Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore believes the city’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks should be scrapped if they can’t be held safely.
The NSW Government is holding firm so far to plans for a pared-down celebration on this year despite a concerning spike in coronavirus infections on the city’s northern beaches that has grown to 83 cases.
Normally the celebration is managed by the City of Sydney but it temporarily handed the reins to state authorities this year as the council was concerned it could not run the event safely.
“Only the State Government can manage the increased health, transport and crowd management challenges during the pandemic,” Cr Moore said in a statement.
She said Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres made it clear the government understood the council’s concerns and was prepared to work with various departments and the police to mitigate the risk.
“The Minister assured us that on top of taking full responsibility for planning and cost of the fireworks, crowd management, safety, traffic and transport, the State Government would be prepared to cancel the event if there is a spike in COVID cases,” she said.
“The community’s health and safety is paramount. If NSW Health and Police can’t be certain that the event can be held safely, it should not go ahead.”
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