Daily Telegraph editorial: Selling Sydney to the world

IF you build it, they will come. Or at least that’s what the voice in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams, said. But will that be the case when the ANZ and Allianz Stadium’s are rebuilt?

IF you build it, they will come. Or at least that’s what the voice in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams, said. But real life isn’t Hollywood, and if you’re going to build a sporting arena, you’re going to need to sell it. Which is a message the state government is hearing as it pushes forward with its $2-billion stadium investment plan.

As The Daily Telegraph reports exclusively today, Western Sydney’s leading business groups are pushing for the Berejiklian government to put together a crack team of experts to make sure that the new stadiums are filled with the biggest and most prominent global sporting events. Working alongside Destination NSW, the plan would be for a “Global Events Taskforce” to target “big five” international tournaments — including future Commonwealth Games, women’s and men’s rugby world cups, and FIFA men’s and women’s world cups — which have the potential to attract millions of dollars in tourism revenue to our economy.

Will the rebuild of the stadiums bring big sporting events to NSW?

Assuming it is implemented, the plan would appear to suggest a strongly strategic and commercial leveraging of the government’s stadium plan. When tied together with other transport projects such as Sydney Metro, the light rail, and WestConnex, all of which would help improve transit between venues and accommodation and other tourist destinations, the development of truly world-class stadiums can be seen as part of a bigger picture of rejuvenation of the city’s infrastructure. But even this must be seen in the context of local and international destinations, all of which are competing for the major sporting events dollar, with Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth all having made large investments in their own sporting grounds. For events such as the 2026 Commonwealth Games, international destinations as wide ranging as Edmonton, Canada, and Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur are all said to be in the hunt.

FIFA’s 2023 Women’s World Cup will likely see competition between Australia and nations from Japan to Colombia to South Korea all putting in bids to host the games. And so on. The fact is, international sport is not just big business but a chance for successful cities to tell their stories on the world stage. Implementing a team to ensure new stadiums have their best shot at hosting global events makes sense.

Brushing up on brushing

Year 3 student Henry Hillsdon brushing his teeth at home. Picture: Nathan Edwards

TAKE care of your teeth and your teeth will take care of you. True, perhaps, but easier said than done for those in communities without access to fluoridated water — which is about seven per cent of the state.

In response, NSW Health has launched a first of its kind community fluoride strategy that will include distributing fluoridated toothpaste and toothbrushes, along with teachers who can help students learn better brushing skills.

Given that tooth decay is linked to so many other health troubles, it’s a worthwhile attempt to build skills for life.

Getting serious about the flu

For anyone who remembers last year’s horror flu season, news that staff in NSW’s “high risk” hospital wards will be forced to be vaccinated against influenza by June 1 will come as welcome relief. According to the new rules, doctors who work in neonatal, maternity, child and adult intensive care wards, as well as transplant and cancer departments, will have to show proof they’ve had a flu shot — and if they don’t, they could moved off the ward, or even sacked.

Health professionals will now need to prove they have had a flu shot, otherwise they will be moved off the ward or even sacked. Picture: iStock

Putting aside the question of why health professionals who should know better than anyone the dangers of flu would not avail themselves of prevention, the new rules are just common sense. Yet figures show that a voluntary policy leads to only about half of staff getting the shot, which is clearly not good enough.

Given that last year there was a tripling of reported flu cases, and that already there have been 2588 cases this year thanks to travellers bringing the bug back from the northern hemisphere, the policy makes sense. NSW is to be applauded for this potentially lifesaving move.