South Australian Motor Sport Board

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (14:55): My question is to the Premier. When was the Premier first made aware of unpaid debts owed to the Motor Sport Board? Sir, with your leave, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: On 8 May, it was reported in The Advertiser that the former naming rights sponsor of the Adelaide 500, VAILO, owned by bankrupt Aaron Hickmann, owes the SA Motor Sports Board close to $430,000. The Premier said in parliament on 12 November:

…VAILO has been a good payer in terms of its obligations—which are substantial—to the state, or to the Motor Sport Board regarding the sponsorship arrangements.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:56): I can confirm, for the benefit of the member for Unley, that the state government is in active discussions with VAILO and their representatives, including any sort of potential administration actions, regarding funds that remain outstanding with the state. There is a range of options that are being examined by the South Australian Motor Sport Board regarding this. There were a number of things that underpinned the agreement that existed between the South Australian Motor Sport Board and VAILO regarding its sponsorship of the Adelaide 500.

There was, obviously, sponsorship. Part of the sponsorship of course was financial, but other parts were in kind, including the provision of the screens that are pretty important in terms of the spectator experience at a motor sport event that are particularly high functioning, with respect to the Adelaide 500, in a way that I know was appreciated by a lot of the attendees. The government is looking at ways to ensure its position is protected as much as possible, as far as the obligations to the state, through this arrangement by exploring arrangements around the screens into the future versus other ways to settle the matter.

From our perspective, what we have been most concerned with, more than anything else, is making sure that, since the conclusion of the VAILO sponsorship agreement with the South Australian Motor Sport Board, we find a new sponsor. I am very pleased to report to the house that that of course is now being done. There was a lot of interest from other major sponsors, in fact more interest than was the case when we were reinstating the race. The member for Unley will recall when he was party to the decision to abolish the Adelaide 500 in a way which offended so many sport fans throughout the state.

Once that decision was taken, having made a commitment to reinstate the race following our election, we had to do that expeditiously, and we were able to get VAILO on board as a sponsor pretty quickly. But at that time, the market was itself trying to assess whether or not it was even viable or feasible for us to get a race back up so quickly, and we did it in basically six months. Now, having had the opportunity to go back out to the market for an alternative sponsorship arrangement, there was a lot more interest. We are very grateful for that. It's now landed BP sponsoring the event in a way that represents very good value for the taxpayer and the event more broadly. We appreciate that. To that end, we've got long-term security that underpins the event in the future, and we will continue to work through—

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order under standing order 98(a). The question was very clearly when the Premier was first made aware of the outstanding debt to the Motor Sport Board. With respect to the Premier, the balance of the answer might be interesting but it is debate and it is not responsive to the question very specifically directed to a point in time.

The SPEAKER: I don't agree that it's debate. I think the Premier is giving people some historical context around the event. He had four minutes to answer the question and he still has a minute on the clock.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: To go to the member for Unley's question, the Motor Sport Board has sought to keep me advised throughout the journey over the course of the last three years regarding a whole range of matters to do with the Adelaide 500 and its finances and the improving nature of those in many respects, including arrangements around sponsorship agreements.

The Motor Sport Board first advised me—it would have been in the second half of last year—that they saw things heading in a direction that best spoke to potentially finding a new sponsor for the event. I'm pretty sure it was in the second half of last year and obviously we have been able to pursue that. As far as we are concerned, we are very grateful for the ongoing security of the event into the future subject, of course, to the will of the South Australian people, given that this event hasn't always enjoyed bipartisan support.