Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (10:48): I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The bill has been through a bit of debate in the Legislative Council, and I am happy and the government is happy with the amendments that have passed the Council. I thank the member for Nepean sincerely for his work in achieving the passage of this bill in the Council and the amendments. I think they are good amendments, and I think they primarily lead to a bit more public-facing comfort around how decisions are made in relation to access at Albert Park but also the compensation regime that applies to tenants and businesses in the park. If I could just quickly run through the handful of amendments, they insert a new clause into the bill which adds new section 27CA(2) to include factors the minister administering the act and the minister administering the Crown Lands (Reserves) Act 1978 must have regard to before declaring the race period – for example, things about operational requirements for the grand prix or security arrangements. They were things that were already in the government’s mind when it moved this bill, but putting them here front and centre gives a bit more transparency.

The second clause I want to speak to is an amended clause. It will amend section 27A(2) to require the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to make any public access declaration within one month of the declaration of a declared area under section 27 of the act. So where the grand prix has declared what areas will be subject to the race period – up to 21 days, but it could be seven, it could be 12, it could be 18 – within one month of that declaration the grand prix is required to declare which areas are open to the public. So there is not a long time between one declaration and the other, where the public have to wait to be able to know which parts they can access.

The Council has also inserted a new section 27CA, which allows the minister to seek reasons from the AGPC, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, if the corporation fails to declare any public access areas within a month of the declaration of a declared area.

That is a direct consequence of the clause I have just spoken to. It also provides the minister with the power to direct the AGPC to make a public access area declaration at any time after that one-month period has passed, which I think is appropriate. The grand prix corporation will declare within a month, but for the sake of the future, if that does not happen, the minister can direct the agency to make the declaration.

Finally, we have introduced a new division in relation to compensation. That is new division 2 of part 3, which introduces a range of clauses that provide a framework for the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to provide compensation to tenants in Albert Park prior to 1 January 2026, which is entirely reasonable, and who suffer direct losses or expenses as a result of the extended race period. These clauses require the AGPC to submit a compensation plan to the minister for approval each year. The clauses provide two options for compensation amounts to be determined, and the tenant has choice of option: a fixed amount method or a direct losses method. The clauses provide that the grand prix corporation must offer an eligible tenant a fixed amount of compensation in the first instance. The clause also sets out factors that the AGPC must take into account when determining amounts under each method. The tenant can decide whether the first offer is reasonable or if they want to demonstrate losses for the grand prix corporation to then do more work before the compensation is arranged.

In conclusion, I want to say two things. I remind the house that, to his credit, Jeff Kennett brought the grand prix to Victoria all those years ago, and to her enormous credit, Jacinta Allan, the Premier, has secured it for the future here and now in Victoria. It is a long-term contract, but it comes with some responsibility on Victoria to match the legislative requirements and everything else associated with race attendance growing from I think it was less than 100,000 to 465,000 today.

The second thing I was going to say is that I want to thank the member for Nepean for his work. He has worked hard with my team, with Dylan in my office and the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions. I want to thank them for their work. I think it is a better version of the bill. I know this is going to sound strange, but I think I might miss the member for Nepean at some of these major events, but I am sure that he will be a guest fairly regularly, as he ought to be. I commend the amendments to the Assembly.

 Sam GROTH (Nepean) (10:53): Gee whiz, thank you, Minister, for those nice words. The opposition will be supporting these amendments because they have been negotiated by me and my team in the opposition. I thank Edward in my office for the work that he has done on this as well as the minister’s team, Dylan, the department and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC), because they have been very, very open in their conversations with us.

We were pretty clear from the moment this bill was introduced that we wanted to see a better outcome for the community, for the residents, for the tenants, for the businesses and for the sporting clubs that operate within Albert Park, while also supporting the grand prix. It is something the Liberals brought here to Victoria and it does need a bipartisan approach across the chamber. I am happy to see this event here for a long time. As the minister knows, I love this event. I have spoken about being an ambassador for the event in my former capacity, prior to entering this place.

