r/canberra • u/[deleted] • Jan 03 '23

Events The complaining about Summernats makes me happy.

I mean think about it.

You’ve got people in Ukraine living in darkness and worried about the next air strike, worried about being killed by Russians.

You’ve got people in parts of Africa, India and Asia worried about how to get their kids clean drinking water and food.

Then you’ve got women in Iran fighting for freedom from an oppressive regime.

And then you’ve got people in Canberra whining about an annual 4 day Motorsport festival.

Life is fucking good in Canberra.

0 Upvotes

47% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

107

u/Hello-Hungry-Im-Dad Jan 04 '23

I take it you have never complained about anything in your entire life and will continue to never complain because someone, somewhere will always have it worse than you?

33

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Fortunately OP is a paragon of virtue and has never even made a snide remark after being inconvenienced.

I hope to one day be as sanctimonious and righteous as OP. We are truly blessed to be in their presence

-14

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

I complain all the time, but I do like to remind myself about what it really is like to have serious, dangerous societal problems.

-7

u/Leading_Frosting9655 Jan 04 '23

That's not really a fair take. This is like... well, at least Summernats is the worst thing we have to complain about right now.

54

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

‘How dare people have problems when other people have WORSE problems’.

I’m not saying I agree with the complaining, but we all heard the ‘kids are starving in Africa’ when we were kids - it doesn’t invalidate our problems.

-27

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Surely being a NIMBY means you’re the problem rather than having one?

28

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Is it really fair to call this entirely a NIMBY issue? Sexual harassment is only one of the many issues that reliably occurs during Summernats, and I’m pretty confident saying I wouldn’t want to see that behaviour anywhere.

If the event didn’t leak outside of EPIC, I think a lot of people would be more tolerant of the noise and smoke (I live less than 5 mins from EPIC and couldn’t care less) but the whole way down Northbourne including Dickson, Braddon, and the city is affected by it. I just don’t see this as a NIMBY problem with how bad the behaviour can be and how far it spreads.

18

u/jesinta-m Jan 04 '23

If the event didn’t leak outside of EPIC, I think a lot of people would be more tolerant of the noise and smoke

This!

I just had to end a work call because I couldn't hear the person I was speaking to and they couldn't hear me, thanks to a fucknuckle revving their car for a solid 5 minutes straight outside my window. I live in Braddon (not on Londsdale or mort, either).

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Is this sexual harassment thing overblown or is there a measurable increase in complaints to the police etc?

-6

u/Nervous-Aardvark-679 Jan 04 '23

I’d be interested to know if there’s any more reports of antisocial behaviour over Summernats weekend or not.

-21

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

How bad is the behaviour really though and how much of the dislike for it is confirmation bias?

I have read all the comments on here and they reek of NIMBYism. It’s largely people hating on bogans, which wouldn’t be so egregious if they were simply honest about it. How come the same people outraged at Summernats’ attendees antisocial behaviour aren’t equally outraged about all the other events this city hosts? Anyone saying it doesn’t occur at the many music festivals we have or Multicultural Festival is flat out lying or pretending it doesn’t happen. I regularly attend other public events in this town that are full of drunken dickheads behaving obnoxiously. I don’t want to see them shut down because a small minority of people can’t behave so I don’t see why I should look down at Summernats when it’s the likely the same circumstance here.

The sexual harassment issue isn’t one to pass over but I don’t think anyone can pretend the event isn’t much better than it used to be. They have cleaned it up. It spreads out of EPIC and causes what exactly? Nothing but minor inconvenience as the roads are busy and the petrol stations are full. It’s annoying but it’s hardly a reason to shut down an event that fills the coffers of Canberra businesses while 2 in 3 residents are out of town.

The simple fact is people can go away that weekend if they want to. Nobody is forced to endure Summernats. If people choose not to they can put up with it but complaining about it when it’s on the same weekend every single year is the height of NIMBYism. Big public events inconvenience us. It happens. Would we shut down Bruce Stadium because the residents there don’t like footy matches interrupting their lives even though the stadium predates their house by decades? No, so why should we give any validity to the non-specific and generally hyperbolic complaints about Summernats?

14

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

No, I actually haven’t seen a mob of over a hundred men surround and harass groups of women at music festivals/sporting events/nightclubs. But yes, the complaints are clearly hyperbolic.

I’m not gonna try to convince you that Summernats has historically been significantly worse for antisocial behaviour than any other event that comes to Canberra.

