That audit blamed senior council management for poor reporting, a lack of transparency and the unauthorised spending of millions of dollars.
"I believe the business model for Claudelands is going to need a comprehensive review as much due to the changes in economic climate as anything else but we will be putting the same lens over Claudelands and other major projects and take the learnings out of this [V8 audit] particular exercise," Mr Harris said.
Councillor Gordon Chesterman said he was shocked by the centre's first-year figures but said they were not a real surprise given the sluggish economy.
He privately commissioned research on the centre's financial viability two years ago - before the council gave its go-ahead for construction - because he feared the impact of the global economic recession.
He tried at a council meeting to either cancel or postpone the development, but lost, 11 votes to 2.
The same council approved the business plan for the V8 Supercars.
"Between the time when we got the first business case on which all the planning was done and the decision made and this year the market has soured," he said. "But it will come back and the centre is a superb facility, there's no question about that."
Another councillor, Ewan Wilson, said the centre was "a massive undertaking for council" which had to borrow the entire $68 million cost.
"The city definitely needed a conference centre and what we got satisfied that requirement ... Where we missed the mark was what the community wanted was a day-to-day facility that a wide [range] of community organisations can use."
The council is planning a ramped-up marketing campaign in an attempt to reduce the forecast operating deficit from $1.7 million to $1.1 million.
