2014 could be the last time Melbourne hosts the Australian grand prix, state Victorian premier John Brumby has admitted.<\/p>\n
The race’s annual taxpayer-funded losses have grown to almost $50 million, moving the ruling Labor Party to consider not renewing the current contract.<\/p>\n
“I know there’s a range of views in the community and it is a costly major event, but we’ve got it until 2014, and really we’ll look at whether we go beyond that,” Brumby told the national radio broadcaster ABC.<\/p>\n
He added that the debut race in 1996 was amid a broader major events programme for the state.<\/p>\n
“Certainly when we first won that (event) in Victoria it had a newness and a freshness and the longer you go with these things that freshness can obviously diminish a little,” said Brumby.<\/p>\n
The other side of state politics is also questioning the value of the grand prix, with opposition leader Ted Baillieu saying the cost is “a real worry”.<\/p>\n
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