Australasia News: NSW Night-Time Economy Grows; QLD Budget Cuts; Heading For Great Escape; NZ: Reviving Dunedin Stadium

AUSTRALIA

New South Wales Night Time Economy Grows To $102B
A new report from the New South Wales government showed its initiatives and changes in
rules to boost its night-time economy increased its worth to A$102 billion ($65.9 billion) a year.

Nearly 1,200 core NTE businesses opened in the past 12 months – including music venues, bars, restaurants and leisure activity providers – bringing the total to 53,000.

There was a 4.4% rise in use of public transport to 35.7 million, with night-time in-person spend now A$3.57 billion ($3.20 billion) – or 16.9% of the 24-hour total.

Recent legislation freed up more opportunities including stopping single neighbour noise complaints from shutting down a venue, and ditching antiquated law which decided what genre of music some venues could book.

At the end of October, the government set up a new platform, Data After Dark, to track how changes in law affected economic activity from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A positive note for live music’s championing of a less-alcohol- reliant sector to push Sydney as a 24-hour city is that the biggest growth in the past year proved to be takeaway food and gyms, while liquor, retailing and gambling NTE share declined.

Queensland Funding Cuts Could Affect Superstar Visits

Queensland promoters are shouting “bad timing!” after the grants and subsidies budget for Tourism and Events Queensland was slashed from A$58.2 million ($37.5 million) to A$52.5 million ($33.9 million) for 2024-25.

It comes as the live sector is attempting to convince the new state government, which took power Oct. 26, of what it needs to do to buoy the sector.

One is to catch up with Victoria, NSW and Western Australia, which have war chests with which to bid exclusively for Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Christina Aguilera and Billy Joel for tourism, economic and bragging rights boosts.

Queensland missed out on tours by The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and Oasis.

Heading For The Great Escape

Four export-ready emerging Australian acts were among the final 26 announced for UK’s the Great Escape’s FIRST FIFTY showcasing list.

Indie-pop artist Tia Gostelow started releasing singles at 16 with her “Strangers” single going platinum.

Nick Ward’s blend of indie pop, emo, electronic and hip-hop on his 2024 album House With The Blue Door saw him tour Australasia with Troye Sivan and get picked up by festivals.

Perth roots band South Summit released their debut album The Bliss this year, and First Nations rapper Miss Kaninna’s 2024 debut EP Kaninna sees her up for three Australian Recording industry Association noms and a Sydney SXSW emerging artist of the year gong.

NEW ZEALAND

New CEO Reactivating Dunedin Stadium

Paul Doorn doesn’t take over as chief executive of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) until Christmas, but he has held meetings with promoters in Australia about more major acts for the 30,000-seat Forsyth Barr Stadium.

He told Stuff website that feedback from promoters showed they loved the council-owned venue but the challenge was “to strike that right economic deal to bring them further than just Auckland.”

The stadium missed out on Metallica in November but the last concert was P!NK in March. Of its 37,000 attendance, 72% was from outside Dunedin, injecting $16.6 million ($9.73 million) into its economy.