Australian music legends join forces in ‘vax the nation’ campaign

Dozens of the biggest names in the Australian music industry have joined forces for a pro-vaccination advertising campaign launched on Monday.

Tim Minchin, Jimmy Barnes, Amy Shark, Paul Kelly and the Hilltop Hoods are just some of the more than 200 acts who have joined forces with major Australian record labels, ticketing agencies, tour promoters and festival organisers for the #Vaxthenation campaign.

Calling on Australians to get vaccinated against Covid-19 to “stop the interruptions” and end the cycle of lockdowns, the campaign will roll out advertisements on national television and through social media.

#Vaxthenation is the initiative of the newly formed LIVE (Live Industry Venues + Entertainment) alliance, representing an industry that has been one of the hardest hit by lockdowns and border closures in the past 18 months.

The alliance said 79,000 jobs in the live performance industry had disappeared by the end of 2020, and $23.6bn of economic output lost.

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On Saturday, the chief executive of Live Performance Australia, Evelyn Richardson, warned that major live shows would be unable to return until 85% capacity was permitted by state governments.

“While there may be some smaller productions that could operate at less than that, they would be very small in number,” she told Nine media.

“Any commercial event, be it musical, theatre, concert or festival, can’t operate financially at less than 85%.”