News  & Media

No Rally Group media release

Sunday, August 29 2010

Review rearview: A lost opportunity for a leap of faith 

The No Rally Group (NRG) has been approached by the Homebush Motor Racing Authority (HMRA) to work with them to help ensure the smooth return of the World Rally Championship to the Northern Rivers in September 2011. 

The overtures to join a working group were made at a meeting between the two groups held in Murwillumbah on Friday. 

As a result of that meeting NRG has affirmed its commitment to support sustainable and community focussed events in the Northern Rivers. 

In doing so the group restated its total opposition to the running of a round of the World Rally Championship through the Northern Rivers. 

The rally ran in September last year through parts of Tweed and Kyogle Shires and is scheduled to return every second year for up to twenty years. 

“What part of No don’t they understand?” spokesperson Michael McNamara asked. 

“We are the No Rally Group – not the Least Worst Rally Group.” 

“Recently released figures on local tourism show that the rally and the related broadcasts around the world have not led to the touted increase in overseas tourists claimed by rally organisers.” 

“Figures for the March quarter recently made public by Tweed Tourism revealed that overseas visitor numbers and overnight stays in the Tweed had actually dropped in the first three months of this year.” 

“The rally has certainly not led to the claimed increase in visitors – and they can’t blame the global economic downturn because it was here when they made their claims.” 

“It has been amply demonstrated that low impact, sustainable events can make a major and lasting contribution to the local economy without causing the massive social division associated with the rally,” Mr McNamara said. 

“For instance, the recent surf life saving championships at Kingscliff attracted more visitors than the claimed (and misleading) attendance figures for the rally.”

 “Events such as the Tyalgum Festival of Classical Music, the Banana Festival in Murwillumbah, the Tour de Tweed cycling event, the Kingscliff Triathlon and the Surf Life Saving Championships show the way forward.” 

“Other local initiatives coming forward through groups such as the Caldera Institute for Sustainable Community Development will have a lasting impact on local economic wellbeing.” 

“I challenge the Council and the state government to take the lead in establishing and supporting this type of event instead of the divisive and questionable type of event the rally represents.” 

The HMRA representatives, CEO Bryan Hardman and General Manager Stakeholder Relations Chris Bastic, were sent to the Northern Rivers by State Treasurer, and Minister responsible for the rally, Eric Roozendaal, to discuss the recently released review of the rally with stakeholders. 

“It came as quite a surprise when the last thing they wanted to talk about was the review,” Mr McNamara said. 

“It was ‘the elephant in the room’ and they certainly did not want to talk about it.” 

“They were obviously aware of its shortcomings.”

“The review report is full of judgements and perjorative statements and claims without any discussion or evidence to back them up.”

“It is lacking in any detailed or deep analysis of the submissions received. The analysis seems to be limited to counting the numbers for and against.”

“Undue weight is given to the opinions of those with vested financial interests in the rally proceeding (RRA, Events NSW, Chambers of Commerce etc).”

“The report refers to costs but does not specify them - we are none the wiser about the actual costs of staging the event.”

“The report continues the absolute exclusion of Aboriginal people in the Tweed from any consultation.”

Mr Hardman and Mr Bastic proposed that all the ‘mistakes’ of the last 12 months be put behind us and start with a ‘clean slate’ in organising next year’s event.”

“This proposition flies in the face of reason and common sense,” said Mr McNamara. 

“If you want to start with a clean slate, then first you must clean the slate.” 

“How do we put behind us the lies and deception that characterised the organisation and running of the rally?” 

“They want us to sit at the table with the very people who have ridden roughshod over this area for the last 18 months without any steps being taken to redress the harm that has been done to this community.” 

“We had no choice but to reject the overtures.” 

“Community trust was destroyed by the rally organisers and the state government last year.” 

“The government needs to start to rebuild that trust.” 

