Five music festival operators targeted on a new list of 14 ‘high risk’ events are preparing to launch legal action against the NSW Government, saying the designation is unfair, unevenly enforced, and has caused undue damage to their reputations.
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Representatives of music festivals Lost Paradise and Days Like This, along with event operators Finely Tuned, Novel, and Division Agency, today announced their intention to challenge the controversial decision to subject those events to a strict new licensing scheme.
“There has been zero transparency or justification as to why what started off as a proposed industry-wide legislation has now been reduced to a list of 14 festivals who have now publicly been labelled as ‘High Risk’ by the government,” the organisers said in a statement.
On the decision to label those events ‘High Risk’ due to a perceived likelihood of drug-related illnesses or deaths, spokesperson Jason Ayoubi of Days Like This said the NSW Government has “chosen to vilify 14 individual festivals without any discussion.”
“Any imposed risk matrix should be applied equally and fairly across the entire industry,” he added.
The legal action comes just days after Laneway Festival slammed its “preposterous” inclusion on the list.
“It is a short-sighted political move that panders to the conservative media and vote,” Laneway Festival organiser Danny Rogers said.
Laneway Festival is not listed as part of the potential legal action against the NSW Government.
Festival organisers have argued against the new licensing scheme since it was announced. They state it will place undue financial strain on events with safe track records, and that the criteria to determine what constitutes an unsafe festival should be released to organisers.
Those arguments have been well-received by punters, who last weekend rallied in Sydney against the measures.
The NSW Government revealed the new licensing arrangements in response to the tragic deaths of five attendees at NSW music festivals since September.
Despite calls from medical professionals and harm reduction advocates, the NSW Government has refused to permit pill-testing trials.
PEDESTRIAN has contacted Liquor & Gaming NSW for comment.
