Time to kick Sydney’s major sporting facilities into the 21st Century
Great cities need great stadiums. Sydney is indeed a great city but the reality is our sporting infrastructure has fallen to the back of the pack. Since the 2000 Olympics, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and most recently Perth have all demolished and rebuilt stadiums.
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Great cities need great stadiums. Sydney is indeed a great city but the reality is our sporting infrastructure has fallen to the back of the pack. Since the 2000 Olympics, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and most recently Perth have all knocked down and rebuilt stadiums.
In 2014 the NSW Government released a Stadia Strategy to arrest the decline of NSW against the other states.
The NSW visitor economy sustains over 130,000 jobs and injects over $30 billion into the NSW Economy. Stadiums are the cornerstone of this visitor economy. Without world class facilities, events leave our state, our football clubs struggling to survive and jobs are put at risk.
The Sydney Football Stadium was opened in 1988 and by modern sporting standards is archaic.
By comparison no stand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane or the MCG Melbourne from 1988 is still standing today. Why should Brisbane and Melbourne sports fans and visitors get new facilities but Sydney fans get left behind?
The fact is, they shouldn’t.
When you manage the economy well, create jobs and build a surplus then you have the capacity to invest in new sporting and cultural facilities.
NSW didn’t build anything in the decade after the Olympics because Labor sent the state broke.
Now we have the capacity to do these things all Labor tries to do is score cheap political points.
The stadium position of both parties is symbolic: Labor want you trapped in 1988 and Liberals and Nationals want you to enjoy the 21st Century.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian was invited for comment on this issue but referred the matter to Mr Ayres.
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