“We have asked them to start rebuilding that trust by: 

·         publicly releasing the amount of the public funds given to rally organisers by Events NSW

·         releasing the total cost to the taxpayer of the support from government departments and agencies such as Police, Ambulance, RTA, Fire and other services

·         impartially enforcing what laws remain in place after the ‘special legislation’

·         funding a comprehensive ecological study that considers the impact of stress on native wildlife, the impact of running the event in the breeding season and the cumulative impacts of running the event every two years for up to twenty years

·         holding the rally organisers accountable to their promises and commitments

·         commissioning a truly independent and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis

·         admitting that the published attendance figures are misleading and publishing a more realistic estimate of visitor numbers

·         taking action against rally drivers and supporters for breaches of traffic laws during the event.” 

“We made the point to the HMRA representatives that our group had spent much time and effort last year meeting with them to discuss options for a genuinely independent and thorough review – all to no effect.” 

“We also pointed out that we had initiated meetings with police to develop a protest protocol and liaison process that agreed on specific legal protest actions, only to see police acting in a very partisan way.” 

“The police actions and inactions of that weekend have formed the basis of a formal complaint to the Ombudsman which has led to a review of police actions.” 

“After releasing a pathetically inadequate and gratuitously insulting review report, I find it hard to comprehend that HMRA should think it is ‘business as usual.’” 

“No Rally Group supports appropriate development and opposes inappropriate development and sees the rally as a specific example of the latter.” 

“One reason the rally gained traction in the public mind and in the media is that it represents, for many in this community, everything that is wrong with planning and development in NSW in general and the Tweed Shire in particular.” 

“I assure the many community members who have supported us in this struggle that we will continue to oppose the rally with every legal means at our disposal,” Mr McNamara said.

2010       

         August 

            Rally Review Raises Questions
          Northern Rivers Echo, 26 August 2010  PDF 1   PDF2

GREENS MLC TO MAINTAIN THE RAGE AGAINST RALLY MOTORSPORT
http://www.nbntv.com.au/index.php/2010/08/28/greens-mlc-to-maintain-the-rage-against-rally-motorsport/

Formula one 'hoon' Lewis Hamilton cops $500 fine over Grand Prix burnout Megan Levy August 24, 2010 - 11:48AM
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/formula-one-hoon-lewis-hamilton-...


Review on rally ‘rubbery' Patrick Williams | 23rd August 2010 
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/08/23/review-on-rally-rubbery/


Rally Review Tabled: Homebush Motor Racing Authority media release (embargoed till 5PM the day before the federal election)
http://hmra.nsw.gov.au/HMRA%20Publications/2009%20Repco%20Rally%20Report%20Tabled%20in%20Parliament%20Media%20Statement.pdf


No Rally Group on the attack
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/08/13/no-rally-group-tweed-council-rayner/

Sporting clubs complaint supported
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/08/09/complaint-supported/

Clubs want rally cars off fields Peter Caton | 6th August 2010
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/08/06/clubs-want-rally-cars-off-fields/


Community still opposed to WRC Rally in Rainbow Region
http://www.demotix.com/news/380390/community-still-opposed-wrc-rally-rainbow-region

MEDIA RELEASES:

No Rally Group media release: Rubbery figures
Monday August 23 2010


‘Minister for State Development Eric Roozendaal, who inherited the portfolio for State Development from the ill-starred Ian MacDonald, tabled the World Rally Championship review in Parliament late on Friday afternoon when Parliament is not even sitting, the day before the Federal election,’ No Rally Group spokesperson Andrea Vickers said.

‘The media release was made available at 5pm, and the review was posted on the Homebush Motor Racing Authority website (http://hmra.nsw.gov.au/publications/Pages/default.aspx) at 7pm. The Treasurer really couldn’t have behaved more cynically if he had tried, or found a more effective way to undermine trust with community stakeholders. It’s clear they don’t have enough faith in the contents of the report to be prepared to expose it to media scrutiny.’

‘The review summary says that the government will ensure the views of all the community will be taken into account in planning for the next event, and that Homebush Motor Racing Authority representatives will meet with stakeholders as soon as possible to discuss the recommendations.’

