No expense spared for New Year’s bash

Sydney’s New Year’s Eve cost the City of Sydney Council $5.9 million yet the evening is said to be Australia’s single most profitable event.

The City has called New Year’s Eve its most complex and technologically advanced operation to date and Events NSW said its exposure raised almost $160 million for the Australian economy.

Producer of New Year’s Eve 2011, Aneurin Coffey, said: “We get around 1.5 million people around the harbour, which equates to about $4 a head, which is damn good value in any language.”

The annual event took over 15 months to design and construct by the 66 staff employed by the City of Sydney to work exclusively on the event.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said: “This world-class display [was] viewed by an estimated 2.6 million people at home and about one billion people around the world.”

In addition to the seven tonnes of fireworks and 110 tonnes of equipment required for both the 9pm and 12am displays on the night, the City forked out money for advertising, security and even a custom-made iPhone Application and theme song.

“On the night, over 1000 people [were] accredited for the event, including lighting and sound contractors, pyro-technicians, stage managers, event managers, artists [and] the international broadcast people,” said Producer of New Year’s Eve 2011, Aneurin Coffey.

That’s not to mention the almost 3000 NSW Police officers who patrolled the CBD, Sydney Harbour and public transport over the New Year period as a part of Operation “Vela”, despite there being a relatively low level of incidences on the night itself.

The cost of the additional NSW Police operations is not known however according to the City, the cleanup operation cost $270,000.

This involved a team of 350 staff, 53 trucks and over 600 mobile garbage bins to collect 48 tonnes of waste produced by excited party-goers throughout the night.

A spokesperson for the Opera Bar, situated in the prime position under the Opera House, said New Year’s Eve was one of the bar’s most profitable nights of the year.

Opera Bar hosted a $300-per-head event for the annual celebration and tickets sold out within weeks of going on sale.

Opera Bar was one of the many local business that hosted pre-booked events to ensure they could cope with the crowds.

And it was these crowds the City was hoping to capture in its sale of a New Year’s Eve anthem on iTune.

Proceeds from this sale, as well as those from the Lord Mayor’s East Africa Food Crisis Appeal, will be donated to the 2011 Sydney New Year’s Eve charity partner, CARE Australia.

Around $250 000 has been raised so far.

Laura Hill, a representative from CARE Australia, said: “Money raised from NYE will contribute to CARE’s ongoing work to provide emergency assistance, including life-saving food and water to around 1.8 million people in drought-stricken East Africa.

“CARE Australia was thrilled to be the City of Sydney’s charity partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve .”

By Kristen Amiet