Chris Minns cancels Opera House coronation display in apparent bid to save money
NSW Premier Chris Minns has defended his decision to axe lighting up the sails of the Sydney Opera House to mark the coronation of King Charles. TELL US what you think in our poll.
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NSW Premier Chris Minns has refused to apologise for cancelling plans to light up the sails of the Sydney Opera House to mark the coronation of King Charles over the weekend.
In defending the decision which was made in a bid to save money, Mr Minns said he did “not intentionally” mean to upset devoted monarchists in Australia but he was “not going to apologise” for where he spends public money.
“The circumstances behind it are pretty straightforward,“ he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday morning.
“It costs between [$80,000] and $100,000 to light up the Opera House. We’ve got to be mindful of where taxpayer money is spent and obviously there are other places and other ways of commemorating the King’s event.
“We’ve rejected a number of requests since coming to office for lighting up the Opera House for organisations and religious events. I don’t want to offend those organisations by detailing them here but I don’t think that’s fair to them,” he said.
Mr Minns said he wanted to keep the lighting of the landmark for “Australia and Australians and moments of sacrifice and heroism for the country, or when there’s an important international event in Sydney”.
“I don’t think it’s [the coronation] commemorating heroism. I don’t think it’s commemorating an event in the world or Australia’s history that justifies the spending of the money,” he said on Monday.
The previous Perrottet government had planned to display King Charles’ ‘cypher’ (the official royal monogram) on the Opera House to mark the first coronation in almost 70 years.
“Obviously any decision taken by the previous government has been endorsed by the incoming government but I took into consideration that in 2012 the Opera House was lit up 23 days over 365 days. Last year it was lit up for 70 days and it was lit up for everything from solemn occasions to everything to for a football team that was touring NSW,” Mr Minns said.
“It was a change to the operation of government, the new head of state, and there were many places for people to respect and acknowledge that event, most primarily on television. The event wasn’t taking place in Sydney it was taking place in London and of course I respect the new king, but I’m mindful of where and when we spend taxpayer money.
“We’re not going to automatically approve every request that comes through to the NSW government.
“The cost adds up to the NSW taxpayer every single time that you do it.”
Mr Minns defended the decision to light up the monument in support of Ukraine in 2022 when asked to compare the occasion to the coronation.
“I think between the country showing international solidarity to an event that‘s taking place around the world and the change to the operation of government.”
“For Australia, we don’t do it when there’s a change of government in the country when life goes from Labour to Liberal or Liberal or Labour.
“I appreciate that it was done when the Queen passed away. I thought that was appropriate.
“My job is to respect and protect taxpayer money where it‘s being spent. When you’ve got billions of dollars worth of debt, everything counts.”
The government’s decision to cancel plans to light up the Opera House sails was revealed exclusively by The Daily Telegraph on Friday.
While illuminating the Opera House sails has become a common way for the NSW Government to mark significant events, the iconic building was not a part of how NSW celebrated the coronation of Australia’s king.
The Daily Telegraph revealed Premier Chris Minns scrapped a plan to illuminate the Opera House when he was presented with a range of options for how to celebrate the grand ceremony.
Government sources said the decision not to light up the Opera House was made to save money; the entire process was said to cost between $80,000 to $100,000. But another source said it would cost as little as $70,000.
Illuminating the Opera House sails is common as a mark of respect, or as a way to celebrate special occasions.
Recent celebrations marked by lighting the sails include World Pride this year and the Socceroos making it to the World Cup knockout round last December.
Just two NSW buildings were illuminated over the weekend to mark the coronation: Admiralty House and the Cape Bowling Green Lighthouse at the Maritime Museum.
In contrast, the Victorian government lit up no less than 19 buildings in royal purple, including Flinders Street Station, the National Gallery of Victoria, AAMI Park and the MCG and Parliament House.
The Minns government defended the decision to scrap the Opera House display on Friday.
“The NSW Government believes it has struck the right balance in terms of meeting community expectations on commemorating the occasion while being mindful of public expense,” the spokeswoman said.
But Liberal Leader Mark Speakman slammed the move, saying that it was another example of the Premier cancelling government projects.
Mr Speakman confirmed that the former government planned to light up the sails to celebrate the coronation.
The decision not to include the Opera House in official celebrations is not the first time NSW officials have done something which could be seen as a snub to Australia’s new monarch.
As the Telegraph revealed last year, former Premier Dominic Perrottet cancelled plans to meet with King Charles last August, just a month before he would ascend the throne.
“It’s a shocking decision. Whatever your views on the monarchy or the republic, this is a once in a 70-year occasion — it’s the coronation of Australia’s Head of State — and it’s appropriate that we mark this occasion on the sails of the most famous building in the premier city of Australia’s premier state.
“The Minns Labor government just seems to be interested in cancelling everything, from Metro lines to Active Kids vouchers, and now even the recognition of the coronation.”
In London for coronation celebrations, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to the NSW decision by saying Australia would celebrate the royal occasion in a variety of ways.
“Governments are sovereign and in Australia we will be celebrating the coronation through various opportunities — some Commonwealth buildings will be lit up,” he said, standing in front of 10 Downing St.
King Charles — who was still the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne at the time — made time to meet with Mr Perrottet in the UK as part of an ill-fated trade trip but the then-Premier scrapped the offer.
A weekend of activities at Government House will form part of official coronation celebrations, including a garden reception for invited guests and performances in the gardens by the NSW Corrective Services Big Band.
Overseas, London’s Big Ben will be lit up with a series of projections to mark the King’s coronation.
Images of the national flowers of all four home nations — a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock —– will be projected on to the landmark in red, white and blue, the colours of the Union Flag.
The words of the national anthem, God Save the King, will then appear across the tower before the projection culminates with the coronation emblem, designed by Sir Jony Ive, a British product designer and chancellor of the Royal College of Art. A rehearsal took place on Wednesday evening, with projections due every night from Thursday to Sunday about 8.30pm until 11pm.
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