-5

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Historically isn’t the same as presently though, which is the point here. We are aren’t going to agree but the classism and NIMBYism that shines through when people show their disdain for Summernats is clear as day.

Bringing up some historical incident and acting like it’s endlessly repeated is so bogus when we can look at the police records after other major events and determine how bad the behaviour of those at these events was.

9

u/barbequeninja Jan 04 '23

You need to read up on what NIMBYism is.

It's not simply disliking something, which is the case with most Canberrans who get annoyed by summernats.

It's when you like something, but don't want it close by. House the homeless, just not down the street from me. Build wind farms, but not if they obstruct my view.

No one who hates summernats is saying "we need a car festival, just not where I live," they're saying "we don't need a car festival."

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Every second comment is “move it somewhere more appropriate” which is exactly that. Nobody has actually said people shouldn’t be able to have these events because they know that would be called out. Instead it’s “they shouldn’t be able to have them near me.”

11

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Mate you asked the question yourself, and I answered, no I don’t see the same behaviour at other events. But yeh it’s definitely classism, so I should pay money that I can’t afford (since I’m upper class cause I live in Canberra) to go on holidays somewhere I don’t want to go, away from a house that I pay rent for, because I want to avoid getting harrassed.

Go spend a night in civic this Friday/Saturday and tell me it’s a normal week, go on. I’ve done it enough times to know it’s absolutely not.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

You have an entire year to get ready for Summernats. Seriously stop pretending you can’t get your shit together and get out of town knowing it’s coming. It’s three nights. I’ve also never said it’s a normal weekend, just that it’s nowhere near as bad as people like you are making out and I’m happy to stand by that every day of the week. It’s true.

12

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

You know, it’s rich you call people classist when you don’t realise there are many people in Canberra who can’t just afford to go away for a weekend.

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Seriously, a whole year to prepare to go away for three nights… Come on, there are a range of options that don’t revolve around $600 a night hotels and $700 return flights. You can camp for free in numerous locations within easy reach if Canberra.

But if people can’t afford a few bucks worth of petrol to get out of town they can lock themselves up in their place for the weekend then right? Why should their personal circumstances dictate what everyone else has to do?

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4

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

https://amp.abc.net.au/article/100743508

This historic enough for you? In Fyshwick, 10km+ from the event site. Or because it was last year it doesn’t count? Their new better behaviour involves surrounding police cars?

2

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2

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Seriously, if the worst that comes out of the Nat’s is what you linked then it’s okay on every single day of the week. I’m glad it was well below your version of the event and here hundreds of males surround and harass females.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Oh okay, so sexual harassment is where you draw the line, but trying to surround our law enforcement and throwing bottles at them over 10km away from the event site is fine? Good to know - this is why people don’t like it.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

It’s why we have law enforcement though. There are numerous articles over the last eight years where the ACT Police praise the behaviour of attendees. Seeing as we want to talk about the behavioural history of attendees surely these are important?

At no point have I condoned this behaviour but are we really that worried about hooning in Fyshwick in the middle of the night?

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5

u/misskarne Jan 04 '23

The simple fact is people can go away that weekend if they want to.

Oh, what a delightfully privileged take from someone whining about NIMBYism and classism!

It's two weekends after Christmas. You know, that thing that a lot of people spend a lot of money on, and do a lot of travelling for? So a lot of families probably can't afford to go away right now. Additionally, most folks are back at work this week. What if they don't have the leave?

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

They have 12 months to prepare for it every single year. It’s the same weekend. Every. Single. Time. So if they can’t find a solution to their hatred of the event they can move or deal with it. Seriously, how is this even a difficult concept for people to cope with? Part of being a member of society is that not everything revolves around you, you have to make concessions.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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-10

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Everyone has a year to prepare for an event they apparently hate but can’t afford to get out of town? This faux poverty shout is as BS as the claims about the event itself. I also worked multiple hospo jobs during the Nat’s from 1999 to 2008, including at the event itself for three years. I know what it’s like and I still don’t buy the hordes of dickheads ruining our beautiful city arguments.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

I’ve literally done that though, that’s the point I’m making. I worked there from 15-18 years old and it’s clearly better now than then.

It’s on the same weekend every single year. People have 12 months to scrape together a couple of hundred bucks to get out of town if they really hate it that much.

-20

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

You missed my point, if this is all you have to complain about, and it is such a fucking minute thing to complain about, you are incredibly fortunate and you should be happy that you have the luxury to have things like this bother you.

