also played at the Cellar, including Ravi Shankar. I will share this story of my one and only failed foray to be a pop promoter at the St Clair Youth Centre in the early 1970s when I was a fledgling showbiz reporter with the afternoon paper The News. The plan was for a cabaret dinner dance, with the star attraction none other than Johnny Farnham and tickets costing $20, drinks included.

I had met Johnny with Colleen Hewett and Colleen's manager and husband, Danny Finley, after they did a fabulous show at Maximilian's Restaurant in the Adelaide Hills and we struck a deal. It was in that short lull in John's fabulous career, in between his Sadie (The Cleaning Lady) years and then relaunching himself in the late seventies and early eighties with the Little River Band and his iconic Age of Reason solo album in 1986. How could I lose with the five-time king of pop who had a string of hits to his name.

The fee was $1,000 and I put down a $500 deposit, but, unfortunately, through a lack of advertising capital and some bad marketing skills on my behalf, I could not sell enough tickets to break-even and I reluctantly had to cancel the show, forfeiting my deposit to Johnny and the venue. Lesson learned and I did not try that again.

Small venues really are the heartbeat for musicians to get discovered and ultimately have their name in bright lights. Some of the biggest names in showbusiness got lucky breaks in the most obscure of venues and circumstances and let me share with you this other story.

When I was visiting New York in 1994, I came across a colourful, connected imposing fellow called Suki Sal seated outside his cottage in Mulberry Street in Little Italy. Suki was a big man in his 70s, dressed head to toe in black, gold chains and rings dripping everywhere, a thick gold Rolex dangling from his left hand and his slanting eyes hidden behind a pair of Elvis-style yellow-tinted glasses. I will explain that because, even though his heritage was Italian, the nickname Suki came from his friends following a novelty Japanese hit song at the time called Sukiyaki, so Suki got his name there.

Suki was quite excited to tell me that Barbra Streisand was playing at a sold-out Madison Square Garden. Suki then told me an amazing story about himself and a group of mob friends, including a colourful character I also met that night called Johnny Chia Chia. Just to explain his background, Johnny went into restaurants but he also appeared as an extra in several Hollywood mobster movies, including a big violent scene in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.

Suki and his friends had discovered the superstar in the early 1960s when they ran a gay nightclub called the Lion in Greenwich Village. These wise guys were quite innovative and quickly realised there was a lot of money to be made from what he called 'the pink dollar' because there were no other venues in the Big Apple catering for gays during the gay rights movement. After setting the club up in a basement, they could not afford live entertainment, so they ran a talent contest. Guess who the first winner was? Barbara Streisand. The prize was a gig every night for several weeks, unpaid. 'But all the drinks were on the house,' Suki laughed.

Sadly, we have seen a number of music venues close since the end of the pandemic due to many factors, none the least the increase in operating costs—things like power, the ever-increasing cost of alcohol because of the excise tax and, of course, higher rentals that have been imposed upon them, not to mention staff costs as well.

It is important that we encourage the preservation of this industry and the benefits creative arts bring to our community. I am looking forward to being a member of the committee. I commend the motion to the chamber.

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:35): I rise today on behalf of the Liberal Party to also support the motion moved by the Hon. Tammy Franks to establish a select committee to inquire and report on the state of local and live creative venues in South Australia. I know that my esteemed parliamentary colleague, the very musical, talented the Hon. Ben Hood, is very passionate about this matter and will also be making a valuable contribution to support this motion later.

For almost 10 years now, Adelaide has been recognised as Australia's first and only UNESCO City of Music. Venues supporting local artists are vital in our cultural, social and economic landscape. Recent closures of live music and creative venues have highlighted challenges local and live creative venues are facing in South Australia. The purpose of this select committee aims to ensure that South Australia's creative sector is adequately supported and preserved for future generations.

Unfortunately, SA has lost 86 mid-sized live music venues since the start of the COVID pandemic. Many have been listed by some of our esteemed parliamentary colleagues earlier. According to statistics from the Australasian Performing Right Association that provided the stats about the closure, factors such as rising rent, noise complaints, regulatory pressures and the impact of cost of living have compounded difficulties for venue operators. Understanding these challenges is essential for creating informed policies that can mitigate further losses and ensure the sustainability of these spaces.

