Port Hedland Council allocates additional $10,000 for 2025 Spinifex Spree Carnival acts

Town of Port Hedland councillors have voted to allocate an additional $10,000 to the 2025 Spinifex Spree Carnival to secure high-quality headline acts.

Initially proposed at the November 27 ordinary council meeting, the officer’s recommendation to provide an additional $60,000 to the event sparked debate among councillors.

Cr Ambika Rebello introduced a motion to raise the proposed funding increase to $94,000.

However, Crr Camilo Blanco and deputy mayor Ash Christensen voiced their opposition to the amended motion.

“This is an ad hoc sort of decision-making,” Cr Blanco said

“It’s confusing everyone. I think we should just stick to that plan and see how it unfolds to see if we get a better quality event.”

Cr Rebello said the additional funding would allow the council to provide the sort of entertainment events the community wanted.

“I do understand that support around the council is very bleak for this one but I would request you to open your minds and hearts to this one,” she said.

“The feedback from the community has been that they are looking forward to very high-quality entertainment.

“They are looking forward to something that is large-scale, like what is provided at a big city. They are looking forward to high-quality live performances. “

Cr Christensen said he would like to see what the base level of funding would provide first before allocating additional funds.

“I’m not supportive of the $94,000,” he said.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s a blessing that we’ve got the the additional money to do the event currently.

“My personal feeling on the matter is it would be great to see what the base level of funding provides and how our community feels about that. Then we can make an educated decision when it comes to further investment down the road.”

The amended motion was put to a vote and was lost, with the original motion for $60,000 of additional funding also lost after debate.

Cr Christensen then put forward a motion to allocate an additional $10,000 to the carnival, which carried with an absolute majority of councillors.