Annastacia Palaszczuk’s NRL grand final gamble risks millions in compo

Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government will be on the hook for millions in compensation if a Covid outbreak forces it to move the NRL grand final.

Dylan Edwards and Isaah Yeo greet fans during a Penrith Panthers training session at Sunshine Coast Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government will be on the hook for millions in compensation if a Covid outbreak forces it to move the sold-out NRL grand final from Brisbane to a stadium in Townsville with barely half the capacity.

The NRL is on tenterhooks after shifting the season decider from locked-down Sydney so that it could be played in front of a full house at the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium.

The Australian understands the Queensland government is ­liable under its contact with the NRL for any losses arising from the game being closed to spectators or moved to a smaller venue – both live options if case numbers continue to increase in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The plan B option of Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium could accommodate a crowd of 25,000 for Sunday’s clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers.

The Queensland Premier on Wednesday faced accusations that the money-spinning grand final had been given priority over community safety and the grief the state’s closed border with NSW, Victoria and ACT was inflicting on separated families.

Federal Labor heavyweight Tanya Plibersek said she was concerned that heart-rending requests for compassionate leave to cross into Queensland had been rejected by the state government.

“There needs to be a commonsense approach where if people have pressing reasons to visit, a more case-by-case approach needs to be taken,” the Sydney-based frontbencher said.

“I have heard some really tough stories about people … who have got family members who are sick, in some cases very sick, who are struggling to get to see them.”

Ms Plibersek said she was shocked by “the noes people have got” from Queensland authorities and frustrated she couldn’t do more to help them.

The NRL grand final will be staged for the first time outside NSW on Sunday after Ms Palas­zczuk stumped up $4.6m plus guarantees of support for the code to secure the game in the face of determination by the league have a big crowd present.

The emergence of six fresh Covid cases in Brisbane and the Gold Coast has forced the NRL to prepare a fallback plan to shift the game to Townsville.

Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young has said a decision could be left as late as the morning of the match.

Liberal National Party Leader David Crisafulli demanded Ms Palaszczuk release Dr Young’s health advice on the grand final, saying people were “sceptical” about why it was going ahead in the face of a Covid threat. “I was in the far north yesterday in Cairns where that community is on its knees,” he told Sky News, citing the devastating impact to tourism of border lockdowns.

“I have grown men and women crying on my shoulder because after three decades of working in an industry, they just don’t see a pathway forward; every one of them raised exactly the same thing. I am meeting person after person who is saying the same thing and they are sceptical.”

The outbreak of the Delta variant involves an array of clusters centred on an aviation worker known to have infected two others and two interstate truck drivers from Sydney who spent time in the community while contagious.

Dr Young said she would not hesitate to order a lockdown if extra mystery cases presented.

Asked why she was comfortable maintaining low-level restrictions in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, she said: “I can’t say I am comfortable, I am watching this very, very carefully. Because Queenslanders have done such a good job with our last few outbreaks, with wearing masks and getting tested, at the moment I am prepared to wait and see if we have any local transmission.”

Sources close to the NRL said it was “quietly confident” the grand final would stay in Brisbane, but the option to relocate at short notice remained available. Logistical challenges would be sizeable: as well as refunding Suncorp Stadium ticketholders and filling the smaller ground in Townsville, teams and their entourages would need to fly north, with the entertainment rejigged and broadcast arrangements changed.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo is in talks over contingencies with John Lee, director-­general of Queensland’s Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport.

Despite Dr Young’s insistence that the decision to move the game could be held off until match-day, the NRL believes the call would need to be made by Friday.

Paul Griffin, an infectious disease expert from Mater Health Services, agreed the grand final could safely stay in Brisbane on current settings. “It really does depend on what happens in the next few days. If there are unlinked cases, that suggests unidentified community transmission which would be cause for alarm.”

Responding to Ms Plibersek’s criticism, Queensland Health said hundreds of border control exemption requests were made each day, with “sensitive” cases prioritised.