We also must note that local creative venues serve as more than just performing spaces. They are hubs of cultural expressions, community engagement and economic activity. Prior to COVID-19, SA businesses in the music and performing arts sector directly contributed more than $183 million to the local economy. South Australian artists and creative sectors rely on live venues to develop their craft, build their audiences and connect with their communities.

I am proud to say that the Liberal Party is strongly committed to the arts and music sector, as shown through our track record of providing essential funding during the COVID pandemic to provide short-term relief as well as support for long-term recovery in the sector. The arts and music sectors were some of the hardest hit industries by the COVID-19 pandemic. The former Marshall Liberal government provided a $3 million support package in 2021 to ensure live venues, professional touring artists and their crew, and even event promoters, could resume operating as soon as restrictions were eased.

The motion today calls for a select committee to be established to examine the types of cultural infrastructure necessary to support artists and venues. It could include things like affordable spaces for rehearsals, performances, exhibitions and flexible regulatory frameworks that allow venues to operate without undue restrictions or unreasonable compliance.

The select committee will allow the parliament to investigate matters and explore strategies that safeguard these spaces. It is a great opportunity for the committee to also look at innovative venue ownership and management models, learning from other jurisdictions' best practice and considering how South Australia's creative sector can adapt to future challenges. With those comments, I wholeheartedly support the motion and thank the Hon. Tammy Franks for bringing this matter to our attention.

The Hon. B.R. HOOD (15:39): I rise to support the honourable member's motion and also support the amendments brought by the Hon. Reggie Martin, and very much look forward to serving on this committee. I have another confession to make. To quote the amazing Dave Grohl, 'I love live music, I love playing live music, I love looking at live music.' I have been doing it since I was about 14 years old in the music room at Naracoorte High School. I was not particularly good back then, originally starting on the bass guitar in rock bands and then slowly moving on to the six-string guitar and also singing. Music has been a vital part of my life. It has allowed me to express myself, to enjoy myself with my friends and my family, and I could not image a world without music.

We need venues for music. We need venues like the Kincraig Hotel in Naracoorte, like Shadows nightclub in Mount Gambier, like Shapes nightclub in Naracoorte. Funnily enough, both of those nightclubs were voted the two worst nightclubs by Triple J in the early 2000s. I will not say which one was number one and which was number two, but I played in both those venues. I have played to 500 people beginning at midnight and finishing at 4 o'clock in the morning before driving home to Naracoorte dodging kangaroos, which, funnily enough, I will be speaking to a bit later.

In Shadows, I have seen great Australian bands like Gerling, like Regurgitator, like The Living End. All of those bands, whether it be playing in Shadows in Mount Gambier or playing stadiums or playing the Big Day Out, had their beginning in some dingy little venue close to home, and those dingy little venues are so important for people coming up in the live music scene. Those dingy little bars include the Adelaide UniBar where I have seen Ammonia and Mr Bungle, like The Gov where I have seen my most favourite Australian band, Something for Kate. Really, my contribution is just naming all the bands that I love and getting them on the record.

But these venues do struggle and are struggling a lot right now because of the impacts that affect all small businesses in South Australia, and that is staffing, skills and shortages, that is economic factors, input costs, government policies, legislation and compliance, red tape that politicians love to talk about so much but do not know really know what it means, the profitability and profit margins that are in these venues. These people are doing it because they love it.

They love music as much as I do, as much as the Hon. Tammy Franks and the Hon. Reggie Martin do, as much as the Hon. Jing Lee does, as much as the Hon. Nicola Centofanti does, who loves to come along a few tunes on a harp with me at times when we are strumming a guitar as well, which we love to do. But we must support them. We cannot see them go away because then that would mean there is less music in the world, and if there is less music in the world there is less hope, there is less love, there is less fun, there is less noise, and I love the noise. But I also love that in this motion from the Hon. Tammy Franks we have:

(c) supporting South Australian artists and creatives with venues and spaces where they can develop their craft, audiences and communities;

Something that I have been passionate about in my home in Mount Gambier is ensuring that our makers have spaces, that they can have spaces in which they can go and expand their creativity and their craft. It is something that I worked on with sculptor Ivo Tadic for the rail station in Mount Gambier. We put a proposal to council to create this space. Unfortunately it did not get up but I know that council are seriously looking at that now in Mount Gambier to create those makers' spaces. Again, it is so important for creative people to have those spaces to do what they love, to create those things that stir emotions in all of us.