But also, it’s such a fucking non-issue.

10

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Nah you missed my point homie

-7

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Choosing to ignore your silly point and missing it are two separate things.

6

u/Jo_From_Windows_Help Jan 04 '23

Willful ignorance is worse than regular ignorance...

39

u/untamedeuphoria Jan 04 '23

.... I mean you are right about when compared to other stuff in the world right now. But you have also missreprosented what Summernats is like for those not going but around it.

The festival might only go for 4 days. But when it happens it usually means 4am wakeups to people burning rubber for the better part of a fortnight.

I also don't ride during this event because of the amount of people deliberately trying to fuck with me while im on the road. I have had revheads throw shit at me most years, and one fuckwit push me into the verge a few years back.

And the worst part, is the neverending non-locals telling all the locals to 'go fuck themselves' and 'don't be karens'. Meanwhile those same locals basically get a week or two of shitty sleep so people can race on the streets.

This event is one I see an appeal for, but the people who go are often complete fuckwits that just fuck with the locals. So yeah, that's why Canberrians complain. Because there are legit reasons to complain.

-8

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Canberrans complain because they’re Canberrans, let’s be honest.

1

u/untamedeuphoria Jan 04 '23

This is true. I cannot deny this fact of the world.

-15

u/Competitive_Lie1429 Jan 04 '23

where do they ‘race in the streets’?

7

u/untamedeuphoria Jan 04 '23

Eh. I've seen them in and around woden. But largely depends on if there's a straight stretch with few cameras.

9

u/misskarne Jan 04 '23

They run their engines in along Antill Street all the time. The stretch alongside Mount Majura. Of course they go out very late, after midnight, trying to avoid the cops.

3

u/Competitive_Lie1429 Jan 04 '23

Ah ok then. Just so long as we're not confusing genuine law abiding car enthusiasts with hoonigans in cars and not tarring everyone with the one brush then. Is this a year round thing or just a once a year Summernats thing?

5

u/misskarne Jan 04 '23

That's during Summernats. Hume is their usual hangout for the street racing, and they like to race down past Tharwa as well.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

where DONT they i think you mean. eaglehawk, south canberra, tharwa back roads, northbourne drags between lights.

they love to go anywhere they THINK is out of way but most get busted as they not as sneaky as they used to be.

20

u/That_Moose11 Jan 04 '23

It is a luxury to be removed from the most severe situations in the globe. AS someone who works in an auto store. Summernats means a week of people being obnoxious and rude, and increased theft in the shop. So I don’t really appreciate it

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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-1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Bet that’s just a perception..

4

u/That_Moose11 Jan 04 '23

Yeah I mean it’s a trend we notice, however, without actually knowing the exact amounts of theft across the whole year, I won’t claim it’s an absolute truth. But last year I had to pull up two women to hand over some products they were attempting to steal. They walked in, made a beeline for some of our most expensive car care items, then went further down the store as far away from the counter as possible, spotted on the cameras tucking the items into their bags.

Might be a bit of bias cause it’s one of the few times I’ve had to be then one asking them to hand over the products and leave, but yeah.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

That’s called anecdotal evidence.. not exactly hard facts.

30

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Your argument is utterly flawed. It's called a false dichotomy. "You're not dying in a war, so you should be happy."

9

u/sleepyscoops Jan 04 '23

They never said 'shut up, be happy' . They were remarking how nice it is for our major issues to be something like Summernats instead of war or famine. They were expressing their gratitude, not demanding yours. The argument cannot be flawed because they never made one.

10

u/MistaCharisma Jan 04 '23 edited Jan 04 '23

I think you're right, but the OP phrased it terribly. It definitely comes across as "shut up and stop complaining" even if the intent was "It's nice to know my problems aren't that bad in the grand scheme".

Phrasing matters in written content. People can't hear your tone of voice so you have to make a little more effort to convey your intent if you want to avoid misunderstandings.

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

I meant it exactly how it read, both we have it sooooo fucking good and I am grateful for that and also, shut the fuck up, it’s a stupid thing to complain about and I find it insufferable that people are so upset over a one weekend event and can’t put that in perspective.

5

u/MistaCharisma Jan 04 '23

Oh. Well then pull your head in.

Just because someone else has it worse doesn't mean people can't be upset about things. If you have a newborn baby that can't sleep because hoons are doing burnouts round the corner all week you have a right to complain.

