By Rachael Dexter and Melissa Cunningham
Melbourne is set to lose another live music venue this month after the hotel was hit with a 300 per cent increase to public liability insurance and as the state government considers offering struggling venues a lifeline.
The impending closure of The Bendigo Hotel on Johnston Street in Collingwood comes as the peak body for live music venues, Music Victoria, confirmed talks were underway with the state government to give venues access to the state-owned insurance company.
Collingwood’s Bendigo Hotel will close its doors.Credit: Luis Ascui
The venue, a longtime home of metal music in Melbourne – affectionately known as “The Bendi”– will call last drinks at the end of March, publican Guy Palermo announced this week after 14 years running the venue.
“The whole industry – we’re on our knees at the moment,” Palermo said.
Despite weathering the storm of COVID, Palermo’s rent at the 113-year-old heritage-listed Edwardian-style brick hotel has jumped 30 per cent, while his public liability insurance has jumped 300 per cent from about $20,000 a year to $80,000 since 2020.
Palermo said he hasn’t made a single public liability insurance claim in 14 years of trading. Even then, only two insurers were willing to insure the venue – for no less than $80,000.
“It’s criminal,” he said. “The mafia would not get away with this shit. It’s incredible.”
Inflation has also made a major impact on patronage; Palermo said both foot traffic and spending per person were down 40 to 50 per cent compared to pre-COVID, while costs had jumped by a similar amount.
“Alcohol keeps going up, there’s a beer tax – but we can’t put prices up any more, because punters don’t have money,” he said.
“For example, if we had a sold-out show for 300 people, we would take 30 per cent less over the bar now than what we used to,” he said.
“Most of our punters are in their 30s and 40s – they all have mortgages too, so they are spending less. I feel sorry for them – they’re hurting, but I can’t go on any more.
“I just have to close the doors and settle my debts before we lose the house.”
The Age has previously reported skyrocketing insurance premiums have led to strict “no dancing while drinking” conditions at The Old Bar in Fitzroy, contributed to the closure of rock venue Whole Lotta Love Bar in Brunswick East, and pushed many others to the brink of closure.
Music Victoria chief Simone Schinkel said her organisation was discussing the prospect of getting venues access to the state-owned Victorian Management Insurance Authority as the sector was in crisis.
Melbourne’s home of heavy metal only has two weeks of trading left.Credit: The Bendigo Hotel (Facebook)
“We’ve proved there’s been a market failure here,” she said, calling for all music venues to complete a current survey about their insurance hikes over the past five years that can be used as evidence to the government.
“We have [the government’s] ear. We’re now just gathering further evidence. There are so many factors [affecting premiums], but we really have left no stone unturned before turning to the government.
“The urgency is more pressing in Melbourne than [in] other parts of the country. We are seeing venues close now.”
The state government has been approached for comment.
Guy Palermo outside the Bendigo Hotel in 2013.Credit: Simon O’Dwyer
The Bendigo Hotel sits within the City of Yarra, a municipality that is home to the second-highest number of live music venues after the City of Melbourne.
A council meeting this week confirmed the council could not issue council-backed insurance to venues, after a request last month from independent councillor Stephen Jolly.
Jolly, who is friends with Palermo, said he was devastated by the closure and warned it would not be the last venue to succumb to the rising costs in Melbourne.
“It is time for the state and federal governments to step up,” he said. “Where does this end? The Bendigo is an iconic venue, a Melbourne institution.”
Palermo said metal bands like Harlott, Alice Remains, Mortiis, Forklift Assassins and System Of A Don’t offered to play gigs for free during the last two weeks of The Bendigo’s trade to help pay down some of the venue’s debts.
“My main problem is I feel sorry for the punters, the community, they lose their home,” Palermo said. “I’m trying to get someone to take it on and buy it so they can continue what was there.”
“This is probably one of the most well-known heavy metal bars in Australia, and the community is like-minded. It’s one of the most tight-knit communities you could find.”
He echoed calls for a major intervention on insurance to save live music in Melbourne.
“If they don’t want to keep losing live music venues, someone has to do something,” he said. “It’s too late for me, but it’s not too late for others.”
When contacted by this masthead, the state government did not comment on whether it was considering using its own insurer to secure coverage for live music venues at an accessible price.
However, Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brook has previously stated that regulating the insurance industry occurred at a federal level.
Brooks said last month “our vibrant live music venues are the lifeblood of many communities across Victoria” and pointed to $34 million in the last budget to support 10,000 gigs at local music venues across metro and regional Victoria.
The federal government has been contacted for comment.
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