Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Live music has long been the lifeblood of Freo social and cultural vibrancy. Fremantle has fostered generations of incredible songwriters and musicians, from Bon Scott to San Cisco, from Kavisha Mazzella to Lucky Oceans, from the Jam Tarts and the Nansing Quartet to Kevin Parker and Tame Impala and Spacey Jane. All those musicians and all the many more people for whom music is a core part of their joy in life depend on live music venues and on the organisations that support engagement in music.

Last week, it was a privilege to attend the WAM Song of the Year event, which involved songwriting entries from artists as young as 12 and as old as 79. It was held at Freo.Social, a fantastic venue previously known as the Fly by Night Musicians Club, and I'm proud that, once upon a time, my dad played a role as chairman of that legendary institution.

Last week, when the Prime Minister was in town, I was rapt but not surprised when he named Clancy's and Gage Roads as his favourite WA watering holes. In the past, I have enjoyed a beer with the PM at Mojos in North Fremantle, when we listened to local Beaconsfield band Terrible Signal.

Labor understands that we can't continue to enjoy the musicians that Australians love if we don't support the long-term sustainability of live music venues. That's why this government has created a national music development agency, Music Australia, to support and invest in the Australian contemporary music industry. The most recent budget included $8.6 million to provide support to those businesses through the new Revive Live program. Last year, I visited Clancy's to hear about the $16,000 in investment that they received to upgrade their live music space. In the latest round of the Live Music Australia program, jazz venue the Duke of George, in East Freo, received $64,000 for new upgrades and performance funding, while the Gypsy Tapas bar in downtown Freo received $17,000 for essential performance equipment.

In addition to making sure that venues stay strong, we must make sure the arts are accessible to all. As the Minister for the Arts rightly says, arts and culture belong to everyone. That's why I'm glad that DADAA, a nation-leading disability arts organisation in my electorate, received $826,000 for Radio DADAA. It's a new internet radio station to grow the digital skills of people with disabilities while creating a broadcast platform that will elevate their voices. That's in addition to the three-year core funding of over a million dollars that DADAA has received.

I want to finish by acknowledging the incredible leadership and commitment of music venue managers and their staff—people who inevitably make sacrifices through their devotion to music. The Albanese government sees and hears very clearly the critical importance of Australia's artists but also the fragility, sometimes, of our cultural industry's ecosystem. That's why we're acting concertedly and with appropriate funding to provide more and better support for Australian live music.

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