Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the significant contributions made by the more than 180,000 Australians who participate in a variety of motorsports nationwide, every year;

(2) recognises that motorsports have a substantial impact on the Australian economy, which:

(a) is estimated to be worth as much as $8.6 billion a year;

(b) supports a workforce of over 65,000 people, including:

(i) 46,800 direct and indirect jobs; and

(ii) 18,900 unpaid volunteers and officials; and

(c) in 2019 included almost 10,000 events across Australia, from the Grand Prix to club meets, attracting thousands of competitors and fans, boosting local economies through retail, hospitality, and tourism expenditure; and

(3) supports the ongoing development of motorsports in Australia, particularly at a grassroots level.

Names such as Brabham, Brock, Doohan, Johnson, Lowndes, Maddison, Reid, Webber, Ricardo, Price—these are the legends of Australian motorsport. They have more in common than just their immense driving talent. Their incredible achievements were made possible by the amazing support base that is the Australian motorsports industry, and I'd like to thank that the outset my co-chair, the member for Solomon, and also the other members contributing to this debate, the members for Wide Bay and Herbert and also the members for McEwen and Hasluck.

Motorsport Australia, the peak body for motorsports in the country, estimates that more than 180,000 Australians make a significant contribution to the sport every year. Through the incredibly wide variety of racing styles, categories and competitions, motorsport is deeply ingrained in the Australian sporting landscape. This popularity correlates to almost 47,000 direct and indirect jobs, with almost 19,000 volunteers supporting them, be it as team mechanics, race stewards or race day staff, allowing so many young Australians to get a start in the sport.

From this activity, the economic activity of motorsports cannot be underestimated. It is estimated that motorsports contributes $8.6 billion to the economy every year, and Queensland is home to a significant proportion of this economic import. Forde is home or neighbour to some of the best businesses in the motor racing industry in this country. Dick Johnson Racing, Shell V-Power Racing Team, is the premier Ford Mustang outfit in the Repco Supercars Championship. Based at Stapylton, the legendary team has seen a recent run of race wins and championships under the able leadership of Dr Ryan Story. Now, under Team Principal Ben Croke, the 2023 season is being looked forward to with great relish. Recently they unveiled their new Shell V-Power gen-3 Mustang GT, which will make its debut in the first race of the season, in the streets of Newcastle in March.

In the interest of balance, on the other side of the Ford Holden rivalry is Matt Stone Racing, the truck-assist racing team, competing through a number of categories, including the Supercars Championship, Dunlop Super2 Series V8 and V8 utes. This team is based at Yatala. This year will be historic for the truck-assist racing team and the championship as the Commodore era has ended and we see the replacement of the Commodores with the gen 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which will be driven by drivers Jack Le Brocq and Cameron Hill. I wish both Shell V-Power and the truck-assist racing teams all the best for the 2023 season.

As we look at motorsport more generally, we get caught up in the big end of town—the V8 Supercars, Formula 1 and those sort of events—but it's also important to recognise the local events that occur in our electorates. There are events such as the racing events at the Kingston Park Raceway, which is our premier go-karting facility in the City of Logan and one of the premier facilities in South-East Queensland, and Mount Cotton Hillclimb, a hill climbing circuit run by the MG Car Club of Queensland, just outside of my electorate, in the electorate of Bowman.

Additionally, when we look at the young people and those looking to get a start in motorsports so they can enjoy a day out, there is racing at Slideways Go Karting World, at Pimpama. Groups such as the Gold Coast Motocross Club in Yatala have been providing key developments through coaching, practice and local racing sessions. Interestingly, with many of these clubs we're finding that, as the urban footprint encroaches on those clubs, the ability for them to do what they enjoy doing every day gets more and more difficult.

As we look to the future, we see a landscape changing rapidly across the globe in the motor racing industry. With the uptake of electric vehicles, the grassroots racing landscape will also change dramatically in the coming decade. With new cars entering the market, new racing categories will also present themselves.

I want to thank the member for Solomon as my co-chair as we continue to work with the motor racing industry to look forward to these great opportunities. Whether it is touring cars, open wheels, rally or any of the other competitive motorsports, we look forward to the wonderful work they will continue to do in the years to come.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a second for the motion?

