Nothing has changed

Once more, the Property Council and other business groups from across the Hunter are being forced to spend time, money and effort objecting to an application from Newcastle’s Lord Mayor to have a public holiday declared for the 2016 Newcastle Regional Show.

This is despite the NSW Treasurer and Minister for Industrial Relations rejecting the same application made by the Lord Mayor for the 2015 show.

The Minister’s decision was based on a cost benefit analysis undertaken by The Callaghan Institute which found the productivity of Australia’s largest regional capital would be crippled by a local public holiday. The cost impost on business was estimated at up to $16.9 million for just one day.

Council’s application will argue that workers given a public holiday will choose to attend the Newcastle Regional Show and that their spending will cause a positive economic impact.

But the Callaghan Institute’s report showed that in 2011, when the former NSW Labor Government last granted a Newcastle Show Public Holiday, only 5% of the city’s adult working population attended the show.

It means the Lord Mayor and others expect the business community to pay close to $17 million for less than $100,000 in gate takings from around 4,000 workers. This can hardly be described as a positive result for the city.

Instead of needlessly penalising Hunter businesses, the Lord Mayor should be asking Council’s own Tourism and Economic Development Unit to develop and implement a marketing program to raise awareness of the Newcastle Regional Show and drive attendance.

Twelve months ago, The Newcastle Herald’s Editorial opined that a Newcastle Regional Show Public Holiday would be an “anachronism in an age of increasing workforce flexibility.” Nothing has changed.