GFC blamed for Perth's air race cancellation
Updated
Russia's Sergey Rakhmanin slices through a gate at a Red Bull air race (AFP: Karim Sahib, file photo)
The Tourism Minister Liz Constable is disappointed at the cancellation of an international air race over the Swan River.
Perth is one of the legs of the air race series along with other host cities such as New York, Rio de Janeiro and Abu Dhabi, which have also been cancelled.
The organisers Red Bull say the one year's break will be used to revise the organisation and commercial aspects of the event, although there has been speculation it has been forced by the global financial crisis.
Dr Constable says the Government will continue to push for more big events.
"Because we know the value of those events to the tourism industry but also to publicising world-wide Perth and Western Australia to potential visitors," she said.
The race was first held in Perth in 2006 and usually attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators.
The chairwoman of Tourism WA Kate Lamont believes economic uncertainty is behind the cancellation.
"They (the organisers) are pretty tight-lipped about it, but if I read under the lines I think it's commercial reasons," she said.
"A lot of us in WA have forgotten about the GFC but I think it's hit pretty hard and continues to hit hard in Europe and I think it's simply a victim of that."
Matt Hall is a former RAAF fighter pilot sponsored by the WA State Government in this year's race in Perth.
He does not believe it is the end of the air races.
"That's my career and I love racing the aircraft and I love doing that but I also see a positive side of it already that we actually get to develop for a year," he said.
"You have a year's dedicated development (which) leads to a better sport in the end."
First posted
Search ABC News
Featured Video
-
Video
A massive blaze has engulfed homes in a San Francisco suburb.
-
Video
The widow of an Australian soldier has given birth only hours after his funeral.
-
Video
Melbourne Zoo introduces its latest addition - a newborn male Asian elephant.
-
Video
A major exhibition covering AC/DC's highs and lows over the last 35 years opens in Sydney this weekend.
The ABC News Online Investigative Unit encourages whistleblowers, and others with access to information they believe should be revealed for the public good, to contact us.
