The NSW government will receive $550,000 from the City of Sydney after the council passed a motion on Monday night to contribute to a $1.1 million emergency relief package secretly provided to the Mardi Gras organisation earlier this year and only made public for the first time on Monday.
The motion was adopted. However, independent councillor Yvonne Weldon and Liberal councillor Shauna Jarrett abstained from voting while Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon voted against the motion.
The emergency package was provided by Destination NSW to Mardi Gras after the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organisation met with the NSW government and council officials in February to discuss its precarious financial situation and a projected $1,095,000 deficit for the financial year.
According to the City of Sydney, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras advised council during meetings in February that the 2024 Mardi Gras festival had experienced "significant financial pressures because of broader economic conditions including increased event production and delivery costs and reduced ticket sales due to the cost-of-living crisis".
In addition, the cancellation of Fair Day due to asbestos-contaminated mulch being found in Victoria Park had resulted in a further decrease in income from the loss of potential bar sales and other incidental sales. Mardi Gras estimated that $300,000 in anticipated revenue from Fair Day was lost as a result.
A City of Sydney council source, who did not wish to be named as they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the funding relief package was kept confidential until Monday "because Mardi Gras wanted [the 2024] parade to go ahead with confidence".
Liberal councillor blasts decision
Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon said he voted against the emergency funding contribution because it was for funds being directed towards Destination NSW, which had already paid the relief to Mardi Gras, rather than to the Mardi Gras organisation itself.
"Last night council agreed to pay Destination NSW $550,000 as a contribution to their Mardi Gras rescue package," Gannon told Gay Sydney News on Tuesday morning. "That contribution was half of the $1.1 million package Destination NSW already gave Mardi Gras back in March.
"Essentially it was to prop up Destination NSW's budget, which in my view is a grossly financially irresponsible thing for a council to do – we are here for roads, rates, and rubbish after all, not to prop up the state government's coffers through sweetheart deals.
"To be clear, Destination NSW has already given the money to Mardi Gras.
"I would have preferred to give the money directly to Mardi Gras.
"We had no obligation to give these funds.
"I'm a big supporter of Mardi Gras and the LGBT community (I championed QTOPIA after all), but this isn't the way to manage a budget."
Gannon also expressed frustration at only finding out about the motion to contribute funds on Friday afternoon and learning more about it during what he described as a "heated briefing" at 2pm on Monday.
"Council started at 5pm [on Monday]. … that's not the right way to run a government. The funds didn't go through the regular committee process either. Nor were we provided any documentation (no letters, no deeds, no references, no nothing!). Seriously it was the first we'd heard of it."
Ben Grubb is the founder and editor of Gay Sydney News, an independent publication covering LGBTQIA+ news. A journalist with more than 15 years' experience, he has reported and edited for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAToday, Brisbane Times, The Australian Financial Review, News.com.au, ZDNet, TelecomTimes and iTnews, primarily on the topic of technology. He previously hosted The Informer, a queer current affairs program on Melbourne’s JOY 94.9 radio station, and contributes to LGBTQIA+ media including Stun Magazine. Ben has also appeared as a technology commentator on Channel Ten's The Project, ABC RN’s Download This Show and commercial radio stations 2UE, 2GB and 6PR. Contact Ben: [email protected]
