The blunt observations of Acting Inspector Mark Richardson about the behaviour of some drivers during the Summernats car festival have opened the floodgates.
He seems to have given some Canberrans a licence to speak their true thoughts.
Those thoughts are pouring out in comments to this masthead. Cancel the inane event; what a hero; when is he running for election; hoonfest; etc etc is the gist of it. "I would vote this policeman in as chief minister tomorrow," the (anonymous) Voice of Reason opines.
Acting Inspector Richardson is a delight to headline writers. He has a rich turn of phrase: "morons" and "sub-species" tripped off his tongue as he riffed against people doing illegal burnouts across Canberra.
"They just haven't evolved very far. I think they've really plateaued as a species or subspecies of the human race".
He suggested a radical new measure to prevent "moron tourism": "If we set up an IQ testing station at the border, instead of a vehicle testing station, we would probably halve our problems."
He is without doubt right about illegal burnouts across the ACT. It seems to be the sport of a section of the community (if that's the right way to put it) not just during Summernats but throughout the year.
Sociologists may one day write learned papers about burnouts and rebellious youth disconnected from the rest of society. And good luck to them. Academics should get PhDs wherever they can.
But there is, it seems to me, a danger in the torrent of condemnation of "hoons" and "bogans".
Underlying a lot of it (again, it seems to me) is snobbery.
To condemn the bad behaviour of a few has become for some Canberrans a condemnation of the whole event. In a city that likes to think of itself as a green leader, the very idea of a car festival is abhorrent. Cycling: good; cars: bad (apart from the ones in every driveway in the city).
But it's the working class car festival which I suspect really sticks in the refined middle class craw. Bogans with mullets are not what Canberra thinks it's about. If it really must be a car, it should be a Tesla as those with the money to afford a Tesla may think.
I wonder if those who object to Summernats on environmental grounds ever fly anywhere.
It seems to me (and I own a car but hardly ever drive it, taking to buses and trains when I can) that there are more harmful things in this world than a bunch of people gathering to watch (and be deafened by) cars roaring around within the festival site. Some of them stray onto public roads and make a nuisance of themselves but so what. We can live with it for four days a year.
Working class people have a right to pleasure, too.
We have been here before. In 2012, the Australian Associated Press reported: "Summernats owner Andy Lopez has fired a broadside at the 'snobs and bigots' who believe everyone who attends the controversial Canberra car festival must be a drunken, sexist hoon.
"And he's received support from the top of the ACT government with Tourism Minister Andrew Barr declaring the 'reformed' event proves Canberra isn't just for the elite arts crowd."
I wonder if Mr Barr still thinks the same.
Maybe Acting Inspector Mark Richardson should get the tourism minister job. Or even the chief minister's.
