The Age
Tuesday 13 February 2024

Inside Trace

CBD supposes that despite everything, Melbourne’s annual Australian Grand Prix isn’t going anywhere. But then again, neither is the long-running insurgency against the event by a determined group of Albert Park locals.
And the good folk of Save Albert Park have had a newfound spring in their step ever since the state Labor government cancelled the Commonwealth Games – with Premier Jacinta Allan at the heart of the action – figuring that once you’ve cancelled one big sporting waste of money, then why not another.
The rebels had a win late last year when the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner ordered the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) to hand over – after a freedom-of-information campaign by Save Albert Park’s Joan Logan – internal working documents on how the crowds at the event are calculated.
Save Albert Park has maintained for decades that the race organisers use every trick in the book to wildly inflate the number of paying punters at the race to exaggerate the economic benefits of the event.
But the corporation isn’t taking the decision lying down. It is taking the information commissioner to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, arguing that releasing the docs would give rival cities some information that could be handy in any attempt to poach the race from Melbourne.
Logan’s husband, Peter, isn’t having any of that.
‘‘The AGPC has lawyered up – at taxpayers’ expense – to mount a case that it doesn’t have to release the methodology used to make up its attendances, even though it was demanded by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner,’’ Logan told us.
We asked the Grand Prix Corporation why it was bothering with the trouble and expense of the VCAT challenge, instead of just handing over the docs, but a spokesperson said that the corporation wouldn’t comment while the matter was before the tribunal.

John Quiggin’s Blogstack
Originally published in Crikey
Thursday 30 November 2023

What is the actual economic benefit of the Grand Prix?

After the unhappy experience of the cancelled Commonwealth Games, Victorian citizens might reasonably ask whether the annual Grand Prix represents a similarly unaffordable drain on the public purse. No need to worry about that, according to Big Four consulting firm Ernst & Young.

Although the government lost more than $100 million on the 2023 Grand Prix, Ernst & Young found an economic benefit to the state of $266 million.

Read the article here.

Pearls and Irritations
Sunday 2 March 2024

Melbourne’s F1 Grand Prix a financial car crash for Victoria

30 years ago, then Premier Jeff Kennett told Victorians the grand prix would not cost taxpayers a cent. $1 billion later, it is obvious he was wrong. This is what Victorian taxpayers have paid so far to host a four-day Formula 1 car race. And the bill just keeps growing.

The race is now costing Victorians more than $100 million each year. Supporters of the event, however, continue to claim there are economic benefits of having the race in Melbourne. The evidence does not support this

Read the article here.

Michael West Media
Tuesday 19 March 2024

Melbourne Grand Prix, fuel efficiency standards and fake news

The long overdue introduction of Fuel Efficiency Standards in Australia is meeting with the usual resistance from fossil fuel lobbyists and car enthusiasts. The Melbourne Grand Prix is an annual reminder of the deceit, Dr Sarah Russell reports.

Read the article here.