Matt Smith: It raises the question as to why the costs were not arrested earlier and why the SATC continued to spruik the benefits
Just last year SATC spruiked the Adelaide 500’s record economic gains. The Premier will need to do a good job explaining that U-turn, writes Matt Smith.
Opinion
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Will October 29, 2020, forever be remembered as the day Premier Steven Marshall killed V8-powered racing on Adelaide’s streets?
This is the question he would have to be pondering after seeing the avalanche of anger from South Australians and the motoring fraternity since Thursday’s decision.
His political opponents will clearly be hoping the answer is “yes”.
It can be guaranteed they will seek to get as much mileage as possible from it, but more on that later.
As it stands, it is not entirely clear why the State Government – guided by advice from the South Australian Tourism Commission – has decided to scrap the popular event.
Mr Marshall and SATC boss Rodney Harrex said a combination of COVID-19 uncertainty, declining crowds, falling commercial support and rising costs had killed off the four-day sporting spectacular.
The pair said the cost to run the event was well over $10m a year. This, they said, was money which could be better spent by creating a suite of events to drive tourism through the whole year beyond Mad March – a term that could also disappear from the state’s vernacular following the decision.
Full details of the cost are promised to be revealed in next month’s State Budget as a commitment for the new events.
Less than a week ago, Treasurer Rob Lucas promised at least an additional $2bn for public infrastructure upgrades as part of a “high-vis tradie” package. It was a positive commitment aimed at stimulating economic activity and creating jobs.
But it also makes $10m feel like a drop in the ocean for an event that is not only loved by many South Australians but has traditionally been spruiked as driving significant economic activity.
To add further intrigue, though, industry insiders say the true losses have been closer to $20m a year since about 2018.
If true, it raises the question as to why the costs were not arrested earlier and also why the SATC continued to spruik the benefits of the event.
SATC figures from last year showed the 2019 Superloop Adelaide 500 achieved a record economic benefit of $45.9m.
This was driven by 15,200 interstate visitors attending the event and the creation of 435 full-time equivalent jobs.
In 2019, SATC boasted improvements in economic activity, event attendance, jobs created, interstate and overseas visitors and visitor nights generated from the event. At its peak, in 2008, the event attracted 291,400 people – estimated to be the largest turnout for a motorsport event in Australia’s history.
This year, the event did experience a drop, attracting about 206,000 people.
However, much of that was put down to a lack of big-name acts for the after-race entertainment.
The all-Australian line-up did not draw the same level of enthusiasm as former acts, including Robbie Williams and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But, even if there were genuine fears that crowd numbers would continue to decline and COVID-19 would present problems for the 2021 event, it is hard to understand why Adelaide had to be ruled out altogether.
An industry insider told The Advertiser that Supercars were keen to work with the government to help “reinvent” the event.
It appears the Supercars organisation was on the cusp of making significant announcements including Adelaide having the final event of the racing year – and the gala celebrations that go with it – in November next year and beyond.
Politically, the announcement has given Mr Marshall’s political opponent, Labor leader Peter Malinauskas, a platform he has lacked since the start of the pandemic.
It will be a shock if, within days, Mr Malinauskas does not promise to reverse the decision – if he becomes the state’s next premier.
He was one of the first out of the blocks to describe the decision as a “disgrace”.
Plenty of theories are being touted about why the event was cancelled. But a few things are clear.
Mr Marshall and Mr Harrex are publicly on the same page over the reasons – meaning they will both wear the consequences.
Mr Marshall has placed extraordinary levels of trust in Mr Harrex and his team to deliver a suite of events that will fill the Superloop void – economically and spiritually.
Of course, as the same team that argued the Old Mate tourist campaign was a roaring success, there will naturally be some cynicism of their ability to do so.
But they simply have to.
A very brave decision has been made by Mr Marshall.
A failure to deliver on his promise to get better value from the money saved by scrapping Superloop will not be forgotten.