I am really excited about this committee. I hope we can look seriously at what it is that those venues are facing, not just economically but in all the other aspects of this as well, and that we continue to protect our live and local creative spaces, that we continue to see amazing bands coming up through the ranks in South Australia—indeed, in Australia as well—and that they continue to rock out and continue to entertain us, and that my kids and my grandkids will be headbanging as much as their dad did into the future. With that I commend the motion.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:45): I would like to thank those members who have made a contribution and have expressed their support: the Hon. Reggie Martin, the Hon. Robert Simms, the Hon. Frank Pangallo, the Hon. Jing Lee, and the Hon. Ben Hood. However, I know that in this place the love of music, creativity and community goes much deeper than those speakers; in fact, this particular motion seems to be quite unanimously supported.

We have previously had a President of this place who was, in fact, the live music envoy under the Weatherill government, and we saw things like a live music Thinker in Residence, Martin Elbourne, under that Weatherill area. Back then I was able to secure money from the pokies funds that had not been raised, in terms of CPI, since the years of Di Laidlaw and her introduction of that scheme. I would hope those sorts of options would be on the table to support our live and local creatives.

Part of the debate on the Cranker saw two rallies, and at one of those rallies one of the chants was, 'Music, arts and culture more than bricks and mortar'. I could not help but reflect that we also need those bricks and mortar, otherwise there is nowhere for the makers to make their art, to hone their craft, to create their audiences, or for their audiences to create community. That is the virtue and the magic of creative and music venues. It is more than simply sitting in a pub playing a poker machine or watching the Keno come down, and it adds so much vibrancy to our lives.

We recognise that, and it is why we are a UNESCO City of Music in Adelaide, the capital of this state. Our tenth anniversary is coming up and, quite rightly, I am hoping there will be recommendations of this committee that feed into that particular anniversary, so that when we celebrate our legacy—and I did not know that the Hon. Frank Pangallo would be able to pull out even more stories I did not yet know—as we celebrate our history and legacy—and we have the No Fixed Address lanes and the Paul Kelly lanes and the like—that those legacy pieces are not just part of our history but that there is an active living and thriving culture as part of our future across all the generations.

It is important for young people, in particular, as rights of passage, but it is also important right across our lives to have cultural places where we can connect. I certainly enjoy going to what is known as the Monkey Bar, which is the Lord Exmouth Hotel, which has been an Adelaide institution for a very long time. There is a lot of live music that plays there; I never know quite what I am going to get, but I know I am going to have a good time and connect with people in that space when I pop by of a Sunday afternoon.

The state of live music, the arts and these venues is perilous. The APRA AMCOS survey shows that South Australia has currently seen the second highest rate of loss of venues as a state, after only New South Wales—and if you count the territories, after the Northern Territory as well. We have lost 27 per cent of our venues since COVID, and that was from last year's report. so it is possibly even more since then.

Some of those institutions are never to return, but let us hope that some new ones will be created and supported and that the ones we have will be preserved, and will be flexible enough to continue that future of live and creative entertainment spaces and make us the festival state in a way that is not just about festivals being FIFOs who come, and that only some enjoy, but that every South Australian enjoys living in a festival state because they have live and creative culture and connection around them. With that I commend the motion.

Amendment carried; motion as amended carried.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I move:

That the select committee consist of the Hon. R.B. Martin, the Hon. F. Pangallo, the Hon. B.R. Hood and the mover.

Motion carried.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I move:

That the select committee have power to send for persons, papers and records, to adjourn from place to place and to report on 27 November 2024.

Motion carried.