SOME laws protecting the environment will not apply to organisers of the V8 supercars race proposed for Homebush next December, under a bill to be debated in State Parliament today.
The Homebush Motor Racing (Sydney 400) Bill 2008 offers the race organiser, V8 Supercars Australia, immunity from parts of the National Parks and Wildlife Act and sections of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
The Minister for State Development, Ian Macdonald, said the exemptions were needed to "enable expeditious approvals for the necessary pre-race preparations by V8 Supercars, while still ensuring that public safety and environmental matters are properly taken into account."
The bill proposes the creation of a powerful Homebush Motor Racing Authority, which will be appointed by Mr Macdonald and will override the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.
The bill, which needs the support of the Shooters' Party and Christian Democrat Fred Nile to pass, also foreshadows future regulations to control the "conduct … and the exclusion or expulsion of persons from the declared racing area" and protects "the minister and the authority from challenge or review before a court".
Race organisers will only be required to reinstate Sydney Olympic Park to its pre-race condition "so far as is practicable" and "within a reasonable time … unless the race promoter and the authority have otherwise agreed".
Mr Macdonald said: "The bill allowed some flexibility with reinstatement. This is to cover situations where there may be agreement to use different materials, fixtures from those originally present.
"It's important to remember the V8 race will be a great event for NSW that will inject $100-to-$110 million into the state's economy, stimulate local businesses, create jobs and attract tourists. We are talking about one event per year, over three days."
However, Robert Goodwill from the Save Olympic Park: No V8 Racing Campaign said there was nothing in the proposed law to ensure the race period would be limited to three days a year.
"The bill says quite clearly that the 'racing period' is indeterminate. It can be any number of day[s] and any number of races as long as its connected to the V8 supercar race. They could have them all year round or declare the whole year as the 'racing period' under this bill," he said.
The bill protects commercial interests for V8 Supercars, including filming rights, advertising and use of official insignia.
"So you have a private company writing their own contractual terms into NSW law. That, to me, is quite extraordinary," Mr Goodwill said. "This is on top of a commercial contract that we haven't seen."
The V8 Supercars chief, Tony Cochrane, said his organisation did not lobby for any exemptions from environmental laws.
"They have written legislation that reflects legislation for other big events. We will go out of our way to make sure we protect the environment," he said. "I hear about these supposed thousands of people protesting against this. Well, we wrote to more than 8000 residents in a six-kilometre radius and got about two responses of concern back."
Leigh Martin, from the Total Environment Centre, said: "Why, if V8 Supercars say there is no threat [to the environment], is this exemption from the National Parks and Wildlife Act needed?"
Terry Thompson, from the Eastern Creek International Raceway, said it was "very odd' for the race organisers to be exempt from environmental laws. "We have to comply with any environmental laws," he said, adding that racing drivers were also nervous about the proposed Homebush street circuit.
"Drivers don't like street circuits because they have concrete walls. If you lose control at Eastern Creek we have gravel traps that slow the vehicle down but street circuits are much more dangerous," he said.
The first of five annual V8 supercar races at Homebush, to be known as the Sydney 400, is set for December 4-6 next year.