Victorian taxpayers paid more than $100 million to keep Tennis Australia afloat, Freedom of Information (FOI) documents reveal.
A ministerial briefing obtained by the Victorian opposition under the Freedom of Information Act shows Treasurer Tim Pallas approved a $63 million emergency payment to help the Australian Open host remain solvent at the end of 2022.
That was on top of a $40 million COVID-era loan that Tennis Australia did not have to repay after the state government wrote off the debt.
The document reveals that Tennis Australia has faced additional costs of $70 million to stage the 2022 Australian Open due to the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron wave, which halved the stadium’s capacity.
Additional COVID-19 safety requirements have caused a delay in ticket sales.
Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport and Events Sam Groth said taxpayers deserved to know about the deal.
“It’s a commercially successful event,” said Mr. Groth, a former professional tennis player.
“Why is the government stepping in to bail out something that is commercially successful?
“There has been no accountability and no transparency,” he said.
The Victorian government says taxpayers are “getting a good deal” by investing in Melbourne as it hosts the Australian Open. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
The treasurer’s approval included a condition that any unused portions of the $63 million support payment be returned.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan has not responded to questions about why Tennis Australia has not had to repay the COVID-19 loan.
She said the Australian Open contributed $357 million to the Victorian economy each year and supported thousands of jobs.
“There was a period during the COVID pandemic where events, like other businesses, like our health system, like households during the pandemic, needed additional support from government,” Allan said.
Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos said a 10-year extension of Melbourne’s hosting rights, negotiated the same year the bailout was granted, would be worth $4 billion to the state.
“This is an event that has been on the calendar for decades and is largely held thanks to the modest support of the Victorian taxpayer for the economic benefits it brings,” he said.
The scale of the financial aid is “extraordinary”
Documents filed by the sporting body with ASIC show Tennis Australia recorded a surplus of $62 million in the 2023 financial year.
Prominent economist and commentator Saul Eslake says that while the international appeal of the Australian Open is a strong argument for the Australian government’s financial support for the event, the scale of that support is “extraordinary”.
“Even if Victoria had been in as strong a financial position as Western Australia, I would still have been surprised by the scale of the Australian Government’s generosity to Tennis Australia,” Mr Eslake said.
“But Victoria is not in the same financial position as WA – its financial position is considerably more dire than not only WA but all the other Australian states and colonies.
“It is therefore quite surprising that the Victorian government has been as generous to a financially strong elite sporting organisation as it apparently has been in this instance.”
Mr Dimopoulos also declined to explain why the COVID-19 loan was cancelled.
“If we start violating all kinds of confidentiality with licensees, we will no longer be the events capital,” he said.
