Jeff Kennett: Grand Prix cancellation shows truth about Victoria

Victoria cannot afford to have a reputation of inflexibility and lose our major events, as it will take years to rebuild our once high regarded reputation.

So, we are getting a very clear view of what the rest of the world thinks of Victoria and to a lesser degree, Australia.

Yes, it is fine for many to close our borders, to lock out Victorians overseas from coming home.

Increasingly, that is damaging our reputation and economy.

On Tuesday it was announced the postponed Formula One Grand Prix, which was scheduled for November, has been cancelled.

Having been cancelled once, now twice, we can legitimately ask ourselves whether we have lost it for good. Let us hope not.

While the F1 was not everyone’s cup of tea, it was a major part of our major events calendar. It allowed us to promote Melbourne, Victoria, and Australia, overseas, not only during the staging of the race, but in motoring magazines around the world throughout the year.

Apart from the event itself, the greatest benefit of our major events is the opportunities they create for Victorian businesses, the employment they provide for thousands of Victorians.

Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2020 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne in March 2020. (AAP Image/Michael Dodge)

Such is Victoria’s international reputation for staging major events that work on such events here can be a passport for so many of our youth, who travel overseas and find employment working on similar major events.

However, staging the event this November was never going to work. I do not know whether it was the Victorian government’s decision or the organisers of the event. Regardless, the Victorian government, being local, should have said let us wait until the normal timeslot in March 2022 to run the race again.

Two weeks between the conclusion of our Spring Racing Carnival and the staging of the Grand Prix in November ignores the reality that both events rely heavily on corporate support and sponsorship to cover or lower costs.

Simply put, commercial sponsors would not have had the resources to support both events, so both would have been very different events this year had they been staged back-to-back.

So, let us hope by March next year the event is still ours to stage.

On Tuesday it was announced the postponed Formula One Grand Prix, which was scheduled for November.

However, before then we will again have the Australian Open tennis to host. This event is the most important on our sporting calendar, and Australia’s.

It is possible the major players will not want to come again if it means quarantining as they had to this year.

Surely the federal and state governments should quickly develop a policy that basically says if you are fully vaccinated, are tested negative before you leave your previous port, and tested again on arrival, you should be able to compete without quarantining.

Mind you, this should be the standard for any Australian returning home, and visitors to the country.

We cannot afford to keep our borders closed, for social and economic reasons.

There will be outbreaks of this virus or another maybe for the rest of time. We have to learn to live with it.

The cancelling of the F1 and the MotoGP will have profound impacts on an already reeling hospitality in Melbourne, and a savage blow to the Phillip Island economy.

The cancellation of both will damage Victoria’s reputation. If the Australian Open is cancelled, it will also adversely affect Australia’s reputation for staging international events.

The F1, MotoGP and the tennis open are part of a wonderful kaleidoscope of events, together with our arts offerings and precincts, and laneways and restaurants that have made Melbourne and Victoria such a cosmopolitan city and state.

So much of our very best has been closed over the last 18 months. Now to start losing some of the stars in the crown is, as I said above, is damaging to our reputation and our economy.

We have the national cabinet. It has been a good idea until our leaders stopped sending our bipartisan messages.

Right now, we should continue to vaccinate as quickly as possible. And those who are fully vaccinated here or overseas should be able to travel freely with tests being conducted at point of departure and arrival out and into Australia.

Victoria cannot afford to keep people and businesses locked up. We cannot afford to have a reputation of inflexibility. We cannot afford to lose our major events, which have taken years to build up into events of internationally high regard and reputation.

Tuesday’s announcements were disappointing and challenging. My call is for protocols to be developed quickly at national cabinet to start relaxing the controls on our borders.

Have a good day.

Jeff Kennett is a former premier of Victoria