I had intended for this week’s update to go out this morning but WordPress had other ideas. My website is automatically updated by my hosting platform, so when ver 6.0 rolled out – it updated – but my theme was not ready.  Fortunately the host does an auto backup before any updates, so I was able to roll back, apply the update to the theme – which claimed to be ver 6.0 compatible – but isn’t. The roll back again. Hopefully I can stall the auto update until the theme is fully compatible.

So now we have a new government and various lobby groups and associations are scrambling to get their point of view in front of the appropriate ministers.  BECA should be applauded for anticipating a change of government and met online in November with Senator Don Farrell, Shadow Minister for Sport and Tourism, and Tony Burke, Shadow Minister for the Arts.

New PM demonstrates the importance of Business Events on Day 1

The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) congratulates the new Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, and his team on their election victory over the weekend. BECA looks forward to working with the new Labor government on business events industry recovery and growth over the next term.

Hopefully the new government will not treat tourism, the arts and events with the same disdain as the previous one.

When Tony Burke launched Labor’s arts policy he pledged more transparent funding to arts and cultural institutions, an examination of a national insurance scheme to protect the live performance sector from further shutdowns.

Now, if only the tourism, arts and event sectors could form combined voice to parliament, because they are all interlinked along with accommodation and hospitality.

More funding, more local stories: Arts sector lobbies Labor for a lifeline – Arts Hub

Ahead of Saturday’s poll, Labor’s likely incoming arts minister Tony Burke said the party would examine an insurance scheme for live events and develop a national cultural policy.

Ahead of his departure from the MCEC, Peter King reflects on the previous 2.5 years in this opinion piece

Transforming our business in challenging times 

If you told me in 2019 of the challenges that lay ahead of our business at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) I would never have believed you. The pandemic presented existential questions about the future of our business. We had to close our doors for events for the first time since we opened more than 25 years ago. Our very successful business fundamentally changed overnight. Rather than stand still and wait for the doors to open, like some businesses, we used it as an opportunity to transform how MCEC works. 

So that’s it for this week as I go back to monitoring the website