The leader of the Greens in the ACT has given his support to the Summernats car festival despite the loud criticism of wild driving and burnouts away from the festival site.
Shane Rattenbury accepts that "Summernats is not for everyone", but adds that he is "empathetic to those who enjoy the event.
"For many it is a time of connection and belonging - values we can all engage with. As a city with a diverse population, it is important that we have a range of events to suit peoples interests."
But he would like to see more electric vehicles in the petrol-powered event. He is to talk to the organisers to see how this might happen.
Mr Rattenbury was addressing the concerns of a constituent about the environmental effects of 500 cars parading in the city plus another 2200 at the Exhibition Centre.
The constituent had asked him: "How do you as a Greens Party politician rationalise your governments support for Summernats? Why are you supporting a petrol festival?"
Mr Rattenbury responded that the car festival met standards set by the Environmental Protection Authority. The EPA has ceilings for the amount of very small particles (known as PM10s) which can be emitted.
"An investigation into the air emissions from the burnout events by Robson Environmental in 2005 and 2010 found the emissions from the burnout event were well below the previous and current national health-based standards for PM10 and the occupational standards," Mr Rattenbury said.
Summernats was restricted to 29 hours of burnouts during the four day festival. For these reasons, Mr Attenbury said that Summernats was "unlikely to cause environmental harm".
But he did suggest that some of the cars could be switched from the internal combustion engine to the battery.
"I would certainly love to see more of a presence of EVs at Summernats," he said.
"Even older cars can be effectively retrofitted with an EV engine."
He said that the constituent had inspired him to contact the organiser and check whether there was a category for EV retrofits, "and if not, how we might get it started".
On the matter of the burnouts across Canberra which branded by the police as the work of "morons" and "subspecies", Mr Rattenbury said "the antisocial behaviours demonstrated by a small number of attendees is concerning and disappointing, however it is important to note that this behaviour is only a small pocket of the community who attend the event.
"Most of the attendees engage in the festivities in good faith and behave in accordance with the law.
"I am reassured that both ACT Policing and the event organisers are taking the antisocial behaviour seriously and investigating the incidents that have been reported. Additionally, if you witnessed any specific incidents I would encourage you to report this to ACT Policing."
