The Sauce: Hullabaloo over Liberal MP changeroom claim

Locals have hit back after receiving a letterdrop brochure from a Liberal MP crowing about funding achievements, particularly in relation to upgrading a local oval and its changerooms, The Sauce reveals.

When Liberal MP Fiona Martin letterboxed a brochure of her funding achievements, locals in her electorate of Reid were puzzled. Under “sporting facilities”, Martin claimed money had gone to “upgrading of facilities at Lidcombe Oval to include female changerooms”.

However, locals – including State Auburn MP Lynda Voltz – claim this is not the case.

The oval, famous for being home to Wests and the notorious grudge matches with Manly – coined the Fibros versus the Silvertails along with the legendary “face-slapping” warm-ups of the Magpies in its dressing rooms – remain a time warp, says Voltz.

Now housing a velodrome, one of the four available changerooms is used to store bikes, two are used by blokes with the fourth in no state to be used. Women using the oval are forced to change in the toilets.

According to a federal government source, the $20,000 allocated for the project was spent. In fact, Cumberland City Council informed the department that the project was completed February 13, 2020, the source informed.

But Voltz, who reached out to Wests contacts after being contacted by The Sauce, said this was definitely not the case.

Reid Liberal MP Fiona Martin election brochure material.

Fiona Martin’s brochure mentions Lidcombe Oval.

She suggested the money may have possibly gone to changerooms at the local netball courts at Wyatt Park, next to the oval. But as far as Lidcombe Oval was concerned, no work had been undertaken.

Voltz said funding would be more than welcome to not only fix up the changerooms, but to upgrade the outdated facility.

“It is desperate for an upgrade,” Voltz said.

“We’ll take any money thrown at the fibros. They give plenty of money to the silvertails. It’s about time they spent the same amount on the fibros.”

The federal source conceded the council may have used the money on other facilities in the Lidcombe Oval precinct.

Fare free transport

Minister David Elliott looked to be on shaky ground soon after taking on the portfolio.

But the outspoken ex-police minister appears to be making headway with the notoriously militant rail unions.

In an interview last week, Rail, Tram and Bus Union boss Alex Claassens said negotiations has been “going well”.

“There is no doubt that since the transport minister has taken a personal interest, things have moved on quite nicely,” he said.

“Every week, he checks in, he asks all the right questions … every week we notice we are getting more and more things resolved.”

Transport Minister David Elliott is considering fare free days for public holidays. Picture NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

As for the public, the overwhelming success of the 12 days of fare free travel has Elliott contemplating making it a permanent public holiday event such as is the case in other countries such as Belgium.

Among the benefits include keeping people out longer, drunk drivers off the road and keeps congestion down.

Mr Elliott said the 12 days of fare free travel over Easter, the school holidays and Anzac Day across all modes of transport had so far proven to be a great success.

The government waived fees for all modes of public transport from April 14 to 25 after commuters were left stranded following industrial chaos.

“We have seen families take advantage of free fares this sunny Sydney Easter weekend,” Mr Elliott said.

“Good Friday was one of the busiest days we have seen on the Sydney ferry network with 63,903 passenger trips recorded. That’s four times last Friday, and about a 25 per cent increase from pre-Covid ferry trips.

“I encourage families across Greater Sydney to keep taking advantage of the fare free travel period, as the NSW Government continues to pick up the tab.”

It is understood Elliott will seek hard data from Business Sydney as part of exploring a more permanent arrangement.

This comes as there were hundreds of people queuing at Circular Quay for ferry services on Saturday.

It’s Showtime

They are renowned as political bomb-throwers, but confronted with the Royal Easter Show showbag pavilion yesterday it was a case of running for cover for Treasurer Matt Kean and Transport Minister David Elliott.

The pair bumped into each other outside the popular pavilion while doing “everything” they could to avoid going in while visiting the show with their families.

Treasurer Matt Kean and Transport Minister David Elliott at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

As Kean stated: “Two suburban dads doing everything they can to avoid the show bag pavilion.”

While Elliott has been lying low with rail union negotiations, Kean took the PM to task on Friday over the controversial selection of Warringah candidate Katherine Deves whom he declared should be disendorsed over a series of anti-trans social media posts.

Ms Deves has since apologised for the posts.

Making waves

Decked out in a Hawaiian rash vest, it was hard to miss former treasurer and ex-US ambassador Joe Hockey having a swim in the rock pool at Bronte last Sunday.

Why he was wearing a rash vest given it was raining is a mystery, while one would think all Liberals would have read the head office memo that would have been presumably issued about the wearing of anything remotely Hawaiian aka hibiscus or palm print until at least after the election following ScoMo’s controversial family holiday as half the nation was on fire.

Joe Hockey was spotted going for a swim at Bronte last weekend. Picture: Allison Shelley

When The Sauce called Hockey, he confirmed it was him while also sounding surprised anyone had noticed him.

“I thought I was anonymous around here,” he said.

Hockey, who will head back to the US later this month, said he had been out walking the dogs when he decide to go for a dip.

“This weather has been terrible. So wet. But I needed to get out,” he said.

Friendly fire

Former Berejiklian government minister Andrew Constance may have quit state politics for a tilt at Canberra — but one of his former high-profile Macquarie St adversaries is heading south to haunt him.

Armed with corflutes to remind the Gilmore candidate of his greatest moments as transport minister, Labor leader Chris Minns will head to the electorate on Monday to help Labor MP Fiona Phillips hold the seat.

Gilmore is among the seats the Coalition needs to pick up to counter losses in other states if it is to hold on to government.

The corflutes will includes statements about “ferries that don’t fit under bridges” and “trains that don;t even fit through tunnels”.

New wave

Hey Zali – Mike Baird called and wants his slogan back.

When the former Liberal premier was campaigning in 2011, he used the phrase ‘The New Wave For Manly’. It did the job.

More than a decade later, and Warringah independent MP Zali Steggall has rolled out ‘Catch The New Wave’. Whatever works.

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