“Jacinta Allan needs to explain how the costs of the event have escalated so rapidly and what she is going to do to protect taxpayers from further cost blow-outs,” Opposition sport and events spokesman Sam Groth said.
“It also raises more questions about Labor’s handling of contract negotiations for major events,as we saw with the Commonwealth Games debacle.”
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Tourism,Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos did not answer questions from this masthead about the contract negotiations,the fee paid to F1 or whether the government was seeking to reduce grand prix costs.
Dimopoulos emphasised the broader benefit of the Australian Grand Prix which,according to an Ernst&Young report commissioned by the government,pumped $144 million directly into the state’s visitor economy.
“From driving tourism and investment attraction,to contributing to the vibrancy and livability of our state,to creating more jobs,hosting the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix provides so many proven economic benefits to Victoria,” he said.
“This iconic event generated an estimated $266 million for Victoria,with more than 444,000 fans taking to the course over the four days – boosting businesses,local jobs and our unrivalled hotel and hospitality sector.”
Former sport minister Martin Pakula (centre) replaced Paul Little (right) as AGPC chairman,with Andrew Westacott (left) resigning as chief executive.Credit:Simon Schluter
The mass appeal of Formula 1,underpinned by the success of Netflix’sDrive to Survive series,was reflected in the 444,631 people who pushed through the Albert Park turnstiles. That generated $76 million in ticket sales and a record $96 million in total revenue. Both of these figures were significantly up from 2022.
The flip side is that high inflation,a post-pandemic labour shortage,soaring freight costs and the addition of Formula 2 and Formula 3 racing to the Albert Park program added to the cost of assembling and dismantling the temporary street circuit and stands and running the event. The AGPC also increased its headcount from 77 staff to 92 and its wages bill by $6.7 million.
The largest line-item increase in expenses was for event management and staging,which jumped from $80 million to $119 million. This figure includes the undisclosed fee paid to Liberty Media.
Since the 2023 race came to its chaotic,stop-start finish,with local driver Oscar Piastri securing the first championship points of his F1 career,Little and fellow AGPC directors Tal Karp and Kate Lundy havestepped down from the board. Andrew Westacottresigned as chief executive after 12 years in the job.
Pakula and the AGPC’snew chief executive Travis Auld,along with Little and Westcacott,are all in the US for this weekend’s first running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. That event,which is wholly owned and promoted by Liberty Media,will be staged at an estimated cost of more than $US400 million ($617 million).
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