Anna Caldwell: Michael Daley wants to fight about the stadium

When Michael Daley threatened to fire Alan Jones during a heated radio interview, he revealed a new side of his leadership. And he’s given the premier a new line of attack.

• Daley accuses SCG board of collusion with government
• Daley threatens to fire Alan Jones

Michael Daley always wanted this election campaign to play out as class warfare over stadiums.

Labor likes to paint Moore Park’s Allianz as the domain of the wealthy inner east — conveniently ignoring the fact that every decent world city needs a world-class stadium near the CBD. It also likes to paint the debate as a have and have nots battle of schools and hospitals versus stadiums.

These arguments conveniently ignore that the Berejiklian government is spending record amounts on health and education, and that stadiums represent a minuscule 2.1 per cent of the entire infrastructure budget.

Michael Daley threatens to sack Alan Jones, along with all other sitting members, from the SCG Trust board if elected.

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And yet, these arguments are powerful political tactics in a campaign where NSW voters are feeling the pinch.

Daley’s summary sacking of the board of the SCG Trust is quite simply his latest salvo in his fight to make this relatively small spend the central battleground of the state election.

He also revealed a new side to his leadership. He was audibly rattled by broadcaster Alan Jones’s line of questioning ­before declaring he would sack him.

Work has stopped on the redevelopment of the Sydney Football Stadium. Picture: Jonathan Ng

He has handed Gladys ­Berejiklian the obvious attack line that he does not have the temperament to be Premier.

Daley knows full well that stadiums are one issue the state government does not want to talk about any more.

As the Premier and the Nats face losing the bush, they do not want the narrative to focus on a “big” Sydney spend.

The truth is the stadiums will drive economic benefit for the whole state, but it’s an impossible case to sell when electorates like Barwon are buckling under the drought.

A Nationals announcement today of a $2.5 billion investment in road upgrades helps the government put the stadium spend in context. But there is no doubt this is a contest of ideas and a tight poll fight. We’ve seen now that Daley will try anything under pressure.