New polls suggest inequity in funding of Hobart events

The inequity of the burden faced by ratepayers in the greater Hobart area has been highlighted in a survey showing nearly two thirds of the community accept ratepayers beyond just the Hobart municipality should contribute to financially support Dark MOFO and The Taste of Tasmania.

The results are part of an EMRS survey of some 600 residents of the greater Hobart area conducted for the Property Council of Australia which also found while 77 per cent of respondents supported Hobart Council ratepayers sponsoring The Taste of Tasmania and 74 per cent support sponsoring Dark MOFO, only 41 per cent supported the North Melbourne sponsorship initiative.

Tasmanian Executive Director, Brian Wightman, said the results highlighted the inequity in the greater Hobart region, where ratepayers in Hobart were asked to support events that benefited the whole region, including events in other municipalities with little support from other councils.

“Why is it just the city of Hobart that supports so many events, while other nearby municipalities such as Kingborough, Brighton, Glenorchy, Clarence and Sorell get to reap the benefits also?” Mr Wightman said.

“This highlights the madness of having five to six councils covering the greater Hobart region when one could do just as good a job, after all, having a 29 councils for a population of 516,000 is simply too many.

“The whole region and even the state reap the benefits of events such as the AFL, Dark MOFO and The Taste so it is inequitable that they are funded by the Hobart City Council ratepayers alone.

“There are no restrictions put on who is allowed to attend these events, they are not exclusively for Hobart ratepayers, so why should they be landed with the financial burden.”

Mr Wightman said it was also interesting to note sponsorship of North Melbourne AFL games at Bellerive Oval received considerably less support, with only 41 per cent of respondents stating the Hobart City Council should support it, while just over half of respondents stated that they opposed it all together (51 per cent) and tended to do so “strongly”.

 

The results at a glance:

Do you support or oppose Hobart City Council ratepayers providing sponsorship or financial support for?

Would you like to see other council rate payers contributing to the financial support of?

Media contact:  Brian Wightman  |M  0429 073 773  |E  [email protected]