Government of South Australia refuses to disclose fees paid to James Morrison and his son for 2016 taxpayer-funded trip to China, holds no formal documentation for $1,500 music award given to son
L-R: The Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia, David Lloyd, Rick Allert AO, former Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill, James Morrison AM, Mayor of Mount Gambier Andrew Lee, and Judi Morrison at the opening of the James Morrison Academy of Music in March 2015. (Source: James Morrison Academy of Music via Facebook)
The South Australian Government refuses to disclose the amount of fees paid to musician James Morrison and his son for a taxpayer-funded trip they took to China in 2016 with the former Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill, and holds no official documentation or records of application processes followed prior to awarding Morrison's son funding for music work in the same year.
Documents released by the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet under freedom of information law show a State Government delegation of 160 people travelled to 5 cities in China’s Shandong province between April 4 and April 10, 2016, as part of a trade-focused networking trip lead by the Premier entitled the "South Australian-Shandong 30th Year Anniversary Mission".
In a public statement given to regional newspaper The Border Watch in April 2016, Premier Weatherill said the trip was about “creating jobs and deepening the friendship with our largest trading partner."
The state of South Australia and the Shandong province are connected through a sister state relationship, which has been in place for over 30 years.
James Morrison was contracted by Department of the Premier and Cabinet to join the trip for several days, travelling to the city of Qingdao to perform for 30 minutes at a networking event, and Jinan to perform at another dinner event, following the guitarist Slava Grigoryan. Morrison travelled with four supporting musicians in tow, including his son, William.
The Department refused to release the total amount of costs and fees paid to James Morrison for the trip, stating in response to a freedom of information application that his rates were "variable", and that Morrison's clients "are required to keep the fee confidential as to reveal it would reasonably be expected to have an adverse effect on the maximum established fee rate this third party [Morrison] charges for their services."
"Whilst I acknowledge the public interest factors around transparency of Government spending on promotional material, I believe in this instance it is important that third parties are not adversely effected by disclosure of their business affairs," their response reads.
Part of the SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet’s response to a freedom of information application regarding fees paid to James Morrison as part of the Premier’s April 2016 trip to China. (Source: Government of South Australia)
FIRST CLASS AND A FRUIT PLATE
Contracts between Morrison and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet released under freedom of information law, however, show a list of taxpayer-funded demands Morrison made of the Department while finalising arrangements for the trip to China.
The contracts from 2016, which appear to have been released in a draft format, show Morrison stating that he required "first class" ground transport and hotel accommodation, a grand or baby grand piano for his "exclusive use", all costs to be covered for his use of stage, sound and lighting equipment, a fruit plate to be provided for him "exclusively", dressing rooms, and hot food of "QUALITY" as part of his contract with the State Government.
Part of the contract between the Government of South Australia and James Morrison. (Source: Government of South Australia)
Other members of the South Australian Government delegation on the China trip included Premier Weatherill, the Minister for Regional Development, Geoff Brock, and the Premier's Chief of Staff, Dan Romeo. The three men played crucial roles in gifting Morrison $550,000 of taxpayer funds for his private company, the James Morrison Academy of Music, in 2015 from a South Australian regional development fund without Morrison having to follow the application processes required of other citizens.
The James Morrison Academy funding announcement came 3 months after a business associate of Morrison's, Rick Allert AO, met with Romeo in July 2014 and wrote a letter four days later requesting the funds on Morrison's behalf.
10 months after the July 2014 meeting between Allert and Romeo, Morrison put his name to a regional funding application submitted to the South Australian Government seeking $16 million for another music education venture in his name, listing the State Government as a member of an advisory committee for the project.
OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THESE
The South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet holds no official records of the application processes that led to James Morrison's son, William Morrison, receiving $1,500 in government funds for writing a piece of music for a State Government tourism campaign in 2016, according to the Department's response to a freedom of information application.
The funds were awarded by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, while William Morrison was a student at the James Morrison Academy of Music.
The money formed part of a prize for a State Government competition which required students to write a five-minute piece of music to accompany a government tourism video about the relationship between South Australian and China’s Shandong province, according to a 2016 email released by the Department, with the winning entry to be recorded and used in the tourism campaign.
No records of any advertisements or panel selection processes for the award exist, according to the Department of the Premier's response to a freedom of information application, suggesting the opportunity was not advertised to students in South Australia outside of those studying with James Morrison at his music school.
A spokesperson for the South Australian Tourism Commission stated yesterday that the Commission “[didn’t] have the details of the exact competition you are referring to” and “[couldn’t] find any information” relating to the competition or payments made to William Morrison.
“If an artist recorded some work which was to be featured in a campaign, we would typically pay for the rights for that,” said the Tourism Commission spokesperson, “and $1500 is within the bounds of what is commercial for global rights for a track.”