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and am very happy to speak. I want to start by thanking my friend, the member for Forde, for approaching me to be the co-chair for the Parliamentary Friends of Motorsport. I know how important they are to our community and to Australia more broadly. It's great to see him, a former competitor, here in this place. My colleague the member for Hasluck, used to ride bikes, as well as the member for McEwan. And the member for Spence—who's not in here right now—used to race in the past as well. I'm sure there are others in the parliament who once raced.

When we let people know that we were launching this event, there was a lot of interest and a lot of acknowledgement about how important motorsports are to our nation. It's a massive contributor to the NT economy, and I'm very keen to see it grow. I reject the claims that I hear from some from time to time that it's not a real sport. Anyone who has ever been to a competition knows the skills required and the hard work and athleticism that goes into it—not just by the drivers and the riders but also by their support teams. We thank the volunteers, because it's the volunteers who make it all happen, day after day and week after week, around our great nation.

It's entertaining, it's thrilling and it's a huge employer, being an economic boost for our regions. As the member for Forde outlined, the total gross annual output of Australian motorsports is valued at more than $8.6 billion. For the NT, a recent Ernst & Young report put the economic benefit of motorsports to the NT at just under $100 million, but that was without the bikes. When you add in the bikes, the benefit is well over $100 million. It's a huge economic driver.

Almost 200,000 Australians participate in motorsports across the board each year, and more than 65,000 people work to make competitions a reality, both in direct jobs and, of course, through those vital unpaid volunteer positions. People do it because they love the sport. It's a sport that inspires a tremendous amount of passion and enthusiasm.

The other thing worth noting, as the various competitions travel around the country, is that motorsports inject money and excitement into so many small towns, and that's vital for them. The fans spend money on accommodation, retail, food and drink. The knock-on effects flow through so many other industries and supply chains. From Supercars in Hidden Valley, in my electorate in Darwin and so many other different motorsports in the Northern Territory through to the Red Centre Nats and the Finke Desert Race in the Red Centre, Territorians love our motorsports. When there's a competition on, the whole place buzzes.

The member for Forde and I want to keep that going and build on it to keep building regional Australia. We want to see those jobs and career pathways created for future generations, including for girls and young women—and for men and women of all ages. There's a role for everyone in motorsports. On that note, I visited the Girls on Track training day in Darwin recently and saw how much those young girls and teenagers enjoyed learning about all aspects of motor racing. They really enjoyed it.

This parliamentary friendship group that we've launched is national, so I've been really happy to try to help the efforts at Wakefield Park Raceway and get that track up and running again. This Saturday night just past, I was pleased to be down in Alice Springs for the MotorSports NT Awards. On a bipartisan note, the NT sports minister, Kate Worden, and also a member of the opposition in the NT Bill Yan, the member for Namatjira—he has a strong history in motorsports down there in Alice Springs—were there.

I haven't got time to go through all the winners in detail, but I do want to acknowledge them quickly. We had: Junior Official of the Year, Chantel Fisher; Junior Rider of the Year, Aiden Blowers; Junior Driver of the Year, River Spitzbarth; Rising Star, Zac Hannon; Volunteer of the Year, Nina Kells; Official of the Year, Jan Cartwright; Administrator of the Year, Gail Kroonstuiver; Rider of the Year, Emma Lavercombe; Driver of the Year, David Ling; Event of the Year, Chariots of Thunder Sprintcar Series; Club Person of the Year, Gail Kroonstuiver; NT Club of the Year, Central Australia Drag Racing Association; and NT Champion of the Year, Emma Lavercombe. It was a great event.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak on this motion today on motor sports, and I commend both the member for Solomon and the member for Forde for establishing the Parliamentary Friends of Motorsports group. There is nothing more Australian than motor sports. Also I'd like to acknowledge the presence of other motor sport enthusiasts in the chamber, the member for McEwen and the member for Hasluck—particularly the member for Hasluck, who has a far more esteemed and successful on-track motorcycle record than me. I broke my neck in 2021 at Lakeside race track at a series of corners called the bus stop—apparently that's because everyone gets off there! Anyway, I can't remember much of it, but I lived to tell the story.

Motor sport is very important in this country. As has been said, nearly 200,000 Australians every week engage in some form of motor sport, and that covers all ages. It covers genders. It covers everything. Everyone gets involved when it comes to motor sport. Not only is it such an inclusive area for us as citizens but also, as has been mentioned, it's a great driver of the economy, with $8.6 billion being injected into the economy.

