This week's (Grand Prix) compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. It’s devoted to the Australian F1 Grand Prix tomorrow afternoon. The event’s financially, environmentially and socially irresponsible. And the people involved with it are, well, judge for yourself:

1. Journalist Alan Attwood sets the scene – regarding the finances; and some people, notably Australian GP boss Ron Walker and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone [1]. QED.

2. The event’s official blog can’t spell Ecclestone’s name correctly [2]. And in the nine days since that post went up, it’s remained uncorrected. Who said petrol doesn’t cause brain damage.

3. Walker calls Ecclestone’s fee ‘wretched’ [3]. Who negotiated it? Walker, of course. How big’s the fee? The public doesn’t know – because the contract’s secret.

4. Tourism Australia [TA] has quantified the tourism flowon from Oprah Winfrey’s recent Australian odyssey [4]. Despite Walker prattling on for the last 18 years about the GP showcasing Melbourne, has TA ever quantified its tourism flowon? You know the answer. And the reason for it.

5. The government’s commissioned Ernst & Young to report on this year’s event [5]. What will it conclude? Whatever the government wants it to.

6. In a bid to save costs, and the event, Walker’s talking about relocating it to a permanent purpose-built venue [6]. Given accumulated losses of $253M since 1996, why's it taken 15 year for the penny to drop for Walker? Because it’s the taxpayers’ penny – that’s why.

7. Meanwhile Ecclestone, presumably realising the pressure the event’s under, will be in New York – not Melbourne – tomorrow [7]. If that’s not a kick in the guts for Walker and his cronies, I don’t know what is.

8. But never fear, readers dear, the GP’s on the comeback trail [8a]. Who said so? Oh the GP Corporation's CEO Andrew Westacott – the same man who, when asked about the 10,000 free tickets given to the corporate sector, said he didn’t have ‘an exact number’ [8b]

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.