Perth beauty judge leads Miss Universe charge

• Chris Thomson
• July 1, 2008 - 12:10PM

Jonathan Westbrook with 2004 Miss Universe winner Jennifer Hawkins.

A Perth beauty contest judge has launched a bold bid to host next year's Miss Universe pageant in Australia.

"I am chairman of the Host Committee Australia to try and bring it here," Crawley resident Jonathan Westbrook said.

"I have to sell the vision that this is better than kicking in another $40-$50 million minimum into advertising Australia in one or two countries."

Mr Westbrook expects Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane will be frontrunners for the international event if he can get the Federal Government to kick in the multi-million license fee.

He was coy on how many millions that would cost, but said the event would generate $1 billion of free advertising for Australia.

It is understood Thailand paid $US22 million ($23 million) to secure the pageant for Bangkok in 2005.

"Virtually everybody on the planet sees Miss Universe, over three billion people, according to Miss Universe statistics," Mr Westbrook said.

Born and bred in Perth, Mr Westbrook is a long-term Miss Universe judge who first met the pageant's license owner Donald Trump in the 1980s.

"The biggest thing is the week before, when the international media is here, you can't buy that sort of advertising," Mr Westbrook said.

He added that, on top of the TV exposure, 1500 tourists followed the pageant around each year.

"It is not that ambitious a bid when you think of it," he said. "It's that I've got the connection and I want to do something good for the country, to showcase our tourism, exports and lifestyle.

"Hopefully, with a bit of luck, the Federal Labor Government is interested in increasing the tourist industry."

Mr Westbrook had a meeting planned with the former federal Liberal government before last year's election was called.

He now wants to meet with current tourism minister Martin Ferguson before the end of July to progress his bid.

If the Government signs on, the bid would need to be completed by October.

"There's really no point in meeting too early," Mr Westbrook said. "This is how it happens every single year.

"For 2005, Bangkok hadn't put their bid until Christmas time, and then they didn't know until February if they would go ahead."

That event cost $US5.5 million ($5.7 million) to stage.

While contestants would travel all around Australia, Mr Westbrook said Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena would make an excellent venue for the final.

"It is totally enclosed, you could get all the VIPs seated on the court, and the rest of the paying customers in the stands, all undercover," he said.

"It would be a fantastic venue."

Mr Westbrook tried unsuccessfully in 2005 to attract the Miss Universe pageant to Perth. This year Miss Universe will be held in Vietnam on July 14.

The last time Australia held the glamorous event was in the now defunct Perth Entertainment Centre in 1979.

Judges that year included Julio Iglesias and Ita Buttrose. Bob Hope was the MC and Donny Osmond serenaded the five finalists.

http://www.watoday.com.au/