Parliamentary­ Budget Office confirms Labor’s SGC Trust loan plan for Allianz Stadium is financially sound

The Parliamentary­ Budget Office has confirmed Labor’s plan to make the SCG Trust take out a loan to pay for Allianz Stadium upgrades was correctly costed after concerns were raised it could harm the ALP’s projected surplus.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has confirmed Labor’s proposed concessional loan to the SCG Trust to pay for the Allianz Stadium refurbishment was correctly costed and will not impact Labor’s projected surpluses.

Labor leader Michael Daley seized on the decision this morning while standing outside the partially demolished sports ground at Moore Park.

“Today the premier’s office has been slapped down, this government has been slapped down by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, who says there was no change to their policy,” he said.

“This is a repeated pattern of behaviour by a badly behaving government.”

Labor claims the knock down and rebuild will come at no cost to taxpayers, while the Coalition’s plan will cost $730 million.

In Labor’s costings, $684 million is set aside for budgeting for a low interest loan to the SCG Trust for the Allianz Stadium redevelopment.

Mr Daley accused the Premier’s office of bullying the PBO into changing its costing, which was released on Monday afternoon.

“The advice we have received from the PBO is that the PBO was contacted … by the Premier’s office, who said ‘change your costing’,” Mr Daley said.

“The PBO is independent and it’s not acceptable for politicians to be telling them to change their costing.”

PBO chief Stephen Bartos said last night a “query” had been raised over where the $685 million cost of the loan would appear on Labor’s balance sheet.

The money is listed as revenue but if it was found to actually be an expense it would have blown a hole in Labor’s predicted surpluses of $1.62 billion over the next four years.

Mr Bartos said the issue was to do with how the money flowed between the general government sector and a publicly run corporation, like the SCG Trust,

After seeking “independent advice”, the PBO confirmed this morning its initial costing was correct, and the $685 million loan would improve Labor’s net lending position.

“The PBO advises that the costing figures for an ALP policy on a concessional loan to the SCG Trust have not been amended,” it said in a statement.

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“There is no impact on the budget position outlined in Budget Impact Statements.”

The independent government costing office said it was contacted earlier this week about the appropriate accounting treatment of figures shown in the Allianz Stadium loan costing.

“We have sought further information about the accounting treatment from a range of sources. As with any complex accounting issue there are multiple. However, on the balance of information provided, the PBO has not seen any compelling reason that would lead to a change of the costing,” the PBO said.

“The PBO notes that any party can ask a question. The PBO examines any such questions carefully.

Asking a question does not cancel a costing.”

Mr Daley accused the Coalition of “bullying” the PBO on breakfast radio this morning and said he was confident the costing was correct.

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“In the last 24 hours, the premier’s office and the treasurer’s office are monstering, bullying, the parliamentary budget office to get them to change their costing,” he said.

The loan is a key plank of Labor’s “schools and hospitals before stadiums” rhetoric, with Mr Daley insisting that under his plan taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill.

Mr Daley yesterday tried to redirect his campaign to the familiar territory of stadiums and light rail, pledging a $100 million compensation fund for “victims” of the drawn-out construction of Sydney’s light rail.

The embattled leader was also forced to try to explain why he stumbled on critical spending figures to do with stadiums, education and TAFE — all key policy planks of his campaign — at The Daily Telegraph/Sky News People’s Forum in Western Sydney on Wednesday.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian did a quick dash through multiple electorates yesterday — including the Labor-held seat of Londonderry — buoyed by her comprehensive win at the forum and internal Liberal Party tracking polling indicating swings to the government in two ALP seats with large Chinese communities after revelations of the Opposition leader’s controversial remarks on immigration.

Meanwhile, Ms Berejiklian’s theme for the day was talking up infrastructure, school and hospital projects her government was delivering and to attack Mr Daley for his decision to cancel projects like the F6 motorway extension.

It followed a torrid week for Labor after the vision emerged of Mr Daley warning a pub forum that Asian migrants­ with PhDs were taking the jobs of young Australians. Outside Allianz Stadium — a venue he has visited four times in the past two weeks — Mr Daley conceded he “made some errors” in the debate but stressed he was only “human”.

When pressed again on how much his plan to refurbish the Moore Park facility would cost, he dodged the question saying it would cost “zero” dollars because the work will be covered by the concessional loan to the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. The state government is knocking down and rebuilding the stadium at a cost of $730 million.

“My costings are simple, the taxpayers will not pay a cent for that stadium,” Mr Daley said. “If you’re a voter, the only figure you need to keep in your head is zero.”

He also paid a visit to Surry Hills, in the Greens-held electorate of Newtown, to announce his $100 million fund for residents and businesses affected by Sydney’s delayed $2.1 billion light rail line.

Also in the CBD the Premier donned a hard hat for an early morning visit to the Barangaroo Metro tunnelling site before hopping on the blue election bus to drive to a steel manufacturer in St Marys.

Ms Berejiklian rounded out the day by inspecting the progress on the $10 million upgrade to Penrith Public School followed by Blacktown Hospital, which is currently being redeveloped.

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The final full day of campaigning marks the culmination of a divisive state election campaign in which both leaders have soared and stumbled.

Opposition Leader Michael Daley has stuck to Labor’s effective message of schools and hospitals before stadiums, only to stumble badly on costing details during Sky News/The Daily Telegraph’s People’s Forum at Penrith on Wednesday.

It was already a damaging week for Daley who has spent days apologising for comments he made in a video in which he said young Sydneysiders were leaving and being replaced by “people from typically Asia with PhDs”.

Opposition Leader Michael Daley. Pictures: Damian Shaw

Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the People’s Forum.

It came after he was caught out misleading the public about sprinklers being ripped out of Allianz stadium “under the cover of darkness” in a fiery interview with Alan Jones.

Labor’s opposition to the government’s planned demolition of the stadium has proved electorally popular, but Mr Daley’s inability to recall the cost of his preferred refurbishment plan during the People’s Forum stood out.

Meanwhile Gladys Berejiklian maintained her composure at the forum on Wednesday night focusing on the details of her government’s spending in education, health and infrastructure — details she has tried to ram home throughout the campaign.

Slogans-wise, Mr Daley has maintained Labor would “put people first” focusing on school and hospital investments. “My message to people is — I know you want someone to listen to you and you want someone to stick up for you,” he said.

Ms Berejiklian stuck to her message that NSW “can have it all”, promising voters key projects like WestConnex and Allianz would not be at the expense of health and education.