Get over it, already

It's fun, popular, competitive and exciting, and it's really starting to generate significant returns for SA - so isn't it time Victoria poached the Tour Down Under? - The Independent Weekly, January 16-22, 2005

I really expected a whole lot more from Adelaide's newest paper. But it seems that just because you print a paper in broadsheet, it doesn't mean there's not going to be tabloid, populist rubbish like this in it. I had hoped the whole inferiority complex was limited to the editorial of the Advertiser. It's not. The Independent Weekly has, after a brief stint on the market, hit the gutter running. The Grand Prix moved to Melbourne in 1996. I don't know why. From what I hear, SA was making a loss on it, so Victoria made a bid for it and won hosting rights. The Adelaide media responded, not by burning Don Walker in effigy; not by lampooning Jeff Kennett's hair; but by inciting all South Australians to commit acts of physical violence upon anyone they may happen to meet who was born east of Bordertown and south of the Murray River. Yes, the 'Kick a Vic' campaign was born. Now, nearly ten years after SA hosted its final GP, a newspaper that didn't exist even one year ago is wheeling out the same, tired rhetoric as the very paper it is trying to compete with. So instead of writing an article on how great the Tour Down Under is, time and valuable column space are wasted, indulging this City and State in bitterness and promoting the fear that big, bad, bully Victoria will come along and steal our lunch money again. It's pathetic. Many South Australians believe in this State and love this peaceful, livable and rather beautiful city. People do come here and choose to live here for what it offers. Meanwhile, the Adelaide media is waiting for the other shoe to drop.