Michael Daley accuses SCG board of collusion with NSW Government
Premier-hopeful Michael Daley has reignited the stadium wars, boldly declaring he will sack the board of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. But he’s has been caught out misleading the public over a key reason for his decision. Here’s who he plans on firing.
- Opinion: Now we’ve seen how Daley acts under pressure
- Daley threatens to fire Alan Jones
- $2b for Sydney stadiums just 2 per cent of budget
Premier-hopeful Michael Daley has desperately reignited the stadiums wars, boldly declaring he will summarily sack the board of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, but has been caught out misleading the public over a key reason for his decision.
In a sensational election intervention almost two weeks out from polling day, Mr Daley declared the board — which includes the man who secured the 2000 Sydney Olympics Rod McGeoch — was too close to the government and “in on the fix” of securing a new stadium for Moore Park.
But in a clear slip up, Mr Daley bizarrely accused the members of the Trust of removing fire sprinklers at Allianz Stadium “under the cover of darkness”.
The SCG confirmed yesterday the partially demolished stadium never had fire sprinklers — a key safety reason for the NSW government’s rebuild.
As Mr Daley sought to relaunch his attack line that $1.9 billion budgeted for stadium upgrades in Sydney should be spent elsewhere, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the NSW Nationals will today announce a mammoth $2.5 billion roads package for the bush.
The government is mounting the case that money can be spent on stadiums as well as schools, hospitals and infrastructure, with stadiums representing just two per cent of the entire infrastructure budget.
Mr Daley initially made his threat in a tense interview with broadcast legend Alan Jones yesterday morning.
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Mr Daley then called the board “archaic” and ignited the gender wars in his attack, saying it was “not acceptable” that just two women were on it.
He declined to address the fact that the CEO of the SCG Trust is a woman, Kerrie Mather or that the three board members saved from his proposed sacking were men.
In the wake of his dramatic declaration, Mr Daley quickly unveiled a slick online petition calling for support for his idea.
The petition says that “Alan Jones and the SCG Trust has to go” and claims the trust is “trying to take money out of schools and hospitals” to spend it on stadiums. The petition points out that former Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell is on the board and tries to link respected businessman Tony Shepherd to Tony Abbott by noting he was the “chairman of Abbott Government’s National Commission of Audit”.
In a nod to Labor’s war on the wealthy, it also singles out Maurice Newman, noting he is the chair of the board of the Australian Stock Exchange (he stepped down from the role in 2008).
While the rebuild of Allianz will deliver a world-class new facility the petition claims this is “not in best interest of sporting fans” and that the trust has “colluded” with the government to spend the money.
Mr Daley could not say how he would appoint his own members of the board, saying “there will be a good cross section of ordinary people … and there will be more women”.
“My board will be representative of modern-day society and they won’t be engaging in the sort of cloak and dagger stuff that we are seeing with this board,” he said.
The stadium is currently in limbo, with an injunction placed on the hard demolition while the Land and Environment Court today considers a legal challenge to it.
Mr Daley wants the demolition stopped and will force the Trust to take out a loan to pay for the cost of a rebuild if it goes ahead. When The Daily Telegraph pressed Mr Daley on his bizarre claims that the Trust had removed fire sprinklers “under the cover of darkness”, he refused to restate the claim at his press conference.
Pressed on whether his accusation was a mistake, his office later said Mr Daley had been referring to the “soft demolition currently taking place”. Pressed again on whether he had simply gotten his facts wrong, Mr Daley’s office accused the Trust of lying about flammable seating.
Trust chairman Tony Shepherd rejected suggestions the board was partisan.
“We are a government statutory body that takes its obligations and responsibilities very seriously … and always work with the government of the day.”
He pointed out that he was appointed to the position by Labor premier Morris Iemma.
He also rejected accusations flammable seats had been offloaded to country stadiums, saying he was advised newer chairs which were not flammable had been given away.
Code red as rugby, football and NRL attack demolition delay
By Rose Brennan
THE nation’s top sporting codes have warned that “devastating” delays to the Allianz Stadium demolition would risk millions in revenue eventually generated by a rebuilt world- class facility delivering bigger crowds and safer fan facilities.
In an affidavit to the Land and Environment Court, Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle said the “prompt completion of the stadium redevelopment is important” to ensure the venue remains a drawcard for fans.
“The plans we have seen for the new Stadium will make it even more important to Rugby Australia as a major drawcard to attract fans to our premiere events. This is due to the new Stadiums’ improved amenities, fan experience, technology integration and safety elements.”
If the rebuild goes to plan, the Wallabies Test against England will be played at the site in July 2022 and generate “at least $5 million in revenue” for Australian Rugby.
Ms Castle’s affidavit also points out that holding the Bledisloe Cup at the new stadium in August 2022 will generate at least $6.3 million for Rugby Australia.
The affidavits were supplied as part of a court battle the government is locked in over their plan to rebuild Allianz stadium. The plan to demolish the Stadium before the March 23 election has been delayed by a court challenge from a local community group and Waverley Council who argue the planning process is flawed.
An injunction was placed on any hard demolition of the stadium until today when the Land and Environment Court will rule on the challenge.
Sydney Roosters CEO Joseph Kelly said in his affidavit that the redeveloped stadium was expected to deliver the club a 20 per cent “commercial uplift” due to the upgraded facilities having better amenities and improved spectator access.
He also said the new stadium would boost rugby league match attendance by 15 per cent each year.
Sydney Football Club CEO Daniel Townsend warned in his affidavit that the SCG currently offer a “poor match day experience” for their fans. The current configuration of the stadium means spectators at the halfway line — premium seating for soccer games — are “far away from the sidelines of the rectangular pitch and the action of the game”.
“Any delays in the redevelopment of the SFS would have a devastating impact on Sydney FC.” The NRL, Sydney Swans and NSW Rugby Union also supplied affidavits asking for there to be no delay to the redevelopment.
Surpluses to pay for schools and stadiums
By Edward Boyd
THE NSW government will spend $6.4 billion more on schools and hospitals over the next four years than Labor did during its final four years of government.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said $90 billion would be invested in infrastructure over the next four years — including $1.9 billion on stadiums. This equates to just 2.1 per cent of the infrastructure budget being spent on stadiums.
“This is not a matter of schools and hospitals before stadiums — it’s schools, hospitals and stadiums,” he said yesterday.
“We believe our city and state deserves world-class facilities and whether it’s schools, hospitals or cultural facilities like the football stadiums we believe they should be rebuilt and have the best offerings for people right across our state.”
Historical figures provided by NSW Treasury show Labor spent $8.7 billion on schools and hospitals in the four years to 2011. Budget papers show this is $6.4 billion less than the $15.1 billion the NSW government is planning to spend on schools and hospitals over the four years to 2022.
Mr Perrottet was speaking after delivering the state’s first pre-election budget update, which showed NSW will deliver average surpluses of almost $1.3 billion annually over the next four years. The forward estimates include $729 million for the Allianz Stadium rebuild at Moore Park, $810 million to refurbish ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park, and $360 million for Western Sydney Stadium at Parramatta.
But Labor Leader Michael Daley said taxpayers across the state should not be paying for facilities which will only be used by people in Sydney.
“If you are putting $2.2 billion into stadiums, you can’t at the same time put that amount of money into schools and hospitals, the magic pudding does not exist,” Mr Daley said.
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