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MasterChef tug of war gets political

"It will be an absolute travesty if Victoria steals Masterchef," says the NSW Opposition.

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Rumours (and that’s all they are right now) of MasterChef switching to Melbourne for 2013 have triggered a political reaction in the state of NSW.

The acting NSW opposition leader Linda Burney MP has called on Premier Barry O’Farrell to step in and prevent losing up to 360 jobs from the $30m production.

“It will be an absolute travesty if Victoria steals Masterchef from right under Barry O’Farrell’s nose,” Burney said in a statement.

“Barry O’Farrell cannot afford the supreme embarrassment of Masterchef walking away. Masterchef is not just a television show – it is a $30 million juggernaut operating out of Redfern that generates as many as 360 jobs in television production and flow-on industries. It’s absolutely vital that we keep all that energy, creativity and talent in NSW.

“Masterchef is also a cultural phenomenon showcasing the very best of Sydney – our restaurants, our chefs, our stunning harbour backdrop – to millions of viewers around Australia and the world.”

It’s not the first time politics has gotten into tussles over where shows are located. Queensland tried to wrest the Logies from Victoria, and Anna Bligh (herself a one-time MasterChef contestant) has championed Big Brother as integral to the local industry. NSW was successful in relocating the AFI Awards (now known as the AACTAs) and successive state govts in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have been very active in trying to lure productions to their states.

Source: smh.com.au

3 Responses

  2. Well it does make sense in a way because both George and Garry have young families and restaurants on melbourne and Matt has 3 kids as well and they all live in melbourne and even the exec producer does.

    They are away for half the year doing MC so of course they would want it to be in melbourne

  3. They do a few away-missions every year anyway, so it’s not like they’re stuck with the same venues and restaurants all the time. No real need to move it. Other than convenience for the cast.

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