We don't often think about music in this place, yet, outside these walls, people's days are filled with music as they go to work, go about their work, go out to relax or head home. Hopefully, there's a heavy dose of Australian music in that mix. The Australian music industry contributes nearly $6 billion to our economy. The live music industry alone supports around 64,000 jobs in Australia. I have to confess that my son is one of those people who works as a professional musician. Given the amount of time we spend here talking about sport, people might be surprised to know that Australians attend live music more often than they attend sport. It's a thriving industry and one that governments should provide smart, modest support to, to help the industry grow, just like we should for other important industries like manufacturing or agriculture.

There has been nothing from this Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government that indicates even the slightest interest in the music industry. At a New South Wales government level, I've been disappointed at the unwillingness of the Liberals to listen to expert advice on harm minimisation that could not only save lives but also save music festivals, to the point we're at now where Byron Bay Bluesfest, among others, is starting to look outside the state. While there is much that can be done at a state level, we're concerned about what a federal government can do to support the growth of an industry. It's Labor who will deliver the most comprehensive music policy of any Australian government if we are elected. We want to see more Australians making music, listening to it and seeing it performed, because not only does that strengthen our own culture and show the world who we are but it also leads to more Australians having stable jobs in a thriving industry. The plus of the digitally connected world is that Australian music can be heard anywhere, but getting to places to perform it live and to be known is still expensive.

Labor will provide an additional $10 million to Sounds Australia to help showcase Australia's music talent in not just the US and Europe but also emerging markets like South America and Asia. We'll also get Sounds Australia to keep working with state and local governments to reduce the barriers to live performance at home. Under Labor, the APRA SongMakers program will get a $7.6 million boost so music teachers can do more work in schools but also in new music hubs, which will be refurbished places like community centres, to provide soundproof music studios. What used to happen in parents' garages—not always loved by the neighbours—can be more difficult these days. It's hard to make music if you don't have a space to do it in. We'll also better recognise music teachers' vital role through an expansion of the current ARIA Music Teacher Awards. Labor appreciate that music managers play a key role in the industry and in supporting artists, so we'll fund them to train new and emerging managers.

The stories that musicians and managers have shared with me as part of the current parliamentary inquiry into the sustainability of the music industry, which is still underway, and the stories that I've heard from my own children and their musician friends, highlight for me the challenges of working in an industry where a full-time pay-as-you-go job is pretty much non-existent and the financial side is a challenge. We will provide extra funding to Support Act, which is a charity providing financial support and a really valuable mental health service for
musicians and people in the industry.

Also working in my electorate is the Nordoff Robbins charity, a music therapy provider which takes music into aged-care homes, including in the Blue Mountains, and provides one-on-one, group and music therapy sessions for kids and adults of all abilities. Additional funding for Nordoff Robbins will give more people access to their life-changing therapy.

There's a range of other initiatives that we'll bring in, including a ban on the use of automated bots to buy tickets, limits on how much scalpers can charge, a commitment to protect copyright—really the basis of a musician's life, especially composers—and restoration of $83.7 million to the ABC over three years to help stabilise a public broadcaster that does so much to promote and play Australian music. Venues, cafes, pubs, clubs, universities, concert halls and even stadiums will benefit from our immediate 20 per cent tax deduction in the first year on the value of a new asset worth more than $20,000. This is a whole range of strategies to help keep the music indu