Paul Little revs up to head Formula One body

Billionaire Paul Little has been appointed chairman of the ­Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Paul Little. Picture: Mark Stewart

Billionaire Paul Little has been appointed chairman of the ­Australian Grand Prix Corporation, two months after the ­Victorian government locked in its contract for the event through to 2025.

Mr Little, a motorsport and aviation enthusiast, will assume the role next week when incumbent chairman John Harnden takes up his role as chief executive of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.

The Grand Prix appointment will see Mr Little step down from his role as chairman of tourism and events body Visit Victoria, to be replaced by Gilbert + Tobin partner Janet Whiting.

Mr Little has spent two years chairing Visit Victoria, in which time he and the ­organisation’s board oversaw a 22 per cent rise in visitor ­expenditure to $30bn and an added 13,000 jobs in Victoria’s tourism industry.

Premier Daniel ­Andrews ­described Mr Little as “a proud Victorian” who was “well placed to steer the future direction of the Grand Prix Corporation”.

“I’m delighted that Mr Little has agreed to take on this ­important role,” Mr Andrews said. “As we saw under his stewardship of Visit Victoria, his drive and experience will help ensure that the Formula One Australian Grand Prix remains one of the great events anywhere in the world.”

The Grand Prix has been run at Melbourne’s Albert Park since 1996. In July the Victorian government announced it would take up a two-year option and the sport’s global organising body would extend the race contract through to 2025.

Melbourne is the first stop on the global Formula One circuit, being held each March.

Mr Little said he “was looking forward to helping shape the best motor racing events in the world — events that project the success and energy of Melbourne and Victoria around the globe”.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation also oversees the annual MotoGP event at Phillip Island, held in late October. That race is locked in on the Victorian major events calendar until at least 2026.

The 2018 Grand Prix annual report revealed that the Formula One Grand Prix cost Victorian taxpayers about $57m that year. The cost of the event to the state has averaged $59m for each of the past five years.

Mr Little is a former chief executive of transport and logistics giant Toll, which he built from a small operation in the 1980s to a global business, before stepping down at the end of 2010.

He maintained his large shareholding in Toll until it was taken over by Japan Post in a $6.5bn takeover in 2015.

Mr Little’s wealth was estimated at $1.32bn on this year’s edition of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, published in late March.

His private Little Group ­includes real estate, aviation and transport interests, including the $100m VIP Jet terminal at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.

With his wife Jane Hansen, he has made substantial donations to the University of Melbourne.