It is one of the more uncomfortable questions in WA politics right now: the Cook government is building a racetrack on the Burswood Peninsula — and according to reports, the Supercars event meant to justify it still isn't a signed deal.
The project is Perth Park, a multi-use entertainment and sporting precinct wedged between Optus Stadium and Crown Perth. Its centrepiece is a 3.4km, 12-turn street circuit pitched as the new home of the state's annual Supercars round, replacing the long-running event at Wanneroo Raceway. Labor took a $217.5 million election commitment for the precinct to the March 2025 state poll, won a third consecutive term, and has since moved the project into the ground.
The money is already committed
This is not a plan on paper. Site establishment works began on the peninsula in early 2026, and on 15 May 2026 the government announced a major construction contract worth $202.4 million, awarded to an alliance of Seymour Whyte, Civmec and Aurecon. The precinct is targeted for completion in late 2027, with the first Supercars event slated for the 2028 season opener.
Tellingly, that government media statement describes the venue as hosting "an annual motorsport event" — it makes no mention of a signed agreement with Supercars. And that is the crux of the criticism that has put this back in the spotlight: that Labor started building the Burswood racetrack before securing the Supercars deal.
So is there a deal, or isn't there?
According to motorsport-media reporting, the commercial agreement that would actually bring Supercars to Burswood is still being negotiated, and would run through VenuesWest, the state's venue operator. Supercars interim chief executive Barclay Nettlefold was quoted saying the category was "in discussions with VenuesWest" and, while focused on a 2028 start, was "still months away in regard to concluding that" — which, if accurate, means dirt is being moved before the headline tenant has put pen to paper.
It is worth being precise here, because the politics turns on it. There is no suggestion the government has no intention of landing the event; ministers have repeatedly framed Burswood as Supercars' future Perth home, and Supercars has publicly backed the venue. The accountability question is narrower and sharper: should taxpayers be on the hook for a $200m-plus build before the contract that underwrites its purpose is locked in?
Parliament gets heated
The issue has already spilled onto the floor of WA Parliament. Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas pressed Premier Roger Cook over the project's full cost — including an as-yet-undisclosed deal with Crown Perth to acquire roughly 5.8 hectares of land needed for the circuit. Zempilas asked whether the state budget would contain full and transparent costings of the racetrack, and whether Cook could guarantee the $217.5m figure would not blow out; reports say Cook deferred to the budget. The debate was heated enough that, according to those reports, a National Party MP was ejected from the chamber.
The government's position has been that Perth Park is far more than a racetrack — it is being sold as a year-round precinct spanning roughly 28 hectares, with a 12,000-capacity outdoor amphitheatre, cycling facilities and event spaces, and a stated projection of around $61 million in economic activity for the state each year.
Why Perth should watch this one
Major-event infrastructure has a long history of arriving over budget, and the sequencing here is what makes residents uneasy. When a build of this scale starts ahead of the contract that defines its core use, the state's negotiating position arguably softens — it is harder to walk away from a half-built circuit than from a proposal.
For now, the verifiable facts are clear enough: the money is committed, the steel and concrete are going in, and the Supercars signature reportedly is not yet on the dotted line. That is a lot of taxpayer money riding on a deal that, on the public record, still isn't done. The real test will be the state budget detail and whether the $217.5m figure — Crown land and all — holds.