mmg.com.au

Pauline Hanson has been dumped as the Echuca Cup Carnival’s Ladies Day ambassador.

Echuca Racing Club chief executive Garry Armstrong said the decision was made late last week because the club could not find the money in its budget.

He said the club had money to pay her appearance fee at the March event, but could not afford the extra expenses associated with getting her to Echuca.

‘‘For her to come was fine, but there’s obviously getting her here and getting her back and all those other expenses, which put us in a negative budgetary position,’’ he said.

Mr Armstrong said the deal for Ms Hanson to be Ladies Day ambassador was ‘‘about 95 per cent’’ done when it was first reported by The Age newspaper last month.

He said he was surprised when he learnt of the report through a text message and felt compelled to spruik Ms Hanson as Ladies Day ambassador, including to the Riv, because it was already in the public domain.

‘‘We were disappointed when it was announced through The Age. We hadn’t expected to make an announcement until more about this time,’’ he said.

The decision to approach Ms Hanson for the role divided opinion in Echuca-Moama, but Mr Armstrong said she was a good choice because of her profile.

He said the club was disappointed it could not continue with its plans.

‘‘We thought she would have lifted the profile of the whole event,’’ he said.

‘‘Since her appearance in reality TV shows she’s probably seen very differently to when in her political life. We thought she was a good choice.’’

Mr Armstrong said the money saved could potentially go into more local promotion of the carnival as it was doubtful there was enough time to secure another high-profile ambassador.