I said there's nothing more Australian than motor sport, and it makes me think about my growing up in Australia in the 1980s, when it was Wayne Gardner on an absolutely maniacal 500cc machine. How anyone rode them, I don't know, but he did it for us, and the nation rode with him when he won his world championship. Then in the nineties we had the incredible Mick Doohan, who followed that through to the four-strokes and to the modern era of Jack Miller and KTM, formerly on Ducati. We've ridden the highs and lows of Australian motor sport.

More than 20 years ago I was a big fan of a fellow called Andy Caldecott. He was an off-road racer of motorbikes, an Australian legend. He won the Australian Safari four times and was a place getter in the Paris to Dakar on motorbikes. I used to wake up every morning to see where Andy had got in the placings. He won a couple of stages. I'll never forget the morning I woke up and heard that unfortunately Andy had lost his life in the race. It was sad. But that's motor sport. It's an expression of freedom. It does come with its risks, but there is a lot more good that comes from motor sport than bad. I say that particularly in that so much of what we rely on today in our motorcars is derived from motor sport. I mention Andy for that reason. Yes, people will tell you it's dangerous. But when you think about tyre technology and when you think about suspension and traction control, you think about what saves us every day. Most of it has been refined in motor sport and has then come down to the everyday road user.

It's a great proving ground, a great place for kids to learn vehicle dynamics. And as with so many areas in life, you find that the kids who have learnt to ride fast on a track don't ride fast on the road. They know that the place to do that is on the track, where the conditions suit what you're doing and all the safety precautions are taken, and they know that. As a former accident investigator who has seen too much death and carnage on the roads, I know that motor sport contributes to lowering the road toll. And if we're to continue with our goal to reaching zero fatalities, motor sport will play a big part in that.

With that, I will say, long live the combustion engine, and well done to everyone who promotes motor sport in this fine nation of ours. And well done to the member for Forde and the member for Solomon for creating the Parliamentary Friends of Motorsports group.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's not often you get to talk about things that you're passionate about and have a lifelong dedication to. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a petrolhead through and through. I want to point out the irony of the member for Forde forgetting Allan Moffat OBE! That's okay, it's a bit of a dig.

Motor racing starts at go-karts and runs all the way through to Formula 1, and I've had the pleasure of being involved with all these sports right across the nation. I had the fun of standing in the starter's box at a Formula 1 race with CAMS, the Confederation of Australian Motorsports. I was able, even in my younger days—and I urge members not to look at this tape—to be at the 1988 Thunderdome where there was a skinny little bloke with curly blonde hair towing the cars off the track as they crashed. I still have Dick Johnson's headlight cover—it's something that was a treasured possession of mine. I am a red team person in politics, but when it comes to cars it's blue team all the way! When you're born in Broadmeadows, you don't have a choice; cars are in your blood.

When we talk about motorsport, it's great that we come together and talk about this and support it. I want to talk about the serious side of things, such as the jobs and the industry it creates. I remember a friend of mine owned South Side Cylinder Heads in South Melbourne. One of the Formula 1 teams came in needing a particular bracket to be made. He made that bracket quickly and swiftly, picking up that work that led to thousands and thousands of dollars worth of work. Because in Australia we have the ability to manufacture high-quality products in small numbers very quickly. These are the sorts of jobs that people like me—who didn't want to stay at school and become a lawyer—enjoy. We enjoy being able to put together an engine or a gearbox and learning these things. That's why it's important we're talking about free TAFE, getting the motorsport courses to help you develop vehicle engineering.

As the member for Wide Bay said, we all jump in our cars each and every day. Motorsport delivered ABS brakes, proper fuel injection, paddle-shift steering and all these things that we take for granted. That all comes from the technology that's put into motorsports. One aspect of motorsports is not talked about enough—and we're talking about an $8.6 billion a year industry—is drag racing. I want to be very clear. Drag racing is not illegal street racing. They are two totally different things. If you go to a drag racing strip—and I have been to the Willowbank Raceway, and all across Australia except for Perth in my time working on drag racing cars, where we won three Australian championships in the super gas field working for Steve Crook—you know the difference between a professional organisation of people where people come, where drivers get dressed in their fire suits and where safety is the no. 1 thing. You couldn't even get one drop of oil on the track or you were off, because that can lead to catastrophic situations. We've seen that just recently at Willowbank where Sam Fenech lost his life in a terrible accident. Many of my friends knew him personally and are really shattered by it. It was an absolutely terrible accident, and it's something that happens occasionally. Don Watson in 1993 was a bit of a mate, a customer of mine, and the disk brake shattered on his car at Bathurst, and he perished. It was a frightening thing to wake up the next day, look at the Herald Sun and see a picture of Don's car upside down and the carnage that it caused. These things do happen, but for every one of those there is an opportunity where we develop more technology to make it safer, including things like neck braces, which are now mandatory. If you hit a wall at 200 miles an hour you stop pretty quickly and pretty sharply.

