Ivan Dean, Speeches Index

Thursday 23 June 2011

V8 SUPERCAR SPORTING EVENT

Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - I am going to speak on a very important matter, in relation to the headline in the Mercury this morning, the 'Axe for V8s, Supercars contract secretly shredded'. I have had a lot of discussion this morning, a lot of telephone contact in relation to this matter. I was going to move an urgency motion but, unfortunately, I was out of time. I think it would have been a good debate to have had, Madam President.

This, in my view, is a disgrace. This is the final nail in the coffin of this Greens-led Government, in my view. They have created this monster and this is continuing. The Tasmanian public will not sit back and take this decision lightly. Who in this State would get more entertainment out of an activity other than the hardworking, the labourer, the salt and blood of the State? No-one else would get more entertainment from an event other than those people, more so than most people.

Tasmanians love their motor racing and this is a truly State event. It is not the north versus the south, it is not one region versus another region and there is nothing parochial about this at all. It is a State matter.

V8s is the major event on the Tasmanian events calendar. After this year, I believe it will be lost to the State forever. If you believe that you will get it back in better times, then you probably believe in fairies. The owners of the racing track, Symmons Plains, and that is Motorsports Tasmania, say it will be extremely hard to get it back once you let it go. To break the three-year contract even in these hard times is lunacy.

I spoke with Dick Caplice this morning of Motorsports Tasmania and his opening comment was, 'It has been an interesting morning'. The State outlay per annum is about, as I understand it, $500 000, probably a little more $600 000, and the return to the State per annum is in the area of about $4 million. You do not need to be a mathematician to work out that a $500 000 to $600 000 outlay to get a return of about $4 million is not too bad. But then you need to add in the entertainment value and, more importantly, you need to add in the publicity and the exposure that this State gets from this event, not only national exposure, but also international exposure. That is worth many millions of dollars.

What we have here is that the Government will pick up about $1.13 million, we are told, through breaking the three-year contract, to lose, as I have said, about $8 million or thereabouts.

Mr Harriss - The TT-Line brings all the cars over. They'd sponsor a meagre $500 000.

Mr DEAN - You are absolutely right, an event today would gain a lot from that, and I will just touch on that in a moment.

On average, 3 500 to 4 000 interstate people attend this event. We have about 60 000 people all up attend this event over the weekend and there is much intrastate movement in that attendance.

Mr Harriss - D-u-m- - dumb.

Mr DEAN - It is just crazy. The Spirit would generate an enormous amount of business, as the member for Huon just raises, from the event and I understand that the government contribution goes towards providing the transportation of a lot of these vehicles, the Supercar roadshow, on the Spirit to this State. The State get their contribution back, Madam President, or a big part of it. The event occurs at a slow time in Tasmania, November, and is classified as a major event. A business in Launceston said this morning that they do not open on a Sunday for the AFL football because it is not viable, but they do open for the whole weekend for this event because it is extremely attractive for them and is viable. They do well out of it.

There was a circuit upgrade in 2004-05, the State supported it and contributed about $5 million, so this event could be run there. The company owning the track have continued to maintain and improve it. They committed a further $160 000 last year for safety upgrades and they have spent half so far, and this was on the basis of the three-year deal. Where does this leave motor sport in Tasmania? From the Government's point of view it does not really matter. I understand the State is saying they are committed to the event, but not for the next two years. Do they honestly believe, Madam President, they will get such a huge sporting event back? It will most likely go to Singapore, as I understand it, and/or North America. They are not likely to get it back once it goes. If my memory serves me correctly, we were only advised by the responsible minister about two weeks ago that there had been no cabinet discussion or decision on the V8s. Here today in the Mercury we are told that the V8 contract has been secretly shredded. This information comes from Tony Cochrane, the Chairman of V8 Supercars and not the Green Labor Government where it should have.

Why weren't we told about this? Why does it come to us in some other form? Why did it have to be released this way? For those in the lifeboats on the Titanic I would suggest you launch them now because it is about to strike that iceberg and you won't have much chance to get off. This will take schools and salaries off the front pages for a while, Madam President. The Mercury online poll, I might add, which is currently being run is running at - when I left my office - 87 per cent support of continued funding and 13 per cent against. That is a huge margin in support of the retention of the V8 event.

Mr Mulder - It is good to see the south supporting a northern event.

Mr DEAN - It is wonderful that the south is supporting a northern event, but it is not actually a northern event it is at Symmons Plains, which is about 36 kilometres out of Launceston, and it is a major event. I think the Government is on yet another loser, Madam President, and it would appear they have lost sight of the strong return to the State. If the dropping of support is raised on the fact that they will get it back, it is flawed, in my opinion, and in that of the other persons involved in motor sport.

Return To Main Page. Return To Speeches.