Change is on the horizon for Formula 1, and for good measure. Despite being one of the most advanced motorsports on the planet, featuring the quickest drivers, best engineers, and fastest cars you will ever see go around a circuit, Formula 1 has also remained in the past in some areas. Think grid girls, exorbitant ticket prices, the refusal to appeal to young internet users, and how it continues to be plagued by some of the same controversies and dilemmas of its earliest days.
Part of it gives Formula 1 its charm and part of it is long overdue for change. Fortunately, it seems that change is coming following the $4.4 billion acquisition of Formula One Group by American media giant Liberty Media. Part of Liberty Media’s goal at the helm of F1 is to properly pierce the American market and culture, and in addition to finally entering the modern video streaming era, that means introducing a second United States Grand Prix.
We had one in Indianapolis before and we have one in Austin currently, but the United States is a rather large place with lots of room for more. There has been talk of a new Grand Prix in or near New York City, which F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has long wished for, but now Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has spoken specifically about his desire for a Las Vegas night race.
“I particularly like the idea of a night race in Las Vegas,” Moffei said during a conference in Barcelona this week. Ecclestone is also known to have talked with interested Las Vegas parties earlier this year about a second US race alongside Austin.
One problem that could potentially get in the way is the length of the Formula 1 calendar. Some drivers have already complained that the record 21 races on the 2016 schedule are too much. F1 is an extremely physically and mentally exhausting sport and more races on the calendar gives the drivers little downtime to take a break between seasons, which is already reduced by pre-season testing. Nonetheless, Maffei believes the calendar can be grown some more “to a mild degree.”
Another problem is that a Las Vegas night race would lose a significant chunk of viewers if it were held on the usual Sunday, as most Europeans—who constitute the majority of F1’s viewership—would be asleep or at work on a Monday morning. If Liberty Media believes the race would succeed at drawing in a proper American crowd, however, it might be a worthwhile effort.
Should it happen, Las Vegas would be the third place to host a Formula 1 night race, joining Singapore and Bahrain.
A leading member of the Australian Federal Parliament and a Member of the Australian Labor Party Government has come out strongly opposing the effort to label palm oil and discriminate against Australia’s neighbors and leading producers of palm oil.
In an editorial by Federal Member for Isaacs, The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, called the legislation deeply flawed and puts Australian farmers and business at risk of trade retaliation.
The comments by Rep Dreyfus reflect a growing view that the effort to label palm oil is bad government, economic and foreign policy, and without redeemable benefits. To the contrary, the effect would likely result in significant harm to Australia’s long-standing position as a regional supporter of trade and economic growth, even putting the country at odds with its most integrated partner New Zealand.
Similar criticism was reflected recently during an inquiry into the Bill in Australia’s Lower House that saw a myriad of concerns raised by a number of interested stakeholders, including government and business.
Notable among these participants were key Australian government departments, alarmed by the legislation’s myriad of flaws that submitted comments, including the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, the Department of Health and Ageing, The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and the Treasury.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Mr Craig Emerson, expressed serious concern over the trade implications of the legislation, including its incompatibility with WTO rules and the country’s free trade agreement with New Zealand. In fact, Mr. Emerson assessed the full cost of the legislation at no less than AUD 150 million to Australian businesses, reflecting only one aspect of industry that stands to be affected by the legislation.
Other government departments that have commented on the inquiry, as well as the New Zealand Government, are concerned with the process under which this new labelling standard has been developed, believing that it undermines the collaborative nature of the regulatory system that ensures participation from Australian States and Territories as well as New Zealand in developing standards.
According to the New Zealand High Commission, the legislation is in breach of the Food Treaty between Australia and New Zealand, undermining the bi-national food regulatory system that has ensured unfettered trade between the two countries.
These comments, as well as comments by the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council, Sucrogen Foods, Unilever Australasia, Kraft Foods Australia and the Australian Oilseeds Federation, demonstrate the full extent of the legislation’s impact on Australian businesses, and consumers.
Representing producers, the Indonesian Palm Oil Commission and the Malaysian Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities submitted comments emphasizing the damage that a regulatory trade barrier would have on the countries palm oil industries and communities. While the legislation would undoubtedly violate WTO rules, according to the Malaysian Ministry, it would also have the unintended consequence of undermining the very industry which is ensuring the preservation of orangutan habitats and virgin rainforests. As a result, environmental NGOs that portray the palm oil industry as a threat to the environment are in fact contributing to a much more uncertain future to Malaysia’s environment and ecosystem.
And comments by Malaysia’s National Association of Small Holders (NASH), representing over 240,000 producers, illustrates the detrimental impact discriminatory regulations against palm oil will have for small holder producers who account for 39% of land under oil palm cultivation.
As MPOC CEO, Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron, said during his testimony before the Australian House Standing Committee on Economics:
The bill will punish our farmers with an indirect trade barrier, even though the alleged deforestation or orang-utan habitat destruction – the mitigation of which is the prime objective of this bill – are nothing but NGO myths
I respectfully call on the Committee to reject the legislation currently being considered as being contrary to the spirit of open and free collaboration between regional partners, and in recognition of the role the industry plays in supporting sustainable development.
Recite Quran Surah Maryam in Arabic, Russian Translation by M.-N.O. Osmanov and English Transliteration