CEO Statement - The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph

Published on 01 September 2016

Media Statement - The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph
I was disappointed to receive the media release from Merbein Vanilla Slice Inc. advising of their decision not to continue hosting the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph. 

This media release was the first Council knew of the committee’s decision to give the event away to a township outside this municipality.  We are certainly concerned and perplexed that they have taken this route without any formal discussions or community consultation.

Merbein was awarded the agreement to host the festival five years ago after an extensive Expression of Interest process aimed specifically at keeping the event in our region.  The event had previously been an Ouyen community event for 14 years and Ouyen Inc. is the registered owner of the naming rights.

The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph has been an extremely successful community event for 19 years and Council has invested significant community funds into the event’s growth and development. Our staff and Councillors have also provided many hours of support behind the scenes with the community committee to grow the event.

As such, it is certainly our intention to try to build on this investment and retain the event in our municipality and we will be working hard to see this happen.

Gerard José