Chief Minister Gallagher is letting us know she’s thrilled by news Summernats have exercised their option to return to Exhibition Park next year.
The event organisers, Out There Productions, have taken an option on their current two year contract to extend the event at EPIC for one more year.
The ACT Government has been a strong supporter of Summernats and has provided $105,000 over three years through the Events Assistance Program for business development, marketing and promotion of the event.
Organisers are confident that this year’s event has seen an increase in crowd numbers, however the swell in attendance has not seen an increase in any trouble, with ACT Police happy with behaviour overall.
“The ACT Government has been working closely with the Summernats organisers to assist with this year’s event and the return of the modified and very successful City Cruise down Northbourne Ave is another example of this partnership,” the Chief Minister said.
“I look forward to working with Summernats organisers over the coming months to make sure the festival remains a feature of the Canberra holiday season.”
Kind of blows the negotiating position out of the water.
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Yippee – not!
I had a great time at the Nats on saturday, looking forward to the same again next year.
Can I just ask why the government is providing money to a for-profit business to run this when there a myriad of other issues that would be better funded. Junior sport, homelessness ($105k could pay rent for a family for 3-4 years), pedestrian awareness campaign.
If the bogans want Summernats, they can pay. If it brings in money for the local economy then the businesses that make money off it can sponsor it. I am willing to bet the hotels/motels in Canberra made more than $105k in profit in one year from Summernats.
The ACT government will endorse summernats, but couldn’t be bothered with a much higher profile event like the V8 supercar race….
I should not be surprised I guess.
watto23 said :
There is the little matter that one costs a few hundred k in sponsorship and services, the other no doubt would cost several million.
qbngeek said :
Where have you been? Belco Man has been whinging about all of this last week in the other Summernats thread.
Summernats isnt the only profitable sporting (& I use that term loosely) organiseation that recieves funding. You mention football, bothe NRL & AFL locally have recieved funding but their backyards are definately not squeaky clean.
At least there seems to be a slight turn around towards motoring events form the days of Jon Stanhope, at least Katie seems to want to promote a large motoring event rather that shut it down ala V8 Supercars.
Its a pity the ROC cant get better event locations other than Kowen.
I personally disagree that Floriade is wholley government funded but as I said in the other thread, I dont get on here & piss & moan about just because it something I dont want to do.
KB1971 said :
I don’t think people ‘piss and moan’ because it’s not something that interests them. More that government funding goes to an event where this sort of behaviour is acceptable: http://the-riotact.com/tits-out-request-from-15yr-olds-with-poll/63180#comments
NRL, AFL etc may not have clean backyards, but I’m yet to see a sign like that out at a Brumbies match.
This year’s seemed relatively innocuous. The hoon quotient increased by a couple of notches but, compared to previous years, it didn’t seem too bad.
Eppo said :
I guess you haven’t been listening to the crowd too closely then have you. I didnt know government funding and morality was so closely linked.
And Im pretty sure it’s exactly why they piss and moan about. Like a whole weekend is such a blight on their existence.
KB1971 – yep, Stanhope Govt seemed to have a hatred of motorsport closing down every venue possible.
Providing some funding to Summernats, Floriade, the Raiders, Brumbies or GWS is something governments should do. They should also support artistic endeavours and other social events.
The key thing is to ensure that the provision of that cash assists in providing the residents of (and visitors to) Canberra with a diverse range of events, activities and experiences. Not all of us will go to everything on offer. But it is important for communities to have a broad range of things to do, see and experience.
$100k for an event that gets 90 000 people through the gate is probably not a bad investment whatever that event may be.
KB1971 said :
The AFL, NRL etc shouldn’t receive government funding either. Two, or more, wrongs don’t make a right.
It’s really, really, really not my thing and the noise is obnoxiously loud from my backyard, I didn’t like having to wait ages at the register of our local IGA while the SN punters paid for their grog – but was glad a local business was profiting, and I was quite shocked when I went to our fave dog walking spot and had to decide to just turn back because the smog was so thick and toxic. But live and let live, hey… And I actually didn’t see or hear any hooning in our local streets at all this year.
Though that toxic smoke thing… I would not subject my lungs to it for even 20 minutes, let alone that I would take my young child to breath that in for a day.
AG Canberra said :
Absolutely. Its cheap compared to the V8 Supercars.
I really dont have a big problem with events like Floriade, each to their own. It the haters who stand up & ridicule events that dont suit them that get on my goat.
The new owners are trying to change the event, Rome wasn’t built in a day, give them a break.
