Australia rules out hosting Miss Universe pageant

Australia's New South Wales state on Thursday rejected an offer to host the 2004 Miss Universe beauty pageant.

Australia's New South Wales state on Thursday rejected an offer to host the 2004 Miss Universe beauty pageant, saying the event would cost more than it could make.

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"I can advise the house that after careful consideration of the cost involved, the government has decided not to pursue it," NSW Tourism Minister Sandra Nori told the state parliament to cries of "shame, shame" from the benches.

Nori said there was little prospect of the state recouping the 15 million dollar (9.8 million US dollar) outlay for the event, which is owned by US billionaire Donald Trump and the NBC television network.

"I might point out that five million US dollars of (the outlay) was going to go straight into one of Donald Trump's companies," Nori said.

"And of course, there would by no means be complete community agreement with the idea of actually hosting the event," she said.