Another sporting event is

about to hit the streets of the city in which I live. Conveniently it has also been announced just before our state election.

This time it is a "motorbike" race. It will not be held at a dedicated location south of here but around the streets of the centre of the city, the CBD. It is going to be held around the same route as a car race was once held, a "Formula One" race. 

Like many other people who are not interested in motor "sport" I was relieved when the F1 was taken away. It was disruptive of the city for weeks before and after. 

The arguments for bringing in the new race are the usual ones. It is claimed it will put the state, and the city in particular, "on the map" and that there will be "great financial benefits", that it is "exciting" and "what people want". 

I say there are very good reasons not to bring it here. The event will cost taxpayers something. There is no real financial benefit. The hospitality industry may benefit but the rest of the community will not. The businesses around the circuit will actually suffer financially. They did in the past and there is no reason to believe it will be any different now. People cannot get to them when streets are closed off and barriers are erected. Even if they can access them the noise and other disruptions tend to send people elsewhere. 

I am also, and I believe reliably, informed that street circuits are not suitable for such races. They are actually considered to be "dangerous" by experienced riders. Perhaps that adds to the "fun" of the event but it is also sending messages I do not think should be sent to people who are already foolish enough to think anyone can ride a  powerful motorbike. 

As this event is also a "spectator" sport it is not encouraging people to actually do anything active. It is not asking them to engage in any other way than simply watch - and quite possibly eat and drink while watching. This to me is not "sport" as it should be. 

What is more it is a short lived event. It does not last a lifetime. It is not a year or even a month. It is a few days of "entertainment". 

This is being offered to us as some sort of great coup at a time when has the highest electricity prices in the country and no answer to that except "we need more renewables". Manufacturing is almost gone but we are getting "the submarines" - also conveniently announced just before the election. There is also my personal concern, shared by many I have talked with recently, that the amount being spent on libraries is being cut back. It is being cut back at the very time more should be spent because of the social media ban for young people.

The only good thing right now is that the nurses managed to get a pay rise - but of course they did right before an election. 

We don't need any more "sport" but it is apparently seen as "cake". I would prefer bread.