@ Bikhet – Why is it wrong? I am just saying that every organiseation should get a go if they meet the critera for funding. People are saying Summernats should not get it because of the bogans, hell, Cricket has been trying to control its idiots for years…………
If the justification for gov’t funding of an ostensibly profit-making event is that local businesses benefit from the increased custom…. um wouldn’t it be cheaper and more efficient for the gov’t to wander around dishing money straight to the businesses, rather than having to do it via the rather more complicated route of Summernats?
Wow the government gave summernats $100,000 and it was predicted to pump 1.5 to 2 million back into the local economy. Sounds like a government made a good investment with its funding.
johny said :
A great investment if you’re one of the businesses specifically benefitting, a pretty lousy one for everyone else.
johnboy said :
So we can then assume that every dollar the gov spends needs to directly benefit every member of the community. No need to build any new suburbs then as I already have a house.
daddy said :
A particularly poor analogy as the government makes money from land release.
johny said :
Actually the figures I’ve seen estimate between $12 and $15 million dollars injected into the local economy for each event. Suggesting the Government should find and distribute that kind of cash to local businesses rather than pitch $100k at Summernats is absurd.
Sadly the ‘nats is battling a bad reputation, but I have confidence that the new owners are slowly turning things around. The willingness of patrons to accept change is their biggest obstacle.
Keep in mind the fact that the $105k figure mentioned is over 3 years, not per annum. I don’t know whether that $35k per year truly makes a difference when it comes to Summernats deciding to stick with Canberra, or head elsewhere, but we’re not talking about the difference between shutting down a school or not…it’s not money that could add another nurse, or hospital bed, or any of the other multitude of things that the hand wringing brigade like to bring up.
If the government wants to spend that amount of money on an event that benefits the local economy by millions of dollars, then good on them. If you’re so worried about $35k a year, why not try to convince them to give up a couple of government funded cars, or reduce government waste, instead of pulling support for an event that while not everyone’s cup of tea, undoubtedly brings money into Canberra at a time when the locals are off spending theirs down the coast.
johnboy said :
Sorry – my use of the term ‘investment’ was not in the financial sense but in the cultural sense.
If we start down the path of doing cost benefit analysis for every gov grant then nothing will ever be handed out (and the Raiders, Brumbies, Capitals, and Canberra United will quickly find themselves broke.)
johnboy said :
+1
thatsnotme said :
$105k may not add another hospital bed, however it would pay for approx 500 underprivaleged kids to play soccer or football (including the cost of boots) becuase their parents can’t afford the ever increasing fees. I can tell you know that we (barely) manage to run an archery club on $2500-3000 per year. We also provide free services to archers, cater for the disabled and assist young people to become involved in sport. Summernats does none of that, it exists purely to make money.
My complaint is not with the ACT Council providing money to an event. It is that it is providing money to an event that is wholly owned by a private company who are in it to make a profit. Last time I checked Floriade had free entry and the event was not owned by a private business. I have issues with many other private companies who get susidised such as the NRL/AFL/Union teams. All that money would do much more good in the community.
AG Canberra said :
So what did we get for our ‘culteral investment’ of $105k? You can’t use the figures of what was apparently injected into the local economy as you have said it is cultural not financial. So now I want to know how Summernats 2012 has improved our culture?
I personally don’t think that a cruise down Northbourne and some 12-15 year olds with ‘Tits Out’ signs is enough return on investment. I think we get more from Owl/Penis scupltures, at least they leave us with something permanent.
The timeless impression that giant cocks live amongst us.
johnboy said :
Except for those locals who work for said businesses and any local suppliers of goods and/or services to said businesses and the businesses where these employees and suppliers spend their money…. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
johnboy said :
Only if those businesses hide it under their mattresses and don’t feed it into the territory’s economy.
watto23 said :
The V8 supercars were far more disruptive with several streets blocked off in the Parliamentry Triangle so the NIMBYs didn’t like it plus it was held in the middle of winter therefore attendances were down. The Summernats is held in the warmer weather and for the most part is contained within EPIC so less disruptive to the general public plus it has more add-on events like rock concerts and Miss Summernats competitions and so is a bigger event (but has been going 25 years so has evolved).
The only similarity is they are both motorsport related, they are quite different events; like comparing a Bonsai show to Floriade.
johnboy said :
They can stop with the cycle lanes, I walk or drive to work.
qbngeek said :
It’s a cultural ‘experience’ for the 90 000 people that went to Summernats. Some may have enjoyed the experience and other may hagve not. Just like those that attend Floriade or watch the Raiders and Brumbies get flogged each week.