NSW Premier slams “nonsensical” Newcastle 500 roadblock

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has reiterated his government’s support for a longer-term Newcastle 500 deal, while labelling council’s resistance to a one-year contract “nonsensical”.

The would-be season-opener hangs in the balance as Supercars seeks to lock in its calendar by the time of next weekend’s Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

Despite Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes declaring the event “very successful” for the city, she and her fellow councillors are digging in over the fact that the interim, one-year funding proposal is shorter than the hypothetical five-year deal upon which community consultation was predicated.

That leaves Supercars caught in the middle of a political standoff between the state and local governments, the other signatories to what would be a tri-party contract, despite both administrations being Labor majorities.

NSW tourism minister John Graham confirmed that the state government is in talks with Supercars about a future five-year agreement when queried on the Newcastle 500 at a media conference this morning regarding NSW’s revised A-League football deal.

At that point, Premier Minns interjected to throw his support behind the event.

“Can I talk about that, too?” he said.

“Look, we want Supercars in Newcastle, and we’ve commenced discussions about a multi-year deal with that organisation.

“They’re happy with that, and really, I think it’s time for the council to make a decision about it.

“My hope is that they go ahead with it at the end of the day.

“Their objection about a one-year deal is nonsensical, as far as I can tell.

“We’ve got the money on the table for the for the race to go ahead this time, this year.

“Let’s get on with it.”

Premier Minns also refused to give weight to the Bathurst back-up plan which was revealed by Speedcafe, instead putting pressure on Newcastle City Council to show its hand.

“Well, look, I’m not going to speculate on it,” he responded when queried about whether a Bathurst Supercars season-opener would have taxpayer funding.

“I mean, I figured, they’ve [Newcastle] got a unique event, on the foreshore in Newcastle, [and] it’s hugely popular.

“We’re committed to funding and have provided funding for this year, and we’ve commenced negotiations for a multi-year deal with Supercars.

“If the council doesn’t want to go ahead with it, they’re going have to own that decision and announce it publicly.

“It shouldn’t be neither here nor there.

“If they’re worried about this year’s funding, they shouldn’t be; it’s on the table and it’s ready to go.”

As previously reported by Speedcafe, council appears to be stalling in order to avoid political fallout from whichever decision it would take on the Newcastle 500.

Graham had highlighted the importance that talks are “conducted in a timely way” when he spoke on the matter in the aforementioned media conference.

“We’re talking to Supercars, we’re talking to the council,” he advised.

“Obviously, the New South Wales Government’s been very clear in its support for Supercars in New South Wales and for this event.

“We’ve offered a one-year deal; that’s in line with what we’ve done for all events, that’s because of the cut last year of $100 million to the State Significant Event fund.

“But the Premier and I have also made it clear, we’re already in discussions about a potential five-year deal for Supercars in Newcastle [and] those discussions are ongoing.

“It’s important that they’re conducted in a timely way and we’ll have more to say about that later.”