Labor has been passed a golden opportunity to score

The government’s broken promise on suburban stadium upgrades should be the ammunition for the opposition to mount a stinging attack ahead of the election.

In the year before the last state election, NSW Labor toured the state in a big red bus emblazoned with the Opposition’s central campaign message: “schools and hospitals before stadiums”.

The policy, lasting two Labor leaders before voters went to the polls, was the Opposition’s main – if not only – line of attack against the government.

For all intents and purposes, Labor sought to make the election a referendum on Gladys Berejiklian’s plan to knock down Allianz Stadium and upgrade ANZ.

That was a referendum it lost.

There was, of course, Michael Daley’s “Asians with PhDs” error which cemented the defeat but, on policy alone, Labor should learn from its failed stadiums campaign and take the fight to a broken government promise.

In cancelling a $250 million commitment to upgrade Shark Park, Leichhardt and Brookvale ovals, Premier Dominic Perrottet has effectively adopted the one policy the Labor opposition took to voters last time around, to the outrage of the NRL and rugby league fans.

Labor sources insist that Chris Minns will take an ambitious portfolio of policies to the election in March next year.

NSW Labor Party Leader Chris Minns. Picture: Richard Dobson

A pledge to make good on Perrottet’s broken promise should be one of them.

When Perrottet reneged on his pledge to upgrade three suburban grounds, Minns backed the decision.

“I think the Premier has made the right call here,” he said in August.

But just days earlier, his Upper House leader Penny Sharpe had labelled the government’s stadiums policy as a “disaster,” with promises made but not kept.

“Look, our view is that … obviously stadiums need work, and they should get maintenance funding,” she said after a railing collapsed at Leichhardt.

NRL clubs who feel dudded by the Premier are now doing the Opposition’s work for it.

“The reality is there was a promise and the government has now backflipped,” Cronulla Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta told this newspaper this week. He said the ailing PointsBet stadium could have been filled twice over with the number of fans that wanted to see Saturday’s epic clash against the Cowboys.

Without the promised investment, the Cronulla stadium will become redundant in two years, he said.

While only 12,500 fans could fit into Shark Park to watch Saturday’s thriller, a crowd of 39,000 was easily accommodated by the brand new Allianz Stadium for Sunday’s Roosters-Rabbitohs brawl. Why should fans be dudded in crucial home-ground matches if they cheer for the Sharks, the Tigers or the Sea Eagles?

PointsBet Stadium during the NRL Qualifying Final match between the Cronulla Sharks and the North Queensland Cowboys. Picture: Getty Images

Miranda MP Eleni Petinos has already spoken out against her own government on its failure to upgrade Shark Park. In the weeks after she was dumped as a Minister, Petinos moved a motion in parliament calling for the government to honour its commitments to suburban grounds.

“It is unacceptable that the shire miss out on funding if it exists for other areas,” she said.

While cracks are appearing in the government over stadiums, Minns is still having a bet each way on whether the promised boutique stadiums upgrades should be delivered.

“Obviously you’d like to put the kind of infrastructure investment into major sporting facilities right across Sydney,” he said.

“The question is always balancing that need against the other needs of the state — and it’s a difficult balancing act.”

Asked directly if he would build the stadiums, he was equivocal.

“I can’t commit to that today, obviously we need to examine the budget (and) work out what our priorities are for investment in this state.”

Labor cannot stay on the fence forever.

Minns has been shrewd in choosing his attacks on the government but he is failing to capitalise on a clear broken promise.

Promising to upgrade suburban grounds and give NRL fans a world class experience in their own backyard would give Labor a much-needed point of difference with the Coalition ahead of an election that so far is lacking policy choice.

Minns is also failing to capitalise on the fact the only suburban ground set to be upgraded is in the knife edge seat of dumped minister Stuart Ayres.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announces funding for a new stadium at Penrith alongside. Stuart Ayres. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The government is still committed to spend $300 million upgrading Penrith stadium but do not be surprised if its plans to acquire the Penrith Paceway are shelved.

Despite the NSW government already announcing its plans for the Paceway, new Sports Minister Alister Henskens this month told budget estimates that the location for the Penrith stadium is still undecided.

He conceded he had not read the business case and could not say whether the $309 million for the project included land acquisition costs.

By failing to back major upgrades at Cronulla, Brookvale and Leichhardt, Labor has missed an opportunity to argue that Penrith is only going ahead in a bid to save Ayres’ seat. By March, Ayres could once again be contesting the Western Sydney seat as a minister, after he was cleared of legal wrongdoing in the recruitment of John Barilaro to a plum New York trade role.

With more Coalition ministers widely expected to announce their retirement, Ayres could find his way back to the frontbench if Perrottet reshuffles his cabinet ahead of the election to take a fresh team to the voters.

That just raises the stakes for Minns.