Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH councillors have voted to spend $290,000 to become the “presenting partner” of the 2024 Kings Park Lightscape, which was a sell-out last year.

Councillor David Goncalves raised concerned about giving so much money to a ticketed event that would go ahead either way. 

Last year the council gave $100,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of marketing to Lightscape, which is jointly run by the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (a state government agency) and Sony Music (a multinational recording company worth about $170 billion). 184,000 tickets were sold to the Perth event, with adult tickets going for $40 a head. Sony runs similar events around the world.

Cr Goncalves said: “My main issue is that instead of being asked to fund demonstrable outcomes for the community, we are effectively being asked to fund an increased marketing budget for an event that is consistently sold out anyway.

“Besides our own marketing and goodwill, I struggle to see ratepayer value in subsidising a fully-ticketed event that has the means to go ahead anyway.

“Only a mere 28 days ago did we sit here listening to deputations from a series of community-run organisations that were all appealing against the lower-than-expected funding for their events”.

At that meeting the council doled out limited standard events funding, with some projects missing out completely (“Rebranded Targa hits funding wall,” Voice, December 2, 2023).

The Lightscape money will come from a separate “Major Events Activation Reserve” set aside for big name partnerships like Lightscape. 

Privatisation

Cr Goncalves also pointed out “the model that Lightscape uses, although wildly commercially successful around the world, has repeatedly caused consternation in what is effectively the privatisation of already public spaces.

“Recently the timing of Lightscape in Sydney during Vivid saw local MPs point out that public space that was previously used for free events were now costing families significant sums in ticket prices without any equity measures.”

He argued Lightscape was “exciting and commendable” but the council should prioritise funding events that are “homegrown, community-controlled and where creative capital is retained in Perth”.

Lord mayor Basil Zempilas spoke warmly of the winter event: “Kings Park, for years during winter, has been empty” before Lightscape, when “Perth people were so captivated by it they came in the middle of winter, in their heavy jackets and scarves, and we demonstrated for everybody that if you put the right event on, people will come, even in the middle of winter.”

Mr Zempilas said “we want to be the big event city. We’re demonstrating that we can do it in summer, but the great cities do it in winter as well, and that’s what Lightscape allows us to do.”

After hearing out his colleagues’ arguments Cr Goncalves, a newcomer elected in October, ultimately changed his mind and voted in favour of the $290,000 spend.

Only Cr Viktor Ko lodged a no-vote, having foreshadowed a proposal to spend a lesser amount of $150,000.

That would’ve seen the City of Perth named a “major partner” rather than getting the top “Presented by” credit.

by DAVID BELL