Government urged to secure Oz GP future

Ecclestone has warned that the Albert Park event must take place at night if race organisers are to be handed another contract when the current deal runs out in 2010.

But Walker claims there is nothing he can do to sort out the situation, with the final decision on reaching a compromise with Ecclestone entirely down to the Victorian government, who subsidises the event.

The current feeling is that the costs associated with turning Melbourne into a night race are too high.

"It (the decision) rests solely with the Premier, and no doubt some time in the next six or nine months, he will meet with Mr Ecclestone and they will either come to an arrangement or they won't," Mr Walker told the Herald Sun newspaper.

"But it will be a sad day for Australia if we were to lose [the GP], because it's the only international motorsport event in the country.

"When you think how many other countries want it, it would be a great loss. It provides a spectacle you don't see very often, but that's up to the government."

As well as deciding on whether or not to accept the demands for a night race, the Victorian government will also likely have to decide if the event continues to make financial sense.

The current cost of holding the event is believed to be around $35 million USD per year.