Daniel Mookhey says no final decision has been made on Moore Park Golf Course

In an exclusive pre-budget interview, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has opened up about the future of Moore Park Golf Course.

The future of Moore Park is mired in uncertainty, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey revealing the Minns government has not yet made a ­decision on how to reclaim 20ha of public green space by hacking the site’s popular ­public golf course in half.

It comes as representatives of the Moore Park Golf Club said they had heard “nothing” about what will happen when the current lease expires in June next year.

Mr Mookhey refused to say on Thursday how much money would be put aside in Tuesday’s state budget to transform Moore Park.

However, in an exclusive pre-budget interview, he told The Daily Telegraph that there had also been no final decision on what the park will look like.

“When the government has made its decisions on the future of Moore Park and what the park’s going to look like, obviously the budget will reflect that,” he said.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey in his office at Parliament House ahead of next week’s budget. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mr Mookhey said new parkland at the site would be built in “stages”, telling The Telegraph that the government “put money aside last year to begin the first round of work”.

“People will see again that work is continuing in the budget,” he said.

Gisela Finke plays a round at the popular public course. Picture: David Swift

Almost half of the $2.6m committed for the future of Moore Park has already been spent on public consultation, design work and site surveyors. No money has been put aside for any capital works.

The Telegraph has previously revealed warnings that Premier Chris Minns’ plan to create 20ha of public space by reducing the 18-hole layout of the golf course to nine holes could cost as much as $200m.

That estimate came from a consortium of golfing bodies fighting to save an 18-hole golf course at Moore Park.

The Moore Park Golf Collective’s $200m estimate also came with an alternative plan which would retain an 18-hole golf course at the site, while still delivering at least 15ha of land for community use.

Moore Park Golf Club president John Janik says he hasn’t heard from the government about the future of the course. Picture: David Swift

Moore Park Golf Club president John Janik told The Telegraph that the club had heard “nothing” from the Minns government about what would happen when their lease expires next year.

“We’ve had no contact at all from the government,” he said.

Mr Minns this week refused to say what land, if any, would be available for public use when the lease runs out in June next year, saying only that the government was “looking very closely” at the issue.

The Telegraph has previously revealed that the Premier announced that he would hack the golf course in half ­before the government had considered the financial implications of the move.

Internal government documents, released via an order of parliament, revealed that reducing the golf course to nine holes was “likely” to cause a “reduction in revenues” to Greater Sydney Parklands (GSP), according to the agency’s boss.

Moore Park Golf Course provides about $7m in revenue every year to GSP, which maintains surrounding parkland. The funding represents about 68 per cent of the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust’s net income.

Another GSP bureaucrat has warned that people should not be “fooled” by the Premier’s promise to build new sports fields at Moore Park, because that would require “mass tree clearing” which would be “unacceptable” to the community.

$83M BOOST FOR MATERNITY CARE IN THE BUSH

Mums in the bush will have better access to midwives ­during their pregnancies, as part of an $83m injection into maternity care to be announced in the Minns government’s state budget next week.

The investment package will include $44.8m to increase access to midwifery care ­models, including an ­additional 53 full-time ­equivalent midwives in regional NSW.

Health Minister Ryan Park said Tuesday’s budget would include $83m for improved maternity care. Photo: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

With about 90,000 women giving birth in NSW each year, Health Minister Ryan Park said the investment would give babies the best start to life.

“Since being elected, we have had a strong focus on delivering better essential services people rely on,” he said.

“While there’s much more work to do, these important investments are critical to building better health services right across NSW.”

Almost $27m will be spent to maintain seven family care centres, five mobile services and the Macksville residential unit, all in regional and rural NSW. The care centres are aimed at helping families needing a more intensive level of support in their parenting journey – assisting with everything from sleep to feeding.

A further $5.7m will be allocated to support free vaccinations for pregnant women to protect them and their babies from whooping cough, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection.

An additional $250,000 will be used to boost virtual pediatrician support to general practitioners across NSW.

“The first 2000 days of life, from conception to age five, is a critical time for physical, cognitive, social and emotional health, and development and can have a lifelong impact on a child’s wellbeing and quality of life,” Mr Park said yesterday.

“The Minns Labor government’s investment in maternity care, regional parenting support services and vaccination programs for pregnant women, will help all babies born in NSW get the very best start to life.”

- by MADELINE CRITTENDEN

Originally published as Daniel Mookhey says no final decision has been made on Moore Park Golf Course