WA government undermines eco-festival

PERTH — The Sun Fair, an annual sustainability festival and information exchange, has been hit with a huge budget blow from the WA state government. The fair, which attracted 15,000 people last year and expects 17,000 on March 28, has been denied funding by the WA Office of Energy (OOE).

In 2009, the WA Sustainable Energy Development Office, which has now been subsumed into OOE, provided $10,000.

The decision to deny funding was sent via email on February 3 to Sun Fair convenor Jonathon Thwaites, without an explanation.

Thwaites said in a public statement: "The event is held on a shoe-string budget and in terms of value for money must be one of the best winners that SEDO ever backed." He called on Sun Fair supporters to personally contact Premier Colin Barnett and argue for funding to be restored.

From GLW issue 826