Daniel Andrews must put brakes on Melbourne F1 Grand Prix losses

Again the losses for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix mount up. This year Victorian taxpayers subsidised the event by a record $61.7 million.

Victorian taxpayers subsidised the GP by $61.7 million this year.

AGAIN the losses for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix mount up. This year Victorian taxpayers subsidised the event by a record $61.7 million.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s annual report yesterday outlined the state’s financial burden for the motor racing spectacle — the opening round of the F1 season.

The glamorous event attracts about 300,000 motorsport fans to the track — and millions of eyeballs around the globe — during the four days in March.

Premier Daniel Andrews, like his predecessors of either political persuasion, has again backed the race, saying it showcases Melbourne and Victoria to a worldwide audience.

The Grand Prix is indeed a flagship event — one that is a key element of our state’s major events strategy.

The Herald Sun supports the race, believing that it delivers for the city and the state, but only as long as it is subject to strict financial rigour and transparency.

The issue of annual losses is clearly not an issue of politics as past Labor and Coalition governments have shown their support.

But the caveat should be that the State Government’s unequivocal support carries strict fiscal responsibility — even if that means a line-by-line review of all costs.

All financial elements of the event need to be on the table — setup costs, supplier contracts, sponsorships, even ticket prices.

But one leap towards financial certainty — and the easing of the burden on the Victorian taxpayer — would be lowering of the licence fee paid to billionaire F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

It’s almost three years since the Herald Sun exposed the fees paid to Mr Ecclestone and the Formula One Group of which he is the chief executive — a deal kept hidden for almost two decades.

In January 2013, the Herald Sun revealed that more than $30 million a year was being secretly paid for the right to host the Grand Prix at Albert Park.

And the fees increase annually thanks to an “escalator clause” in the contract that allows for the licence fee to rise 5 per cent a year, regardless of how successful the event is.

Over five years, those fees totalled about $US170 million.

Sure, Formula One is a business that has costs like any other but that doesn’t mean the state cannot negotiate (and reveal) a better deal.

The 2015 race, held in March, was forecast to cost $US37.7 million in licence fees. However, the actual figure paid does not appear in the corporation’s current report.

The cloak of commercial confidentiality cannot disguise the fact that taxpayers are subsidising a hugely successful sporting enterprise.

It behoves Premier Andrews to restore public confidence in the event and reveal the current fee paid to Mr Ecclestone.

The Australian Grand Prix is guaranteed to be held in Melbourne until 2023, despite recent overtures from New South Wales Premier Mike Baird.

For the years ahead, though, bold thinking is required to give Melbourne’s race a solid footing.

Perhaps now is the time to revisit the issue of a night race. After all, it could be commercially decisive.

Mr Ecclestone wants an evening start in Melbourne to appeal to overseas markets, especially Europe.

If it has a direct impact on the bottom line, the night-time switch could be a game-changer.

JAKE CARLISLE’S OWN GOAL

AS a bumpy start to your career at a new club, Jake Carlisle’s blunder takes some beating.

After weeks of uncertainty, St Kilda finally signed Carlisle from Essendon in exchange for draft pick No.5. But just hours later, mobile phone footage emerged from the United States of the 24-year-old defender snorting a white substance.

Carlisle, to his credit, owned up and owned his stupidity, saying he made “a very poor decision”.

His new masters at St Kilda may not be so quickly placated.

Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt was reportedly livid at Carlisle’s indiscretion. Riewoldt and indeed many at St Kilda have battled hard over recent years to try to clean up the club’s “party boy” image.

The whole messy incident provides a sobering lesson for any sports star and the global reach and power of mobile phones and social media.

People’s private moments are photographed and filmed more than at any other time in history, and the spotlight is even brighter on those with a public profile.

And in Melbourne’s footy bubble, those profiles are big enough to warrant intense interest. Even a brief moment of madness on the other side of the world can quickly have repercussions close to home.

Carlisle will now face a summer of education, or re-education, and will no doubt endure a pretty tough pre-season in all sorts of ways.

Maybe it could provide a much-needed wakeup call that will provide direction, purpose and discipline.

St Kilda fans, indeed all footy fans, will now hope that Carlisle becomes a better footballer and, more importantly, a better man.