After the 2022 Skyworks, the City of Perth decided to end the long running event for a number of reasons including waning interest, environmental concerns, and the high financial cost of putting on the show.

Earlier Skyworks shows had also occasionally seen firing points that included the Narrows Bridge, off moving boats and jet skis on the river, and fireworks suspended from helicopters.

[17] Despite this, concerns over community transmission of the Omicron variant resulted in a much smaller crowd of 100,000 attending the show compared to previous years.

[20][21][12] The controversy surrounding the celebration of Australia Day, as well as waning public interest in both the holiday and the event were also cited as factors to reconsider staging Skyworks.

[5] In the 2000s Skyworks gained national notoriety as unruly and drunken behaviour by some spectators at the show became increasingly common, and drove families away from the event.

[9] After the 2004 show, police in riot gear fought running battles with drunken attendees along the South Perth foreshore, with several hundred people arrested that night.

[2] Alcohol was ultimately completely banned at the 2010 event to prevent unruly behaviour, though it led to a reduced crowd of 250,000 people at the foreshore.

[22] In 2011 designated drinking zones, which made alcohol consumption outside these areas illegal, were introduced, and police took a much tougher stance on drunkenness and anti-social behaviour at the show.

In the late 1990s several small fires erupted in the Kings Park bushland due to people igniting sparklers at the event; this led to the eventual banning of them.

[25] Prior to the start of Skyworks in 2017, at approximately 5pm a Grumman G-73 Mallard seaplane stalled and crashed into the Swan River, a short distance from the Causeway, in front of thousands of spectators.

Emergency crews and nearby people on the river rushed to assist, however the pilot Peter Lynch and the passenger on board died.

[26] As a result, as a mark of respect for the deceased and their families, to preserve an investigation scene, and amid concerns of aviation fuel in close proximity to the fireworks, the City of Perth cancelled the show.