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After years of being humiliated in the State of Origin, NSW can now hold its head high after snatching the rights to a sporting tournament that reportedly brings in a cool $6 million to Queensland’s economy.

Feel the shame, Sunshine State, for you will no longer host the … Nude Olympics.

This year’s clothes free jamboree, to be held in March, will head south from its current home of Noosa to Byron Bay on NSW’s far north coast.

The chief issue? It’s actually illegal to take off your togs on Queensland’s miles of golden beaches.

Any you can’t hold a nude sporting festival if you have to put your clothes back on. Kind of defeats the purpose.

More than 600 people annually attend the Nude Olympics, which is usually held on the Sunshine Coast where participants take part in naked swimming, tug of war and marathon events.

Queensland is the only state that forbids councils to expressly allow nude sunbathing.

However, local police often turn a blind eye to people wearing The Emperor’s New Clothes so long as the beaches are away from built up areas.

The Nude Olympic were held at Alexandria Bay where a national park separates the beach from Noosa town.

But a crackdown by cops has forced organisers to desert the state for less prudish waters.

Stuart Whelan, a spokesman for organisers the Australian Nudist Federation (ANF), said moving the games to NSW was the only way they could ensure sports men and women didn’t end up arrested.

“It’s just crackers. The last time I looked it was the 21st century,” he told the Brisbane Times.

Two weeks ago, the ANF cancelled a beach picnic because they claimed Sunshine Beach Life Savers had refused to patrol the area for fear of condoning an illegal activity.

In a Facebook post, the ANF said, “Without the life savers, we are inviting people to a beach that is known to be hazardous.

“We cannot take a risk with people’s lives. ANF officers could be held accountable personally.”

Despite the fact Alexandria Bay has been known as an unofficial nude bathing spot for decades, police have started enforcing the law far more rigorously.

In the last year, six men who had been swimming nude at the beach have been charged with wilful exposure by Noosa police.

The Nude Games, another naked sporting event, is also held away from Queensland, just south of Adelaide.

The ANF estimates the Nude Olympics brings in around $6 million into the local economy. An amount that will now benefit Byron Bay rather than Noosa.

Byron Bay is home to several legal nude beaches.

“We are talking several million dollars that will no longer be going through the local economy,” Mr Whelan said.

“That’s hundreds staying two nights’ hotel accommodation, food, restaurants, cafes, hire cars, petrol.”

According to the Noosa News, Queensland’s Minister for Police, Mark Ryan, was unmoved about the naked ambition of the nudist community to keep the event in Queensland.

In a statement, the Minister’s office said the wilful exposure legislation was “designed to provide for the protection and safety of Queenslanders.”

“As such, there are no plans to change current legislation dealing with wilful exposure,” a spokeswoman said.

Source: news.com.au