The $30m plan to revamp Ballymore has created an angry backlash from some members

As work kicks off on the long-sought $30m Ballymore redevelopment, deep divisions are growing among members amid simmering anger at the way the process has been handled.

BALLYMORE SCRUM

You might think that the $30 million first stage of the long-sought redevelopment of Brisbane’s legendary rugby union stadium would spark near universal acclaim among the sporting faithful.

Yet, as work kicks off this month at Ballymore, that’s hardly the case. There are deep divisions among members about the scheme and simmering anger at the way the process has been handled.

“The general rugby public has been duped,’’ former Queensland Rugby Union chairman Peter Lewis alleged to City Beat.

“People thought this would bring back the Reds to play there but that’s not going to happen. This has all been done by stealth.’’

Peter Lewis

Current QRU boss Dave Hanham has refused to commit to a return of the team, which relocated to Suncorp Stadium 14 years ago and has been struggling financially ever since.

“The redevelopment is an essential first stage for Ballymore,’’ Hanham said this week.

“Nothing we are doing in stage one limits the ability to hold events and Reds games in the future, however there are a significant amount of capital works that would need to be completed.”

Under the makeover now under way, Ballymore will become home to a “national rugby training centre’’ for both the Reds and the Wallaroos women’s team. New seating will also be built to replace the Mclean Stand.

The work, funded jointly by the state and federal government in what is the biggest ever capital grant to Australian rugby, should wrap up in the second half of next year. There’s even talk that the site could become part of an Olympic precinct if we host the games in 2032.

Hanham stressed the changes have won overwhelming support from constitutional members, including Premier Rugby clubs and regional sub-unions, as well as life members.

But Lewis is hardly alone in his efforts to torpedo the project, which included a failed effort to secure a Heritage listing for Ballymore.

Dave Hanham

Rugby identities Dick McGruther, Lyn Crowley, John Ryan, David Clark, Lloyd Graham and Dick Marks all share his concerns and have backed an alternative revitalisation plan they say could bring the Reds back.

It dates from 2007, when then-PM John Howard approved a $25m grant for Ballymore, a move later scrapped by his successor, Kevin Rudd.

The QRU maintains the revamped facility will be able to accommodate a crowd of up to 15,000 but Lewis and his fellow critics allege the real figure will be capped at just a third of that, helping to preclude a Reds return.

They also dispute the need to knock down the 3000-seat McLean Stand, claiming an estimate from Hutchinson Builders showed just $50,000 would fix minor concrete cancer issues.

The argy bargy is nothing new. As one observer told us, QRU has been “a very unhappy place for a long time”.

SPIRITED RELIEF

A Gold Coast craft distillery has joined a national campaign to cut Australia’s onerous spirits tax in a bid to spur new growth and help the industry recover from COVID-driven disruption.

Grandad Jack’s boss Dave Ridden told City Beat that his family-owned company backed a lobbying effort in Canberra this week to slash the levy and freeze automatic CPI increases which kick in every six months.

His Miami-based business, which launched nearly three years ago and churns out gin, vodka and whiskey, pays almost $88 a litre in tax, now the third highest rate in the world and nearly 10 times the impost in the US.

Dave Ridden

“With a fairer spirits tax regime, we think we could more than double our staff numbers within 12 months. We’re already working on the build for our second distillery in Brisbane and if this tax gets fixed, it’s more than likely we’d open a third distillery somewhere in regional Queensland,’’ Ridden said.

He’s aiming to open that new Brisbane outpost in Albion by mid-May. The $1.2m facility will allow the company to double its current production of about 250,000 litres a year.

Ridden predicted that the spirits tax relief could create several hundred jobs in distilleries across Queensland over the next 12 months. It would also grow employment in related industries.

Lobbyists from the Australian Distillers Association and Spirits & Cocktails Australia made their pitch to the pollies via a pre-budget submission.

As part of the tax relief, they’re calling for a lift in the excise refund limit from $100,000 to $350,000, a move which would even the playing field with small wine producers.

Notably, independent modelling from PwC suggests the changes would actually boost tax revenues by $1.4bn over forward estimates. We’ll drink to that!

WATERED DOWN

One of Australia’s top class action litigators warned on Wednesday that mum and dad investors will be among the losers if stock market disclosure laws are permanently watered down.

Ben Hardwick, who heads class actions at Slater & Gordon, slammed the plans announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this week, saying they will make it easier for company directors to act poorly and evade accountability.

As part of the response to the pandemic in May, Frydenberg temporarily loosened some of the guidelines related to profit guidance. He now wants the Senate to make the changes for good.

Ben Hardwick

“Funny how the pandemic crisis has apparently abated enough to stop JobKeeper, but is still serious enough to warrant permanently watering down corporate responsibility,” said Hardwick, who also heads up industry group Class Actions Australia.

“The ASX is about to hit an all-time high, and the Treasurer thinks it’s important to offer extra shields to company directors to avoid accountability. It’s madness.’’

If approved, the changes would mean that class action members would have to prove company directors made an intentional effort to violate continuous disclosure requirements.

By contrast, plaintiffs now simply need to demonstrate a failure to release information regardless of whether it was done intentionally.

Hardwick cautioned that the nation risked developing “an international reputation as a jurisdiction that’s soft on corporate misbehaviour’’ if Frydenberg’s plan gets up.

“That’s a sure-fire way to dry up investment,’’ he said.