What drove Supercars to Newcastle
Christine Everingham/Therese Doyle
ISBN: 978-0-6484708-0-9
RRP: $20 + $6 postage in Australia. E-book $12 www.wrongtracknsw.com
What is bizarre is that, despite an avalanche of condemnation, evidence of political chicanery, alleged bribery, and residential uproar, the Newcastle Supercars race through the former pristine Foreshore Park got up at all. This book takes a fairly Green stance, but also delves deep into the history of such Supercar ventures that had already seen Canberra, Hamilton (NZ) and most recently, the ill-conceived and financially catastrophic Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush – championed through parliament by the now-disgraced Ian Macdonald – all fail spectacularly. I was one of those who opposed the Newcastle incursion (see OBA 64 Editorial), but my stance was that I considered it criminal that a government, or governments, could happily tip millions of dollars into a once a year (and highly disruptive) event, when a permanent circuit could have been built in the region that would have served the motor sport, and motor driver/rider education sectors year-round. The very predictable and hackneyed responses were the “injection” (handy word that) of squillions of dollars into the community by hoards of interstate and overseas visitors, and the opportunity to “showcase” (another very handy word) Newcastle to the world. Baloney. Even the famous Newcastle Beach is fenced off for the duration of the event, so visitors don’t even get to feel the sand between their toes. This book also looks at similar Australian Supercar failures in USA, Malaysia and UAE, all canned and quickly expunged from memory after similar tumultuous build-ups. The moves to build a permanent road racing circuit complex in the Hunter Region go back (in my memory) to at least the late ‘sixties, and, if history shows us anything, when the Supercars are shown the door or choose to bolt, we’ll be back to square one – minus a few tens of millions of dollars of course. The book is somewhat repetitious as it examines in minute detail the environmental damage and resident impact, but it is nevertheless an intriguing read that exposes some very questionable tactics.
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