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Black Beauty - Source: ONE Sport -
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Queensland Sports Minister Phil Reeves says he has been misled by organisers of the A1GP race that has been scratched from this weekend's Gold Coast motorsport event.
There are calls for Reeves to be sacked after the state government was forced to terminate its agreement with A1GP, which was to be the international drawcard of the Surfers Paradise SuperGP.
He announced on Saturday that A1GP organisers had confirmed they would not arrive on the tourist strip from London in time for the event. The Gold Coast organisers subsequently terminated the agreement with them.
Reeves said before then, the A1GP had given assurances to the government and promoters that all was in order.
"All signs were that they were on track to get here," Reeves told ABC Radio on Monday.
"The blame here is for A1GP, who have let down the people of Queensland and the Gold Coast."
The opposition said Reeves had misled parliament, where he had given repeated assurances the event would go ahead without problems.
But Reeves said it was A1GP chairman Tony Teixiera who had misled the government, the public and the media.
Reeves admitted there were "rumours and innuendo" about the event's stability, but said he'd received assurances from Teixiera.
"Tony Teixiera from A1GP has obviously misled all of Queensland including the ... government, including the people of the Gold Coast," he said.
"I was asking questions ... the reality is, the A1GP booked accommodation, booked the TV, came over here, arranged visas - they did everything that appeared they were turning up."
Reeves said he believed people would not want their tickets refunded because the programME with the V8 Supercars would be "unbelievable".
Everyone's role in the A1GP collapse, including his own and SuperGP chairman Terry Mackenroth's, would be under review in the fallout.
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said he had people ringing from Europe to warn about the financial insecurity of A1GP.
"There were people who were connected with the racing industry ... telling us there were financial problems," Langbroek told ABC Radio.
"We raised those questions quite responsibly asking the government to account for the fact that $14.3 million of taxpayers' money was tied up in this, and what did we get? Derision."
Langbroek said the V8s would not get the international exposure that made the investment worthwhile.
"This puts in doubt our Commonwealth Games bid, let's face it, something we're pitching for, this is a reflection on our international reputation," he said.
History of Gold Coast A1GP debacle:
2008
Nov 22 - Then Sports Minister Judy Spence announces five-year
agreement with A1GP
Nov 25 - A1GP event in Taupo, New Zealand, avoids cancellations
because Team NZ principal personally paid the freight costs to
NZ
2009
Feb 8 - Indonesian A1GP event cancelled
March 22 - Phil Reeves becomes Queensland sports
minister
April 29 - A1GP event in Mexico cancelled, ostensibly due to swine
flu outbreak
May 3 - A1GP cars seized by Delivered on Time (DOT)
May 12 - Wind up application of A1GP Operations Ltd
June 24 - UK High Court winds up A1GP Operations Ltd
Sept 2 - Reeves tells parliament "preparations are on
target"
Sept 15 - Reeves accuses opposition of scaremongering, saying he's
satisfied the event will proceed
Oct 14 - A1GP announces teams for SuperGP
Oct 17 - A1GP officially withdraws from SuperGP