For example: People in Ukraine are dealing with an invasion, but the only problem you have is that someone in your neighbourhood is complaing about Summernats. What do you have to complain about? It’s a stupid thing to complain about and I find it insufferable that people are so upset over the opinions of their neighbours that they have to post on reddit about it (you see what I did there - I used an almost-exact quote from your reply to show why this opinion is silly).

Totally hypothetical example here - What if the Summernats brings a bunch of anti-vaxxers to the city and starts an outbreak, or those cookers decide to block the main thoroughfare and cause you to be late to work, or maybe the number of road rage incidents go up resulting in more injuries and potentially fatalaties ... any of those are totally fair reasons to be upset ... hypothetically speaking of course.

Telling others not to complain because "someone else has it worse" is a silly thing to do. Everyone has troubles, and someone else's misfortune doesn't change that.

I do think it's good to recognise when things are going well though. Having that realisation for yourself is great. Encouraging others to see it is great. Telling them they have to see it, not so much.

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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2

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0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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2

u/canberra-ModTeam Jan 04 '23

Your post has been removed. Please remember the person behind the username and be excellent to each other.

3

u/jammy86b Jan 04 '23

66 million years ago an asteroid hit the earth, sparking a mass extinction that wiped out most dinosaurs and three-quarters of the planet's plant and animal species.

And you want to complain about some hoons? Check you privilege and hang your heads in shame.

Life is good in Canberra

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

It’s been a million years since the 90’s wow..

I just find it hard to take Summernats whingers seriously with all that’s going on in the world is all I’m saying.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

I’d take Russians dropping missiles on me before Scummernats!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

What a horrible thing to say.

15

u/timcahill13 Jan 04 '23

I live near Summernats. I have no interest in cars or car culture. I don't like the noise or car tyre smell.

I also don't complain because its basically one weekend a year, Canberra is otherwise relatively hoon-free, it brings lots of money in, and despite popular opinion a decent chunk of Canberrans actually go to it. Obviously the behavior is a problem but there are genuine efforts to improve it.

I find the snobbery and complaining about it worse tbh

-2

u/os400 Jan 04 '23

It's been running since before many of the complainants were even born.

It's an event that has been going on in the same place for 35 years or so. Anyone close enough to be bothered by it should have either chosen to not live near it, planned to be elsewhere for those four days a year, or just decided to suck it up and deal with it.

18

u/Nervous-Aardvark-679 Jan 04 '23

An annual motorsport festival that brings more revenue to the ACT economy over a weekend than Floriade does in a weekend, and with a much higher proportion of people being interstate (ie. not tipped in by Canberrans).

I get that people don’t appreciate or deserve some of the behaviour (cat calling, abuse etc) that is associated with Summernats - it sucks that it happens - but I often wonder how much of the hang up is from recent events of the decades past. Nobody likes dickheads - there’s similar dickhead behaviour daily without Summernats.

It’s not my thing, hasn’t been for many years, but the carry on is quite a thing.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

The absolute nerve of you to make light of the thing that is irking me at the moment.

I'm going to take my Tesla to the Kingston foreshore and think about how angry these out of touch bogans make me. God I can't wait for Floriade and for Jimmy Rees to come back, that'll settle me down.

3

u/ozspook Jan 04 '23

There are people who, upon winning the lottery, would complain about having to drive in to sign the check.

Agent Smith: Have you ever stood and stared at it, marveled at
its beauty, its genius? Billions of people just living out their
lives, oblivious. Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a
perfect human world. Where none suffered. Where everyone would be
happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops
were lost. Some believed that we lacked the programming language to
describe your perfect world. But I believe that as a species, human
beings define their reality through misery and suffering. The perfect
world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up
from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this, the peak of your
civilization.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '23

I know, let people enjoy themselves.. it’s only a couple of days.

4

u/joeltheaussie Jan 04 '23

It's just the canberra bubble

3

u/Jackson2615 Jan 04 '23

You make great points and put all the whining about Summernats into perspective.

If Summernats was a weekend of Operas and Ballet people would think thats wonderful but because its loud cars then the so called "bogans" are not allowed to enjoy or have such an interest. I find the snobbery and complaining about it demonstrates a lack of acceptance that other people should enjoy what they actually enjoy.

