Australian Grand Prix organisers ordered to pay over $2.8 million to promoters over cancelled Robbie Williams concert

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) has been ordered to pay $2.84 million in compensation to a Melbourne touring company over the cancellation of a Robbie Williams concert in the early days of pandemic lockdowns in 2020.

Concert promoters World Touring Melbourne Limited (WTML) took legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against the AGPC over the scheduled concert, which was set to take place during the Formula 1 weekend in March 2020, until the race was cancelled shortly beforehand in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions.

Williams was set to headline a post-qualifying concert at Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park on Saturday 14th March 2020 which, like the race weekend, was called off on Friday 13th March as the Victorian and Federal Governments introduced measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.

It was among the first of a wave of cancellations across Victoria as public gatherings were restricted to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

Racegoers were waiting to enter the track on the Friday of the race weekend when it was announced by megaphone that the event would not go ahead.

WTML sued the AGPC for "significant loss and damage", arguing the race organisers breached their contractual obligations and engaged in "misleading or deceptive conduct".

The main dispute in the case centred on emails and text messages between Victoria's former Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and AGPC's then Chief Executive, Andrew Westacott.

WTML alleged it had been misled by race organisers, who said a direction had been issued for the race - and therefore the concert - to be cancelled on 13th March.

The touring company argued was not the case, and that any order covering the concert was not valid because a state of emergency had not yet been declared.

On Friday, the Victoria’s Supreme Court ruled the AGPC had misrepresented one of Dr Sutton's text messages while communicating with the touring company.

Justice Clyde Croft said while Dr Sutton supported the cancellation of the Williams concert, he had advised that any decision was ultimately up to the organisers.

Justice Croft ruled “the Court found that this representation by AGPC was likely to mislead or deceive and that WTM relied on the representation.”

The court ordered the AGPC to pay the touring company $2.84 million, a sum less than the $8 million WTML had sought.

The concert promoters told the Supreme Court they would have proceeded with the concert if they had believed that option was on the table.

Williams's Manager Michael Loney also testified that the singer also wanted to perform, having only once cancelled a show at short notice in 22 years.

Loney stated "I discussed it with Robbie and he said, 'let's go down, we've sold tickets, until we're told we can't do a show, we'll do a show'."

WTML co-Chief Executive Becky Artmonsky said the business was were delighted with the result, commenting “while the cancellation caused massive issues for our business and investors, this outcome clearly demonstrates that we were right to pursue this claim.”

On the same night the Williams event was cancelled, another outdoor concert with 8,000 fans went ahead at the nearby Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Victoria was put into a state of emergency on 16th March - two days after the planned Williams concert - to respond to the Coronavirus outbreak.

At the time, the declaration gave authorities the power to prohibit large gatherings of more than 500 people and enforce quarantine restrictions on travellers arriving from overseas.

In a statement, the AGPC said it acknowledged the court's decision and was "reviewing the judgement to determine next steps".

The judge reserved his decision on costs.

Image: The AGPC's promotion for Robbie Williams' 2020 concert.