WAVE OF BETRAYAL

Mayor fuming over dumped surf comp but boss says ‘it’s not about the cash’

PRO surfing bosses insist the shock dumping of a world championship event on the Gold Coast wasn’t about money. But it hasn’t swayed Mayor Tom Tate who said the city had been betrayed. “We have been loyal to surfing competitions for decades, yet in the blink of an eye it has been lured down to NSW for a few dollars,’’ he said.

PRO surfing bosses have broken their silence over the shock dumping of the world championship event on the Gold Coast, denying it was all about money.

The World Surf League (WSL) confirmed a Bulletin report that the long-running Corona Open Gold Coast had been axed and would be relocated to NSW in another huge blow for the Glitter Strip’s alreadybattered tourism industry.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe claims his government refused to bow to the WSL’s demands to foot the quarantine bill for the surf stars and their entourages, accusing the league of “chasing short-term dollars at the expense of surfing tradition”.

But WSL Australian chief Andrew Stark told the Bulletin: “The decision to cancel this event was not based on financials.”

Mr Stark said NSW was the only state that would agree to receive a charter plane carrying international surfers and officials, but was not paying their hotel quarantine costs.

He said Queensland could not guarantee a COVID-19 “bubble” which the WSL had requested in case of another border shutdown.

“We requested a preapproved bubble to operate our event and we requested Queensland Police resource support for this bubble, and both items were knocked back by the government,” he said. “We absolutely respect their position in this challenging time and we’re obviously disappointed to lose Snapper Rocks this year ... (but) the entire tour was cancelled last year and we need to do whatever it takes to get it moving again.”

The end of the Gold Coast event, which has run for nearly 20 years, sent shockwaves through the city’s surfing community on Monday, ahead of the WSL unveiling its new Australian tour schedule on Tuesday.

The league has already cancelled the Easter Bells Beach event in Victoria, relocating it to Newcastle from April 1-11.

The Queensland government is understood to have offered $500,000 towards staging the event at Snapper Rocks in May, but NSW and Western Australia offered upwards of $5 million.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk defended the state government’s stance.

“My understanding is that we were not able to get to an agreed COVIDsafe plan with the people coming,” she said.

“COVIDsafe plans for sport have kept Queenslanders safe and if the chief health officer is not happy with that COVIDsafe plan then it cannot go ahead.”

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate on Monday said he felt “betrayed” by WSL bosses looking to take the competition elsewhere.

“This is a big blow for the

Gold Coast and it appears they are making a decision based on money,” he said.

“Loyalty works both ways and we have been loyal to surfing competitions for decades on end, yet in the blink of an eye it has been lured down to NSW for a few dollars.”

Surf Queensland chief executive Adam Yates said he felt a “certain level of disappointment” about the event’s exit from the Gold Coast.

“We would now seek to work with the state government and council to ensure the rich surfing culture of the Gold Coast stays. All is not lost.”