The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: 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.