The opposition is happy with the way these amendments have gone. We personally probably would not have signed a contract that gave away an extra two weeks to Liberty Media personally, as reported by the Age newspaper. But at the same time, we understand that this is a growing race. There are requirements, with Formula One being as big as it is and with the growing impact of Formula One globally and the benefit that it brings to Melbourne, that that may be needed.

We are also very, very glad that as an opposition we have been able to negotiate a better outcome for those tenants of Albert Park, including a compensation scheme. Previously it was tenants up until 1994. Those tenants, those clubs, those community groups and those people affected by the race for the last 30 years have not necessarily been able to get the compensation – even though there have been some schemes in place – that they probably deserve or that reflects the impact on those groups. The fact that tenants who enter into or hold a lease agreement prior to 1 January 2026 will now be eligible for that compensation, I think, is a far better outcome. I know the minister said they had intentions to do some of these things, but just putting the security of it into this legislation I think gives people who use Albert Park the certainty that they will be looked after with the future of the grand prix long term.

We are happy that we have been able to negotiate an extension of the public access areas for 2026, and there will be transparency around those areas for the race period moving forward – from the government, from the AGPC and from the minister, who will have to make those publicly available at an earlier time. Obviously for this year, seeing greater public access, including the fact that we were able to negotiate the use of the lake for the rowing and sailing clubs for weeks one and three, is an important outcome. The fact that Lakeside Stadium and that area will be open for people like Victorian Institute of Sport athletes and those that use those areas – I think it is important that they still have access to that site. It is a big effort to try to move all of their equipment and to move all those athletes out, so I think the greater public access is a good thing that we have been able to negotiate.

I also just want to say a couple of things in regard to the public access that some members of the community have actually raised. I will back the minister and the government on this. There has been some concern raised by members of Albert Park Golf Course in terms of them being locked out for an extended period of time, and I just want to put on the record, as was said during the committee stage in the Council yesterday, that the golf club is actually already closed for a four-week period. So in regard to all of the emails that I have been getting – and I am sure the minister has been getting, and the member for Prahran has probably been getting, and Ms Crozier and Mr Davis in the other place have been getting on our side – I just want to reassure those members of the Albert Park golf club that they are actually not worse off by this current amendment and what has been put through this house and the other house and the amendments that have come back. I will not say they are already locked out, but they have already given up their golf club because of a commercial arrangement with the AGPC for a period of four weeks. I want to reassure the members of that club that nothing that has been put through here or negotiated between the opposition and the government has actually made them worse off when it comes to their golf club. There are other tenants in a similar situation, and we have done everything we possibly can to make this as beneficial as possible for the tenants, for the sporting clubs, for the businesses and for the residents, but we are also making sure that, as an opposition, we continue to support the grand prix long term.

I thank the minister, I thank the minister’s office and I thank my team for the work we have done on this. The only other thing I want to say is, ahead of the Austin grand prix this week in America, I hope McLaren put their papaya rules aside and they actually start looking after Oscar, with six races to go. Hopefully, when the grand prix returns as the first race of next year, we have an Australian Formula One grand prix champion with a number 1 on his McLaren car. My advice to Zak Brown and the McLaren team is, ‘Look after the Aussie. I know you want Lando to win. We know the grand prix community is probably backing Lando, but we are all backing Oscar down here. So, papaya rules – whatever that means – look after him. We want to see an Australian grand prix champion.’ I will be tuning in, no doubt.

I will also be working closely with the new Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport, Events and Hospitality, the member for Polwarth. Obviously with my background I have a strong interest still in this space, and we will keep a very, very close eye on the work that the member for Polwarth does. I have no doubt that I will still have a very hands-on approach and help the member as much as I possibly can with anything that I have been able to achieve with the stakeholders over the last three years.

We support the amendments put forward by the government and as moved in the house today, and we look forward to the grand prix again in 2026.

Motion agreed to.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Daniela De Martino): A message will now be sent to the Legislative Council informing them of the house’s decision.