I know many businesses have left Victoria and gone to Queensland because of the ability to race at places like Ipswich, because Victoria is the only state that doesn't have a publicly owned and sanctioned international standard drag racing facility. I think that's a bit of a shame that that has happened. To be fair, I think the drag racing fraternity has got to get together and work together to get this happening. When we were racing back in the heyday of the 1990s we had 40,000 or 50,000 people attend a one-day event, and we did that many times. The jobs of the fire crews, the marshals, the volunteers, the ticket sales—all these thing that happen—are why it's important that we keep supporting and promoting motorsport. We get the jobs out of it through TAFE. We get the careers and we get the high-flyers—we have international stars that go around the world doing their best. But, importantly, when we look back it starts with go-karts. If you look at most Formula 1 drivers and the like, and those who have gotten to the V8 supercar pinnacles, they all started their lives with go-karts. It's important we keep supporting motorsport, and I'm glad we're doing it.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Motorsport is in Townsville's DNA. It doesn't matter whether you're a diehard Ford or Holden fan, you can't live in Townsville and not have motorsport impact your life in some way. It might be as simple the yearly Townsville 500 supercars closing the road on your commute to work. Or you might be one of the 145,000 people who attend the three-day event every year.

We're very fortunate in Townsville to have played host to the supercars for many years. This not-to-be missed part of our events calendar has been part of our city every year since 2009. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could stop the event going ahead. In fact, it was only a positive. Queensland was one of the safest bets for organisers to host events because we didn't have the outbreaks, specifically in the north. This led to double-header events in both 2020 and 2021, with an extra round being held in both years on consecutive weekends.

The Reid Park circuit has become one of the country's most well-recognised and respected tracks. It's a favourite among the drivers. It's a hybrid track that has sections that are purpose-built for the event and sections that form part of our regular road network. It has been a happy hunting ground for the Triple Eight race team. Jamie Whincup has recorded 12 individual race wins at the track. Since about 2016 Shane van Gisbergen has been almost unstoppable, with 10 wins to his name. Some of these wins at Reid Park have been etched into motorsport history forever.

It's no wonder that motorsport is so important to the people of Townsville. It's a sport that brings people together and brings billions of dollars of economic benefit. It's not unheard of for every single motel and hotel in the town to be completely booked out for the weekend of the race. In fact, one year we built a tent city to accommodate the many people who came to town for the spectacle. That's why I'm very happy to support this motion today. We should be doing everything we can to support this sport.

And it's not just the professionals who we're recognising today. It's the grassroots; it's the mums, dads, sons and daughters who spend their weekend at tracks across the country, who are working on cars, motorbikes and carts. It's the ones who travel around in search of the win at racetracks and speedways in regional and rural locations, supporting those towns and cities as they go. It's people like Madison Dunston, a fantastic young woman from Townsville who's put her blood, sweat and tears into working her way to very high-level racing in support categories like the Aussie Racing Cars Championship in the Toyota 86 series. But Madi and her family aren't just focused on themselves; they're always giving back to the community. Her family runs a go-kart track, which also gives at-risk youth an opportunity to learn mechanic skills as part of a federally funded program.

Unfortunately, because we have a hybrid racetrack there has been a lack of dedicated facilities for motorsport in the community of Townsville. That's why I fought hard to support DriveIt, a grassroots campaign to build a purpose-built racetrack. Through DriveIt's hard work and advocacy we were able to secure $12 million under the former coalition government to build not just a 2.75-kilometre race circuit, but a driver education complex. I'm very happy to be able to report that just last week the bitumen was completed on the track. This means it won't be long until race meets can take place at the facility. This is a fantastic result, and I can't wait to see what it means for our city.

