ANZ Stadium: Labor leader Luke Foley admits venue needs investment
LABOR leader Luke Foley’s political promise that he’ll put “schools and hospitals before stadiums” has been undermined by his own admission he’s happy to tear up ANZ Stadium and believes it should be modernised.
NSW
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LABOR leader Luke Foley’s political promise that he’ll put “schools and hospitals before stadiums” has been undermined by his own admission he’s happy to tear up ANZ Stadium and believes it should be modernised.
Since November Mr Foley has staked his politics on opposing state government plans to rebuild ANZ and Allianz stadiums. But yesterday in a radio interview he admitted he supported ANZ — the more expensive of the two projects.
In a political hit for Mr Foley, NRL boss Todd Greenberg last night welcomed his “bipartisan support” for Western Sydney stadiums.
In the interview, 2GB’s Ray Hadley put to Mr Foley: “I would think you’d be happy that ANZ Stadium be made a rectangular stadium … so rugby league, rugby union and soccer can be played there, we need to modernise the stadium despite the fact that it was only built 20 years ago.”
Mr Foley replied: “Yep.”
Asked again if Hadley was right, Mr Foley again replied: “Yep.” He went on to restate his support for Parramatta Stadium, a $300 million project that he repeatedly has lumped into the cost of the stadiums promise that he opposes.
Mr Foley has made major political capital in opposing stadiums, repeatedly stating he would put “schools and hospitals before stadiums”.
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The government has believed privately all along that Mr Foley, a western Sydney MP, would find it politically impossible to turn his back on ANZ Stadium for which he has previously expressed support.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian seized on the radio interview, declaring during question time that Mr Foley’s opposition to stadiums investment had “been blown out of the water”.
Sports Minister Stuart Ayres fired at Mr Foley: “You’ve been all over NSW holding a card saying schools and hospitals before stadiums, except you support the stadiums.”
Mr Foley later attempted to clarify via Twitter, saying he’d “always” supported Parramatta Stadium, and appeared to argue semantics, saying he’d “said nothing of the sort” about rebuilding ANZ Stadium.
Mr Foley again revived his class war of prioritising ANZ over Allianz, stating: “My priority is western Sydney and everyone supports the Parramatta rebuild but I just think the place that hosts the Grand Finals and Origin is a more important priority than the one in the eastern suburbs.”
Mr Foley’s admission is bizarre given the government intends to begin knocking down Allianz Stadium — which is a safety risk due to its age — before the election. By committing to investing in ANZ, Mr Foley would effectively see both stadiums overhauled if he won the election.
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