Alarm Bells And Red Flags
The loss of the iconic Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach surfing classic from Victoria to New South Wales is a damning indictment on the Victorian Government and an alarm for other investment and events.
The decision has happened less than two months out from the Easter weekend and is due to an apparent failure of the government to organise quarantine for the international surfers.
Liberal Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, said it’s a shocking decision.
“Any way you look at it – this decision is simply awful,” Mrs McArthur said.
“The real questions is - why wouldn’t this just be the start?
“Why wouldn’t organisers of other events also head north to NSW where that state has taken a fundamentally sensible approach to life with the Coronavirus?
“NSW doesn’t close doors or borders, it opens them. It makes things happen. It handles the problem rather than handballing the problem.”
“The fickle and fractured Andrews Government has some explaining to do – especially when the NSW Government can make it happen.
“It’s more border madness – and again – it’s regional Victorians paying the price and the Premier’s pockets are untouched.”
Mrs McArthur said the decision is damaging for the Surf Coast economy, already devastated by the Andrews Government’s lockdown and lockout attitude.
“There are businesses that rely on this event – it is their make or break given the $8 million that the Pro brings to the region every year,” she said.
Mrs McArthur said the decision exposes enormous cracks in the Andrews Government’s capacity to deal with the ongoing risks of the Coronavirus.
“The question is this: what is next?
“This will send alarm bells to the rest of the world.
“Anyone looking to invest here, or run an event here, will have to ask themselves is it worth it? Is the risk too great?
“Alongside snap-of-the finger border closure decisions, more than 800 deaths due to its quarantine disaster and the complete failure of anyone at the top to know what’s going on – the message to the world is that the Victorian Government is unreliable, incompetent and untrustworthy.
“The Surf Coast region – and all Victorians – have the right to know who made this decision.
“The Australian Open has been made possible - but not this event in regional Victoria.
“It is not only hypocrisy, but a total disgrace.”
8 February 2021
