Brendan Farrell has made the tough decision to postpone his annual Australia Day hay run due to Covid-19 related concerns.
In an emotional video message to his many Facebook fans, the Burrumbuttock Hay Run organiser said the ever-changing border closures and quarantine conditions had turned this month’s proposed event into a logistical nightmare.
But he also didn’t want to take any risk of spreading the virus through the outback regions in and around the Winton area his army of loyal truckies were due to visit.
“The duty of care I have as the hay run founder is huge,” said Farrell.
“I’ve got to look at all aspects, from the truck drivers, their families, to all the communities going through their towns.
“We don’t want to spread this in the outback of Queensland, New South Wales; I love those communities. There are great people in amongst them. I don’t want to jeopardise that.”
Farrell said he’s hopeful that he can rally the troops to have another crack at the same drought-stricken region in July.
“Hopefully by then we can work better with Miss Corona: calm her down a bit more and we can all get back to normal life.
“To all the suppliers, sponsors mechanics, auto electricians, medical staff who put their hand up to come on the run, thank you guys. Just hang for a couple of months and see how it goes.”
He said he’s now looking forward to enjoying his Australia Day with his children.
“The hay run takes a lot out of me and they take a lot out of my kids. So I’d like to sit back this Australia Day and enjoy my time with my kids on a riverbank fishing…something like that. I don’t know.”