THE PERTH Royal Show will not go ahead this year as planned.
WA Premier Mark McGowan delivered the bad news for show organisers on Tuesday after the State's chief medical officer recommended the tentative date for the lifting of current COVID-19 restrictions be delayed two months, to October 24.
With the Perth Royal Show scheduled to take place in the school holidays from September 26 to October 3, Mr McGowan said implementing an appropriate COVID-19 safe plan for this year's show was not possible.
"From a public health perspective the Royal Show provides a number of unique challenges given where we are at in relation to the pandemic," Mr McGowan said.
"Not only do large numbers of visitors and indoor venues at the show present challenges, but the show has a number of high frequency contact surfaces that would pose too big a risk.
"If somehow COVID-19 was present at the show and decontamination of surfaces was not done properly, it would lead to a significant outbreak.
"It would result in the spread of COVID-19 in our community like we have never seen before in WA.
"To put it simply this is a serious risk and one that WA does not need to take."
Attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year, Mr McGowan said it would be too difficult to track and trace people who attended the show, with the multitude of spaces and areas of the venue also posing a problem.
"It makes it difficult to have a cleaning and hygiene program in place," Mr McGowan said.
"The proximity and crowding of people in sideshow alley and the like makes it even more difficult and dangerous than any other venue according to the formal advice we have received."
After providing $2.1 million in additional funding to the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (RASWA) in early July to support this year's event, Mr McGowan said the State government would continue to work with the organisation to mitigate its costs to ensure it can deliver a vibrant agricultural show in future years.
"Obviously this news will be very disappointing for many families, many businesses and, of course, many regional farming communities," he said.
"It's very regrettable... and it's sad because the Royal Show is such a great event."
RASWA chief executive officer Peter Cooper said although the organisation had worked with the State government to develop a safe event, the continuing outbreaks of COVID-19 in the Eastern States and the reemergence of the virus in New Zealand meant the show could not proceed while "simultaneously guaranteeing the safety of the public".
"While there is of course disappointment in making today's announcement - as the CEO of this distinguished, not-for-profit organisation, I feel enormous pride in the hard work and dedication and courage of all those involved in the preparations for the 2020 event," Mr Cooper said.
"The fact that we were unable to deliver this annual showcase is no reflection on the efforts of our staff, volunteers, competitors and council.
"On the contrary - their belief in giving the people of WA the event they deserved and their determination in the face of unprecedented challenges, should be applauded.
"While there will be tough decisions to be made over the next few months, one thing is certain - the Perth Royal Show will be back and we look forward to opening our gates to the thousands of showgoers, from across WA, very soon."
Set to be held in the September/October school holiday each year, Mr McGowan said he was unsure if it would be possible for the show to be brought forward to the April school holidays next year.
"There are various shows around Australia at various points in time and I think a lot of the exhibits move across the States based upon that timetable - so I don't know if there's a prospect of moving it forward to April next year and then having another one later in the year - these are all the sorts of things we will discuss with RASWA," Mr McGowan said.
With the majority of the State's regional shows already cancelled, including the McIntosh & Son Mingenew Midwest Expo, Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days and Newdegate Machinery Field Days, Mr McGowan said the fate of other regional shows still scheduled to go ahead was yet to be determined.
"We're getting some advice from the chief health officer about all of the other shows around the State and whether or not there are any issues - I expect that advice will be forthcoming soon," Mr McGowan said.
The Nationals WA Agricultural Region MP Martin Aldridge told Farm Weekly he planned to ask Mr McGowan if the State government would now consider RASWA's proposal for State government assistance for agricultural shows and events Statewide.
"It is incumbent upon the government to release the advice on which it has made the decision and also identify what impact, if any, this will have on other agricultural shows and similar events in coming weeks and months," Mr Aldridge said.
Cancellation of the event comes after RASWA came under fire late last week, when it was revealed the organisation had applied for exemptions to bring in 70 interstate workers for the Perth Royal Show.
Mr Cooper defended the organisation's position, saying it was subject to the same process as everybody else under WA's hard border restrictions.
"The vast majority of our ride operators for the 2020 Perth Royal Show will come from within WA," Mr Cooper said.
He said in the very few cases where a particular piece of equipment or machinery could not be operated by anybody else than an individual or team based in the Eastern States, they would have worked with them to submit an application.
Mr Cooper said the application was approved it was only because it comprehensively complied with the laws and regulations set out by the State government.
Mr Cooper said the Perth Royal Show contributed $100m in additional economic activity and generated $26m in additional wages to WA.
