Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, is supporting Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury musicians through the coronavirus pandemic by creating a “mixtape” of their work.

And the call out is for recorded musicians – of all genres – to be part of it.

“We might have been listening to more music during the Covid-19 pandemic, but with gigs cancelled and venues closed for some time to come, musicians will continue to be hit hard by the coronavirus crisis,” Ms Templeman said.

“Back in the day we would make a mixtape of our favourite bands – so I thought, why not do that now?

“We put a call out on social media to our talented musicians who currently live in, or got their break in, the Mountains and Hawkesbury and we’ve had a terrific response.

“We have put together playlists from bands including Julia Jacklin, Simply Bushed, Burralow, Soular Spill and many others on Spotify and YouTube so we can not only get their names out there but hopefully get a them a few cents each download.

“It would be great if local businesses could also download the Spotify playlist and perhaps play it to customers in-store. As more of our cafes and restaurants begin to open up, what better way to show support for our local artists?”

Ms Templeman also held a virtual forum with Shadow Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, on Facebook on Monday, May 18 to hear how the pandemic had affected those working in the industry.

Mr Burke said Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed more than a quarter of arts and recreation employees had lost their jobs since the government started ordering shutdowns in March.

“Many more watched their incomes evaporate and job opportunities disappear as gigs were cancelled, shows scrapped, galleries closed down and productions halted,” Mr Burke said.

“This was the first industry to be shut down – and it’s likely to be the last to emerge from this crisis.“Now we have learnt in the COVID-19 Senate inquiry the government hasn’t even bothered to ask Treasury for advice on how to expand JobKeeper to include these workers.

“Josh Frydenberg has the power to change this with the stroke of a pen. He should.”

Ms Templeman said the arts sector had been there when Australia needed it, helping to raise money for bushfire relief, and it was time to return the favour.

“Many people from artists and musicians to production crew and ticket sellers have really been doing it tough for months with many being unable to access benefits such as JobKeeper,” Ms Templeman said.

“This forum gave local people the opportunity to tell the Shadow Minister the problems they were encountering so we can continue to advocate for this industry which has been ignored by the Morrison Government.”

Susan Templeman’s Macquarie Mixtape is a