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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Thursday, 13 May 2004) . . Page.. 1875 ..

lively night life and a fair bit of noise as a result because it will, in its own way, enhance the amenity of a place like Civic.

Mr Wood has given a pretty good rundown of what programs are already available. I have one slight reservation, again in clause (2) (a) (i)—although I think Ms Tucker has worded it reasonably well—where she wants the government to consult with stakeholders to develop the program et cetera, focusing on the provision of resources and opportunities. As I understand it she qualifies that by saying “…such as access to public address equipment and rehearsal space”—rather than just forking out a whole lot of dollars. I think there are quite a few good potential programs in the arts grants where people can access dollars. I read that she wants access to public address equipment and rehearsal space, which is very important.

I think it is important to develop live music for youth. This will—and I know it is probably not just youth—bring wider cultural development. It is a great way of expressing yourself. To work as a group in a band is a great way for young people to bring out their creative talents. I had the pleasure of opening a youth band festival here only a few months ago. It was a tragedy that WIN was called somewhere else but it was great to hear a couple of the groups perform—they were performing throughout the city. This is a regular occurrence and is a great way for a number of groups to develop, including local groups. Some have gone on to do very well indeed. I believe there is a lot of really good stuff in further developing live youth music. Some of the suggestions in the sentiments of the motion like access to public address systems and rehearsal space are very sensible.

I thought it was quite funny to hear Mr Wood talk about gigs. All-age gigs is an interesting concept, Ms Tucker. I wonder if that means that the rugby choir, which is hardly youthful—in fact, I tend to bring down the average age of it, which is pretty scary—could attend an all-age gig. I hope so; we might be able to sing! Ms Tucker, good luck with this and if you get a few more live music venues for young people in the city, I reckon that would be a pretty good thing. I look forward to going along and maybe singing 48 Crash there once. I was going to end with a song but, as it is late at night, I probably will not.

MS TUCKER: Go on, Bill!

MR STEFANIAK: Well, I gave it up for music and the free electric band—try that, Hansard. Anyway, good luck, Ms Tucker.

MS DUNDAS (9.12): I want to make it quite clear that I will be supporting this very timely motion. I think it is good that this Assembly is having this debate. Live music is an integral part of our society. Live music has been part of society and culture for centuries—coming around the campfire or the corroboree. The songs that have been sung throughout the ages are very much a part of who we are. But over the last decade we have seen that live music has suffered. Community forums to celebrate culture have suffered setbacks as venues have been forced to cut down on live music due to noise complaints—and venues are trying to increase revenue by replacing their live music space with a few poker machines.

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