‘If they are so concerned about the views of community members who oppose the rally, they certainly have a strange way of showing it.’

‘With respect to the review itself, I hope the government didn't pay much for this report, because it’s not worth much.’

‘The report summary speaks highly of the rally and its impacts on our region, but it does not address any of the concerns we have raised about the probity of the economic assessment of the event. Undue weight is given to the opinions of those with vested financial interests in the rally proceeding: Rally Australia, Events NSW, and the Tweed and Kyogle Chambers of Commerce.'

‘Most of the claims about the rally’s so called benefits were drawn from information supplied by Rally Australia and Events NSW. Neither of these organisations has earned any points with the Northern Rivers community.’

‘Rally Australia’s community consultation process was a total charade, and their attendance figures as cited in the report are as dubious as ever for locals who saw how few people were actually around on the rally weekend. The figure of 86,000 ticket sales especially should be viewed in the context of each event patron receiving multiple stage passes.’

‘They claimed the rally would increase tourism in the long term, but as per Tweed Tourism’s recent report, tourism numbers are actually down compared to this time last year.

‘Events NSW has demonstrated contempt for their own approval guidelines, or perhaps gross incompetence, in agreeing to fund the event in the first place, and has been trying to save face ever since. They claimed they did not underwrite the event, but were not prepared to supply the actual figures.’

‘Two independent reviewers are cited as saying that the estimates of economic benefit were overstated, particularly at the regional level (p11).’

‘The report reads as a document designed to promote the event. It does not include a cost-benefit analysis despite many calls for one. It keeps us in the dark as to the real economic situation regarding the rally. It acknowledges the social impacts of the rally, but attempts to lay the blame on residents who opposed the event.’

‘The other serious error in the report is the desperate attempt to distort the facts in order to represent community opposition to the rally as marginal.’

The report’s author, Mike Cahill of Integrated Marketing Communications, repeatedly describes objectors to the rally as a ‘tiny minority’, despite also stating that 190 out of the 256 submissions received were anti-rally. He also variously describes objectors as ‘dug in’, ‘zealous’ and ‘media savvy’.

‘The report cites a Kyogle Shire Council survey that found a majority of the population there supported the event. It inaccurately extrapolates these figures to the whole region, despite the fact that opposition is much greater in Tweed Shire than in Kyogle. Why wasn’t a formal survey conducted in Tweed? Because the council didn’t want an inconvenient answer that proved public opinion conflicted with their support for the rally.’

‘The only poll that was run here, by the Tweed Daily News, supported anecdotal evidence that a vast majority of residents oppose the rally’s return. In that case, the figure was 75%. Interestingly, this mirrors the proportion of anti-rally versus pro-rally submissions received by the review.'

A more accurate and unbiased perspective on local opposition to the rally can be found in the report by Southern Cross University’s Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work:

http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1335&context=tourism_pubs

‘Mr Cahill described the public review meeting held in Murwillumbah in February as being populated by around 183 ‘activists’. Using this sort of language to describe a gathering of concerned residents is distortion of the highest order. It totally discredits any shred of neutrality this report had hoped to claim.’

’Residents who opposed the rally are considered activists by definition by the author of the report.’

‘Ironically, in that the review only specifically recommends the removal of the stage that was stopped by activists, it telegraphs to residents that of all the kinds of opposition that they tried, the effective one was activism.’

‘The review's claim that "universally they (anti rally people) demonstrated ... little empathy for working people" (p23) is particularly rich given that No Rally Group’s membership includes doctors, teachers, nurses, legal workers, education workers, self employed business people, tourism operators, tourist accommodation managers, senior public servants, and the list goes on.’

‘The report contrasts the stated 300-person active membership of the combined anti-rally organisations with the overall population of the shire, in an attempt to dismiss the numbers as meaningless. Everyone knows the number of people who care about an issue is much greater than the number of people who will get actively involved in lobbying. Any politician will tell you that a letter from one person is taken to represent the views of 100 people. By this logic, if we compared the membership of political parties to the number of voters we would take no notice of them. Hang on - we might be better off if we did that.’

