00:00A much-beloved annual Outback charity rally has been cancelled as a result of the ongoing fuel
00:05crisis. Since its founding in 1985, the Variety NSW Motor Bash has attracted about 300 participants
00:14each year. Drivers in outlandish novelty cars have raised millions of dollars for sick and
00:20disabled children living in disadvantage. The now cancelled 2026 event was due to start in
00:27Newcastle before travelling northwest to Deer and Bandy and Lightning Ridge, visiting schools and
00:34community groups along the way. Unfortunately, organisers made the call to cancel the event
00:40to encourage participants to reserve their fuel. Over its 41-year history, it's only ever been
00:46cancelled once before, and that was in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The charity will replace
00:54the lost fundraising revenue by hosting a Move in May event instead.
00:59We're walking to work, cycling to work. Some of us are going to the gym, said Variety NSW and
01:07ACT Chief Executive Tony Warner. Whatever it is you are doing to get away from using petrol,
01:13let's celebrate that. The right thing to do is obviously to leave fuel for the farmers and
01:19the families who need it in those communities, he said. It wouldn't be right for us to turn
01:24up and risk taking that fuel from people who really need it right now.
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