Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews won't reveal how much it cost to secure the Grand Prix for Melbourne until 2023, but says the competitive process proves the event's worth.
Mr Andrews formally announced Melbourne would retain the race on Sunday after posting a Facebook video on Saturday night telling NSW Premier Mike Baird his election pledge to steal the race from Melbourne had failed.
In the video, Mr Andrews held a copy of the Daily Telegraph's front page where Mr Baird reportedly made a bid to take the race from Melbourne, and told his NSW counterpart he would shout him a ticket to watch the race in Melbourne.
"The Premier of NSW was going to pinch this race from Melbourne, well, sadly for him we've got this race locked up until 2023 at least," Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday.
The Victorian government has footed a bill of $51.1 million a year on average over the past six years, including one bill of $60 million last year.
On Sunday, Mr Andrews refused to say how much it cost the state to retain the race, but promised it represented "very good value for money".
"NSW desperately wanted it," he said. "There are other states in Australia who are interested, other countries in our region who would do almost anything to have this race."
"We will not be giving to our competitors the number they have to beat."
The Greens were quick to criticise the government for extending the Grand Prix contract before it was due to expire, saying governments have misrepresented the economic benefits of the race.
"We know the Grand Prix has lost more than $50 million of taxpayer money each of the last few years, and hundreds of millions since 1996," Greens MP Sue Pennicuik said.
Shadow treasurer Michael O'Brien said there was no question the Grand Prix was good for Melbourne, but he wanted to know if the government got it at a good price.
"The question is, how much is the cost of it?" Mr O'Brien said on Sunday.
The NSW plan was to race cars over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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