Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd may have drawn some criticism on his asylum seeker deal with Papua New Guinea, but he has gained the support of the local music industry when he announced that the Labor government will allot funds worth $560,000 to establish a National Office for Live Music in three years.

As promised by PM Kevin Rudd, the money will also be used to form a national task force who will be in in charge of developing strategies to support Australian live music.

Mr Rudd has attended a SLAM fundraiser dinner in Melbourne. Other guests in the said event were television stars Andrew Denton and Matt Preston, frontman for Jebediah Kevin Mitchell and Gotye. Mr. Rudd announced his plans of boosting the Australian live music scene after the event.

Kevin Mitchell will be part of a group of artists in Australia who have been appointed as "live music ambassadors" in their respective states. Dave Faulkner and Stavros Yiannoukas of Bluejuice will promote Australian live music for NSW and Katie Noonan as music ambassador for Queensland.

Suffa of Hilltop Hoods will be the representative of South Australia while Leah Flanagan will promote live music in the Northern Territory. Western Australia will have Kav Temperley of Eskimo Joe as music ambassador while Dewayne Everett-Smith will be representing Tasmania.

As Victoria's music ambassador, Mr Mitchell said he owed what he has now especially his "job" and friends to the live music scene in Australia. He has sent a message to all the young bands in Australia. Mr Mitchell said when he first started playing with his band, Jebediah, in Perth in 1995, they didn't talk about making records. He and his band members were just thinking about playing their music at their favourite venues where they used to see their favourite bands play.

Mr Rudd's decision to support Australian live music is a big boost to the local music industry. Live music venues have been in decline due to the liquor-licensing laws and dwindling profits. Mr. Rudd's plan may just be the ticket to help him get the votes of young Australians between the ages of 18 and 25 who, according to a poll, said no political party best represents them.

Check out this file video of a SLAM Rally three years ago to save Australian Live Music:

RELATED STORIES