Tasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey hopes the State Government will boost Taste funding

Tasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey says she is championing the cause for the Taste of Tasmania to receive more funding from the State Government.

Performer The Great Dave entertains children during the 2018-19 Taste of Tasmania. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

TASMANIAN Speaker Sue Hickey says she is championing the cause for the Taste of Tasmania to receive more funding from the State Government.

Ms Hickey, a former Hobart lord mayor, says she has spoken with Premier Will Hodgman and Treasurer Peter Gutwein about providing extra cash to the Taste because she believed it was a great contributor to the state’s economy.

Speaker Sue Hickey. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

“I’m quite confident the Government will look at it favourably,” she said.

“I’ve always thought it was a huge burden for one municipality to wear because it’s a southern Tasmanian tourist attraction and really invigorates the waterfront in the summer.”

On Wednesday, a Hobart City Council committee voted to slash funding for the yearly festival from the $1.6 million it received for 2018-19 to $1.1 million for 2019-20, $1 million in 2020-21 and $900,000 for 2021-22.

FUNDING BLOW FOR TASTE AS INFIGHTING COSTS DEARLY

The council is seeking a funding grant of up to $500,000 each year from the State Government.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the three-year, $3 million of funding certainty to Taste allowed for proper process and planning.

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

“Council has delegated full control of operational issues, including sponsorships, to the general manager,” she said.

“This means that the Taste can be a more nimble event that can seek out commercial sponsorships to further augment its funding.”

But Ms Hickey said she was concerned the council may struggle to obtain sponsorship.

“Having been involved with the council for seven-and-a-half years I know the enormous trouble the council had in attracting sponsorship,” she said.

“My other concern is if it ceases to have adequate funding then the council could lose the brilliant festival director they’ve got.

“She was a rare find and has made the festival much more dynamic in the past two years and more professional than we have ever seen it.”

Taste festival director Brooke Webb. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Government would be willing to sit down with the council to see how it could support the event.

The Government provides $100,000 in support via a funding grant and through subsided venue access.

An SGS economics and planning report showed the 2018-19 festival generated $46.9 into the Tasmanian economy, with the bulk of that — $26.8 million — going to Hobart.

The report also revealed the average turnover for stallholders was $42,000; the total council revenue from stallholder levies was $575,000.

The average person spent $98 at the festival.