House Of Mince forced to relocate White Bay Power Station event due to police costs

Only a week after Mode Festival's own story of user paid policing costs, and its extensive coverage in both the media and in NSW's state parliament, today much beloved queer event House Of Mince has announced its own need to pivot due to user paid policing costs.

Read: Mode Festival forced to pay for NSW Police with arts grant funding

LOVE COME SET ME FREE is a collaborative event between Mince and Bad Dog, which was set to take place in the newly opened White Bay Power Station on Sunday, October 6.

The power station has sat dormant for decades, and been the subject of a prolonged debate among Eora/Sydney's residents and government. While many in the arts community feared it would ultimately become luxury accommodation, given its location right on Eora's harbour, the relic has seen a recent rejuvenation as a venue housing events like Ministry Of Sound, Eora's Biennale, and much more.

This last week saw many applaud Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, in his announcement that "the conversion of White Bay Power Station to the nation’s best arts and cultural venue can be made permanent."

Mince's announcement this morning however, comes as an unfortunate reminder that the state's policies, particularly in regard to its user paid policing and classification of events as "subject", are clearly out of step with this pro-art and culture thinking.

"...being classified as a "Subject Event" under NSW legislation just felt wrong," Mince explained in a statement on their social channels. "We are not a high risk event but have been classified as such due to the capacity. The forced “user pay” payment for Police and all the extra compliance costs made it financially impossible to put on an event like this in the amount of time available."

LOVE COME SET ME FREE has thankfully found a new home in the basement of 15 Broadway Ultimo, with the promoters offering partial or refunds to current ticket holders.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ’s Managing Editor, find him on Instagram.