‘This attempt to marginalise local opposition undermines any credibility the report might have held.’

‘A media monitoring agency, TNS, has translated broadcast minutes of blurred bushland whizzing by into dollar figures to claim the region received valuable exposure. We would be interested to see the research that supports the validity of this approach. We maintain that there’s no evidence that the broadcasting benefited the locals rather than North One, the company that holds the WRC broadcasting rights.’

‘As per Tweed Tourism’s recent report, tourism numbers are actually down compared to this time last year. This does nothing to support the claim that the broadcasting would increase tourism to the region.’

‘We have always held concerns that in the long run, the rally would actually adversely impact tourism as the rally conflicts with the region’s ecotourism branding. This drop in tourist numbers is an ongoing cost to our community.’

‘There’s more rubber in these figures than the rally chewed through while it was in town.’

June 

No Rally Group hits back at report Peter Caton | 24th June 2010
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/06/24/no-rally-group-hits-back-economic-claims/


Rally delivered 'bang for buck' Steve Spinks | 21st June 2010 VOTE & LEAVE COMMENT
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/06/21/nsw-repco-rally-connolly-tweed-/

May 28

Link to Trouble in Macdonald Town:
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/trouble-in-macdonald-town-20100528-wld8.html

May 27

Rally too divisive says ecologist
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=v...

Rally divided community
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/05/27/finally-agreement-on-r...


May 24

Rally's green impact not as bad as predicted: expert
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/24/2907736.htm

May 10

Rally return welcome
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/05/10/rally-return-welcome-t...

May 8
Anti-rally protests to continue 
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/05/08/anti-rally-protest-con...

May 7

Rally to rev up in 2011
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/05/07/rally-to-rev-up-in-2011/


Casino may host World Rally
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/05/07/casino-may-host-ral...

May 3

2011 World Rally Championship Calendar Released!
http://rallyaustralia.com/2011-world-rally-championship-calendar-re...

April 16

Rally Future in Hands of FIA
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=v...

April 1st
Repco rally to set up a permanent site
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid...

March 19th
RESIGNATION OF EVENTS NSW CHAIRMAN JOHN O’NEILL AO
http://www.eventsnsw.com.au/getattachment/9541a022-ce1b-4b77-8b78-d...

March 1st
Repco Rally to be reviewed 1st March 2010
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/03/01/repco-rallys-viability...

February 12th

          Councillors defend secrecy
          http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/02/12/secrets-defended/

          February 9th
          Rally protesters didnt throw rocks
          http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/02/09/rally-protesters-didnt...

February 6th
Residents urged to rev up protest
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/02/06/residents-urged-to-rev...

February 5th
Protesters rally to resume fight
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/02/05/protesters-rally-to-re...

February 4th
Scepticism on Repco Rally review
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/02/04/doubts-about-rally-...
 

February 3rd
Repco Rally review
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/02/03/repco-rally-review/

February 2nd
Team tests impact of Repco Rally
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/02/02/team-sent-to-establ...

January 22nd 2010
FilmNight Fundraiser
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/01/22/7000-raised-for-cr-mil...
Input sought on Repco rally
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/01/20/community-input-sou...

January 15th 2010
Tweed Daily article pre Film Fundraiser
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/01/15/30000-pledge-to-milne/

January 14th 2010
Tweed may feature in rally game
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/01/14/tweed-rally-a-game/

January 7th 2010
Kyogle rallies round Repco 2nd poll
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2010/01/07/kyogle-rallies-roun...

53 million viewed Repco Rally
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/01/07/53-million-viewed-race/
 

January 6th 2010
Tweed to hold annual car rally
http://www.tweednews.com.au/story/2010/01/06/revving-up-for-an-annu...
Monster Stage for 2010 Rally of Queensland
http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/index.php?option=com_content&a...


2009

November 25th 2009
Annual Car Rally in Kyogle
http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2009/11/25/kyogle-mayor-floats...

Rally future under cloud
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=v...