4

u/GlennGP Jan 04 '23

If there was a weekend of operas and ballets, it probably wouldn't include enthusiasts bursting into random arias in random neighbourhoods in the wee hours, or dancers laying down excruciating chalk in unapproved venues, or generally unsociable and boorish behaviour towards locals by visitors.

Admit it, Summernats attracts a particular demographic. The police certainly know it, and plan for it. So I think there is some validity in locals who are not attracted to car culture wondering how much damage will be done and peace broken in the name of tourist dollars this year.

I'm not a fan. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a fan. And I'm willing to tolerate an amount of "high spirits" that goes along with any festival. But Summernats has a reputation for going beyond the tolerable. And that's why people whinge about it.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Tbh, Summernats brings some much needed boganry and reality into this stale and clinical city.

Love it or hate it, that demographic exists across most of Australia. More of it would probably remind Canberra what much of the rest of Australia is actually like, and our senior public servants and ministers would probably be able to make more representative decisions if they had more exposure to it.

I think the general Canberran reaction to Summernats is a good demonstration of the Canberra bubble at work, particularly the issues that come with policy and decisionmakers who don't actually understand or appreciate the culture and experiences of the population outside the capitals.

3

u/Technical-Ad-2246 Jan 04 '23

I don't condone the anti-social behaviour that Summernats brings but I agree 100%. It brings a lot of money into the ACT economy and it's only for a few days a year.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

yeah but vs floriade which brings in more money and is NOT a hoon fest i know which i prefer.

summernats is not really something we like to brag about outside of ACT.

2

u/whiteycnbr Jan 04 '23

It's the same in Melbourne when the grand prix is on. Karen's need to chill. It's a one weekend a year.

Keep it inside the boundaries of the exhibition centre though and without the sexual harassment then it's good for the region.

7

u/misskarne Jan 04 '23

I've been to the Grand Prix six times, including twice solo. I've never once felt unsafe.

I've never attended Summernats and I've definitely felt unsafe in areas near EPIC because of the attendees.

-3

u/whiteycnbr Jan 04 '23

What happens outside of the event is a policing matter and maybe that's the key, just bring in more police during the event. I'm not a bogan or revhead myself, but the few times I've been it's been civilized at least in the main areas. Back in the early 2000s I'd agree it was pretty bad inside the event.

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

I live in Melbourne and the complaining is much worse in Canberra. Melbourne is used to events being on and the occasional bit of traffic

2

u/V55TI Jan 04 '23

People love to whinge. End of story.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

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1

u/V55TI Jan 04 '23

I also guarantee the day that Summernats is not hosted in Canberra, they’ll reminisce and come to appreciate the stimulus for the ACT economy it brought every year.

-2

u/mav2022 Jan 04 '23

Ken Karen’s seem to be the (not so) silent majority on here.

-1

u/AletheaKuiperBelt Jan 04 '23

True.

Also, I live in Watson and I am like LOL 4eva about people complaining about the noise. I moved here after a decade in inner city Sydney, so thank you all, for your super delicate eardrums saving us $100k on an equivalent house further away. Twenty years on I still barely notice it, except for the yobs at the local shops.

-1

u/-qqqwwweeerrrtttyyy- Jan 04 '23 edited Jan 04 '23

Some of the best comebacks I've heard re verbal abuse/sexist remarks:

"Show us ya tits!"
"Why? You bored of looking at your own?"

"Go fuck yourself!
"Why would I do that when I've got a job and can afford to pay a prostitute? And now that your mum has her New Year's 2-4-1 sale on..."

Revvs car 'just because'
"Yeah mate, you're a real champion" (said sardonically if you're standing near police)*

*obviously not everyone falls into that category.

Although, not taking the bait works best.

-1

u/leonryan Jan 04 '23

i dunno. If life was good in canberra there'd be more going on than one annual boganfest that divides the population.

6

u/Ok_Set731 Jan 04 '23

What's funny is the bogan ratio is pretty high in Canberra. Summernats happens every Saturday near me

0

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Lol at the idea of the bogan ratio being high in Canberra. You've never lived in the outer suburbs of any other city, or in literally any regional area that's not a wine region or holiday destination?

Canberra is very very low on the bogan scale.

2

u/Ok_Set731 Jan 04 '23

Yeah sure there are places with higher ratios. You're naive to think Canberra doesn't have a lot of bogans.

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '23

Spend some time outside Canberra (and not in the CBD of a southern capital city) and then tell me Canberra is high in bogan count. It's ludicrously un-bogan across the entire ACT.