It won't just be a place for motorsport enthusiasts; it will put in practice their driving. The DriveIt team estimates an economic benefit to the region of around $35 million. At the same time DriveIt offers space for rollover recovery training, light and sirens, driver training for emergency services in a safe environment with plenty of room to move. It's an excellent example of how sport and its facilities can have a huge benefit beyond those who use it for events. I would like to convey my congratulations to Greg Putt and the whole DriveIt team for the amazing work they've done. Motorsport is a key part of our community, and I am very happy to support this motion.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are a lot of revheads in Australia. In fact, a suburb in my seat of Hasluck is named Brabham, after Sir Jack Brabham, in recognition of his early racing career at the Caversham motor racing circuit. Personally, I ride a motorbike—not so regularly now, but my love for the sport for over 30 years continues. My dad bought me my first bike when I was still a teenager, and, until recently, I loved getting out on a ride with him, exploring the Perth Hills. At 78, Dad has now decided he will try going pillion.

I'm always happy to find time on the weekend to explore dirt trails in the bush. I've competed in a number of local motorsport events, racing on the track and racing trail and enduro. I also like to help when I can and attend professional events, not just as a spectator but, in the past, in my capacity as the president of Motorcycling Australia and as the Oceania president. I was the first Western Australian on that body and also the first female president. With the board, I worked to modernise the organisation, delivering a national approach to safety and risk and ensuring Australia continued to create champions on the international stage. We certainly have more champions than most countries across speedway, motocross, trials, enduro and MotoGP, of course.

Some of these modern-day fighter pilots are household names. We heard earlier about Mick Doohan; then there's Wayne Gardner, Casey Stoner, Jack 'Thriller' Miller, Toby Price, Neil Price and Jason Doyle. There are so many. While the gender ledger is not yet balanced, it can be, as evidenced by pioneers like Dot Robinson and Peggy Hyde, who were the first to race competitively, in both Australia and the US, over 50 years ago. Thanks to organisations like the Australian Women in Motorcycling Commission, with support from international leadership by the FIM, female participation in Australian motorsport is now at a tipping point, with women and girls showing significant interest and a number of competitors showing the way. Contemporaries like Tayla Jones, Jemma Wilson and Jessica Gardiner competed in the international six-day enduro and have won every one of their events since 2013. They are the most successful unchanged team since the event first started back in 1913.

I also want to give a big shout-out to Motorsport Australia's Girls on Track program, which enables girls from eight to 18 to participate in events for free, exposing them to many facets of the sport. I also acknowledge Race Chix, who run their own race school and network to support and increase the participation of women in all aspects of sport. This is not just necessarily behind the wheel or in the saddle but as flag marshals, scrutineers, pit crews, safety officers and coaches—all positions which can lead to really exciting international careers.

Motorsports, including Formula 1, NASCAR, MotoGP and IndyCar, have provided no end of innovation in their enthusiastic pursuit of the chequered flag. From the very first prize offered way back in 1894 for the first car to make it from Paris to Rouen, that innovation has found its way surely into mainstream car and motorbike manufacturing to the benefit of all consumers. These innovations include, of course, fuel efficiency but also better data-recording devices, full-face helmets, fire retardant materials, better tyre development, the disc brake, anti-lock braking, traction control technology, lightweight parts, aerodynamics, kinetic energy recovery systems and even the rear-view mirror. With innovation comes jobs but also environmental benefits. Formula E, the electric car racing world championships, has provided ongoing innovation to the electric car industry for the last 10 years. As Sylvain Filippi, the manager of Envision Virgin Racing, stated in 2021, 'Electric racing is the hardest test on any battery.' Companies like Filippi's have the motivation and expertise to continue to deliver better performance in both recharging and endurance, which translates into greater take-up of EVs in the community and a greater range of applications for EVs, including in heavy transport. Formula 1 has a commitment to net zero by 2030, and the MotoGP have also announced their plans to get sustainable fuel by 2027.

These are formidable challenges and commendable efforts. In order to get there, a great deal of development will need to occur. But, come what may, in 50 years time we will still be participating in this wonderful sport, even if it's electric-vehicle dominated. I hope that, thanks to that technology, I will, like my dad, still be out on my bike then too.

Debate adjourned.