Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp supports view of Supercars survey majority

The former minister for the Hunter made the comment in response to a City of Newcastle-commissioned survey which found 37 per cent of 10,998 respondents to an online survey want Newcastle to continue hosting the race, and 59 per cent did not want the race back.

"I have spoken with residents, businesses and stakeholder groups over this year, and have also looked at the results of this consultation to inform my view going forward," Mr Crakanthorp said.

"The majority of respondents have indicated that they do not want the Supercars event being held in the city and I will be supporting that view when communicating with the NSW government."

Mr Crakanthorp was put under pressure to say whether or not he supported the Newcastle 500 at a community forum about the race in March. Premier Chris Minns had previously expressed his support for the event on the state election campaign trail.

The Newcastle MP did not reveal at the time if he supported the race returning, and said he would be "guided by the community consultation" being conducted independently by KPMG for City of Newcastle.

The City of Newcastle has stressed that any decision on the future of the Newcastle 500 was a decision for the NSW government.

A NSW government spokesperson said "productive discussions" were under way between Supercars, Destination NSW, and City of Newcastle regarding the future of the event.

"The NSW Government assesses the viability of a range of events for the NSW events calendar to help achieve the goal of making NSW the premier visitor economy and the events capital of the Asia Pacific, contributing $65 billion in total visitor expenditure by 2030," the spokesperson said.

"The NSW government's tourism and major events agency Destination NSW assesses events on the economic, strategic and community benefits they can provide to the state and the region."

A Supercars spokesperson also said discussions were ongoing and "progressing toward an official decision on the future of the Newcastle 500".

"The goal is to ensure a positive outcome for all parties and further updates and details will be communicated in due course."

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