The only record held by the Department of the Premier relating to the William Morrison music award was a 2016 email sent by an employee of James Morrison's to 3 senior staff at the University of South Australia, which stated the competition received 10 applications, though the Department of the Premier released no evidence of multiple applications.
The email, which was released by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet under freedom of information law, suggests the opportunity was awarded to William Morrison at the same time as other James Morrison Academy students were beginning their studies for the year in late February, and 5 weeks before he left on the taxpayer-funded trip with his father—along with then-Premier Jay Weatherill and the State Government delegation—to the Shandong province in China as part of the Premier's Mission trip in April 2016.
"The SA Department of Premier and Cabinet have just awarded a James Morrison Academy student $1,500 for the composition of a piece of music to accompany an advertisement campaign celebrating the relationship between South Australia and Shandong Province in China," the email reads. "10 students submitted entries and a panel selected a winner."
The email that forms the only record the SA Government has of awarding a music prize to a James Morrison Academy student, William Morrison. (Source: Government of South Australia)
The email was written by an employee of James Morrison's, Alexie Jell, who at the time worked for two of Morrison's private companies—as "Executive Artist Manager" at James Morrison Enterprises Pty Ltd, and "Head of Corporate Relationships" at the James Morrison Academy of Music Pty Ltd.
Jell invited the Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia, David Lloyd, to a proposed recording of William Morrison's tourism music piece in Adelaide in March 2016, which James Morrison, along with another of his sons, Harry Morrison, participated in.
The University of South Australia covered the March recording for a marketing article but did not address the source of the award given to William Morrison, apart from mentioning his work had been “selected by a panel”.
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet did not comment on the cost of the recording or whether additional fees had been paid to the Morrisons to participate in the recording.
According to a staff profile for William Morrison, who has since been employed by his parents as a lecturer at the James Morrison Academy of Music, he "won" the South Australian Government music award over other applicants.
"Having completed a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance and a Bachelor of Arts with first class Honours, William now spends his time touring, composing and teaching," his staff profile reads. "A prolific composer, he has won a number of awards, including being chosen by the South Australian Government for a promotional campaign in China."
An article published on April 5, 2016, by the regional newspaper The Border Watch, based in Mount Gambier, suggested that in addition to receiving to the $1,500, William Morrison had been invited to travel to China with the State Government to perform the piece he had written.
The SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet's response to a freedom of information application suggests no documentation exists outlining William Morrison’s role or responsibilities on the Government trip.
In a statement given to The Border Watch for the article—which also referenced statements from Premier Weatherill—James Morrison said that the opportunity given to his son was the type of opportunity he "knew would happen" when he had opened his music school one year earlier.
"Opportunities like these for our students do not go unnoticed," he said. "I always knew things like this would happen when I first started the academy."
"Some things you plan, other the opportunity just arises," he continued, "but I think if you do something really well and have a passion for it people will notice that and want you to be involved," he went on.
"It could have been a faceless thing, the government could have easily commissioned some company to do the music, but this shows a whole lot more care and promotes our region in a special way," he told the newspaper.
According to the article, he said the South Australian Government tourism campaign featuring his son's composition would "make a lasting impression on overseas counterparts.”
The Border Watch article also revealed that 3 other James Morrison Academy of Music students had been invited on the Government trip to China in April 2016, and that one purpose of the trip had been Morrison promoting Mount Gambier as a "jazz capital” of Australia by having the students perform.
In November 2019, Morrison told The Age that his Academy would be ceasing to accept enrolments for his three-year Bachelor degree music program, which was first offered in partnership with the University of South Australia in 2016.
WORK FOR FREE
The former Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill (left) and James Morrison AM (seated) at the opening of the James Morrison Academy of Music in March 2015. (Source: James Morrison Academy of Music via Facebook)
The type of opportunities presented by the SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the South Australian Tourism Commission to the Morrison family in 2016 do not appear to have been extended since to other South Australian musicians.
In 2018, the South Australian Tourism Commission attracted criticism from the local music community after South Australian musicians were asked by an advertising agency to volunteer their work for a South Australian tourism campaign named “Rewards Wonder” for free. The campaign contract, awarded to the Melbourne advertising firm TBWA, was worth $4.95 million.
A screengrab from the 2018 South Australian tourism campaign Rewards Wonder. (Source: Government of South Australia)
Later, the South Australian Tourism Commission backtracked, offering musicians a minimal rate of $150. As reported by an online publication based in Adelaide, InDaily, in return for this fee, musicians were expected to provide the Commission with a “non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide licence” to use their work, giving the Commission endless licence to reproduce their work online and at public events.
A spokesperson for the South Australia Tourism Commission at the time told InDaily that musician involvement was "entirely voluntary."
James Morrison, William Morrison, the South Australian Tourism Commission and the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet were contacted for comment.