NSW election: Daley’s Allianz Stadium revamp would make beer $30, chips $18

A craft beer at Michael Daley’s revamped­ Allianz Stadium would cost $30 and a bucket of chips $18 to pay the SCG Trust loan.

NSW Labor leader Michael Daley outside Sydney’s Allianz Stadium yesterday. Picture: Getty Images

A craft beer at Michael Daley’s revamped­ Allianz Stadium would cost $30 and a bucket of chips $18 to help pay the loan that the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust would be required to service, according to modelling conducted by the trust.

The Labor leader’s plan would see the SCG Trust pay back $1.07 billion to rebuild the stadium based on Mr Daley’s plan to give it a “loan’’ for the controversial projects. With the trust up for principal and interest payments from 2021-22 of $27 million a year, according­ to Parliamentary Budget Office costings of the Daley plan, and operating with a surplus of only $1.5m-$2m at most, the SCG maintains it would have to increase­ food and drink prices to pay for the new stadium. A soft drink would rise to $19.

The Opposition Leader has said if he is elected tomorrow, his preferred option would be for a refurbishment of Allianz Stadium­, which the government has costed at $351m.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian began demolition of the stadium just a couple of weeks from polling day, ahead of a rebuild.

Labor, as part of its budget costings, put to the PBO its “worst-case scenario” where, if demolition had proceeded to such an extent that it would need to do a full rebuild­, the SCG Trust would be forced to take out a $644m loan to complete a rebuild.

Despite the small surpluses produced by the trust from membership fees, the PBO found that the trust could service the loan.

“Loan arrangements are depend­ent upon an entity’s ability to pay,” it found. “The PBO has determined that it would be feasible for the SCG Trust to be able to repay this loan, based on PBO revie­w of publicly available financial statements and expected additiona­l future revenue from the new stadium.”

“The SFS redevelopment pro­ject’s estimated total cost is $729m, as per the 2018-19 NSW budget paper … The government has already­ provided $85m in funding through appropriations under the 2018-19 NSW budget.

“As such, the PBO has assumed that the concessional loan will be sufficient to cover the remaining $644m in project costs and the repayment profile to Infrastructure NSW is assumed to be the same as budgeted appropriations.”

The trust insists in modelling it has done that craft beers may have to increase in price from $11.40 to $30 and pies from $6 to $18.20 to pay to service the loan. It also claims the cost of water would rise from $5 to $15.40.

It believes its principal and interes­t payments would rise to $40m a year under the plan.

The demand is elastic so the trust would struggle, even with such price rises. The other choice would be to substantially increase ticket prices or members’ fees.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrot­tet said of Mr Daley’s policy: “This is beyond embarrassing from an Opposition Leader who has demonstrated he is not across the details.

“He’s allocated billions to TAFE that isn’t there, claimed billions­ more in education funding that doesn’t exist, and now is foisting a loan on the SCG Trust that can’t be paid back.

“Instead it’s the footy fans who will have to fork out exorbitant amounts just for a pie and a bucket of chips. But that’s just a minor detai­l for Michael Daley.”

Labor’s Treasury spokesman Ryan Park retorted: “Over the last five years, the trust has spent around $50m installing super screens, fixing up corporate boxes, improving their private members’ club facilities such as pools, spas and gyms — even their own trust suite has been refurbished.

“That has been their priority. Apparently they have been able to do this while keeping the price of pies and sausage rolls in check.

“The trust has demonstrated that they can no longer be trusted.”

Mr Daley has pledged to sack the board of the trust, including radio broadcaster Alan Jones, if he becomes premier.