Reclaiming Albert Park: The Battle Against Formula 1

Aseera Shamin

For nearly three decades, Albert Park has hosted the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix, transforming the streets of Melbourne into a vibrant motorsport spectacle. Fans from all over the world flock to the city, adorned in team colours and memorabilia. The event, which also features support categories like Formula 2, Formula 3, Supercars and the Porsche Carrera Cup, has become a key highlight on Melbourne’s event calendar. As an avid Formula 1 fan who follows the race calendar globally, I was struck by John Brant Ellis’s photographs from the University of Melbourne archives, which depict strong opposition to the Grand Prix in Albert Park led by the “Save Albert Park” (SAP) community group.

In order to understand this opposition, I have tried to reconstruct the course of events leading up to the arrival of Formula 1 racing in Melbourne in 1996, using a simple Knight Lab Timeline illustrated with images from the Ellis collection.

According to Peter Logan, the long-standing President of SAP, the organisation was formed in February 1994 and continues to advocate for a permanent end to motor racing at the park. Logan was also able to identify a number of the events a photographed by Ellis. He noted, for example, that the photographs in Figures 1 to 4 were of the very first SAP rally on May 15, 1994.

From 1985 to 1995, the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in the city of Adelaide. It was then famously “snatched” by Melbourne in a controversial $60 million deal with the international Formula One Group, a deal that was kept secret after it was signed (Neales 2018). Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett announced on 17 December 1993 that the Grand Prix would be held in Albert Park from 1996, promising job creation, economic benefits and international exposure. He hailed the announcement as “the most exciting thing that happened” since his election 14 months earlier. Kennett also announced that $14 million would be spent on upgrading the Albert Park area.

One of SAP’s primary grievances was the lack of transparency surrounding the decision-making process. As marked on the timeline embedded below, which is based on SAP’s extensive digital archive of newsletters hosted by the National Library of Australia, Kennett signed the secret agreement with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone in July 1993, making Melbourne the preferred city for the Grand Prix.

The deal, finalised in September 1993 without public consultation or a cost-benefit analysis, raised series conflict of interest concerns. Before it was finalised, the deal was endorsed in a report by the Melbourne Major Events Committee, which was chaired by businessman Ron Walker. In November 1993, Crown Casino, of which Walker was the director and co-founder, was awarded the Melbourne casino license. Moreover, the grand prix was revealed to be central to Crown’s marketing plans. This explains the references to Walker in the Figure 3 photograph:

Walker would go on to be named Chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. Ecclestone and Walker were in fact close friends. Ecclestone had even said he would only negotiate with Ron Walker regarding the Australian Grand Prix. This has led some to question whether Walker was an effective advocate on behalf of Victorians (Hoy 2014).

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Formed at a meeting of Albert Park residents, SAP was founded on the principle that a public park should not host a motor race. Local residents, as well as many other Victorians, were outraged by the commercial exploitation of the park and the secretive deal-making.

They were not against holding the Grand Prix in Melbourne, but argued that it should be hosted on an existing or upgraded track rather than around the much loved lake by the bay. The community’s anger culminated in the rally on 15 May 1994, noted above, which was attended by 10,000 people. Premier Kennett, present at the rally, dismissed the protesters’ concerns, calling them “confused and concerned” and bearing the “ugly faces of people who gain strength in numbers but are totally different individually” (Neales and Magazanik 1993)

The rally marked the start of a prolonged opposition to the Kennett government, symbolising broader issues of governance and public interest (Glanz, 1995). The photographs of SAP rallies taken by John Brant Ellis are therefore important documents in the history of social activism in Melbourne. These archives provide insights into the social, political, and cultural dynamics of the time, highlighting the enduring power of community advocacy.

Aseera Shamin is a PhD Candidate in History and Philosophy of Science. Aseera’s thesis aims to disentangle the relationship between energy justice, power and social dynamics in renewable energy production in localised contexts by considering both upstream and downstream siting of clean energy projects.

References

Glanz David. (1995, 1 March). ‘Marvellous (Middle) Melbourne’. Eureka Street, 14-17.

Hoy, Greg. (2014, 11 March.) ‘Critics Question Whether Australia’s F1 Negotiator Holds Conflict of Interest’. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-11/f1-melbourne/5313214. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Neales, Sue. (2018, 22 March.) ‘Flashback: The Story behind Melbourne’s Grand Prix Coup’. Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/flashback-the-story-behind-melbournes-grand-prix-coup-20180320-h0xqeh.html. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Neales, Sue and Magazanik, Mark. (1993, 16 May). ‘Move it or lose it: 10,000 tell Kennet’. The Age, p.1.