NSW Labor leader Michael Daley in stadium row power play

SCG Trust board member Maurice Newman is considering suing Labor leader Michael Daley following his vow to sack the entire board.

Broadcaster Alan Jones and fellow SCG Trust board member Tony Shepherd at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Michael Daley has vowed to fire some of the nation’s most powerful corporate and media figures from the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, in a political gamble aimed at fanning anger at the Berejiklian government’s $2 billion stadium rebuilding program.

But the Labor leader risked becoming embroiled in a defamation action, with SCG Trust board member Maurice Newman last night saying he was considering suing Mr Daley over his claims that the board had ­arranged for fire sprinklers to be removed from Allianz Stadium under the cover of darkness as it pushed for a rebuild.

The NSW Opposition Leader ignited the confrontation yesterday in an appearance on Alan Jones’s 2GB radio program, telling the veteran broadcaster his 30-year tenure on the SCG Trust board would be over if Labor won office. Mr Daley said Jones and most of the rest of the 16-member board would be cleaned out over their advocacy for the $730 million knockdown and rebuilding of Allianz Stadium, next to the SCG, claiming it was a “scandalous waste of money’’ and he had been misled about safety concerns.

The board is one of the nation’s most prestigious and includes former Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd; Mr Newman, a former Australian Stock Exchange chairman; Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page; Sydney Olympics bid mastermind Rod McGeoch; former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell; and former News Limited chairman John Hartigan.

NSW Labor Leader Michael Daley.

The sacking threat sparked a backlash from board members. Mr Shepherd said the board members had taken their jobs seriously and acted in a “nonpartisan way” in deciding that a new Allianz Stadium was necessary because of safety concerns. He said he had been a Labor appointment to the board and Jones had been reappointed several times by Labor governments to the board.

Mr Shepherd said many board members felt Mr Daley’s comments were unfair and had wrongly painted the board as ­incompetent.

During his appearance on Jones’s program, Mr Daley said he was sent a letter by the SCG Trust in December outlining why Allianz Stadium should be knocked down, which referenced a claim its seats were flammable.

“Tony Shepherd swore on oath the seats were flammable and the next minute we see (Sports Minister) Stuart Ayres — a friend of yours and others — bragging on TV how they are shopping those seats at rugby clubs all over the state,” Mr Daley said. “That’s one of the reasons, Alan, why I’m going to sack the board. If I’m elected, the board will go. I want a new broom. I know you’ve been on the board for 30 years. The board will go. It will be sacked.”

Mr Daley accused the board of ripping out the fire sprinklers at the stadium “under the cover of darkness”.

Jones replied: “We had independent expert advice that there were no fire sprinklers.”

Mr Daley responded: “That’s because the board has ripped them all out.”

Jones said the accusation was incorrect and the stadium was “completely in breach of the building codes”.

Mr Daley retorted: “Guess what, Alan, the Ladies Stand and the Members Stand at the SCG, they don’t comply with modern standards and they’re inflammable as well but we don’t knock them down, do we? I’m sorry about the SCG Trust board but thanks for your service.”

Jones later told The Australian:“At the end of the day, Mr Daley can sack every person he runs into but the problem we are articulating won’t go away. He was panicking because I had questioned him.’’

Mr Newman said last night he was considering suing over Mr Daley’s comments.

“They’re obviously extraordinary, offensive and defamatory,” he said. “What he said is that, me among the so-called board, arranged for the sprinklers to be removed under the cover of darkness, presumably to deceive the NSW government and the public so we can get a new stadium.

“I’m considering my options . because it’s defamatory, I have confirmation it’s defamatory and I’m considering what action I’m going to take.”

Premier Gladys Berejiklian seized on Mr Daley’s threat, saying it raised questions whether he was “fit to be the premier of NSW” given he would be sacking respected board members such as Ms Page. “He made obviously a very hot-headed decision under pressure,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Labor sources said later Mr Daley’s outburst was pre-planned, because the Labor leader knew the veteran broadcaster would ask him about the stadiums issue.

The Allianz rebuild is part of $2bn the NSW government is spending to build three stadiums. The issue is biting the government in the bush ahead of the March 23 poll, with the loss of regional seats threatening to force Ms Berejik­lian into minority government or out of power.

Shortly after the interview, Mr Daley issued a statement saying that the two board members who were elected by the SCG members, Phil Waugh and David Gilbert, would remain under his government, as would former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill.

The SCG Trust said Mr Daley’s claim that the trustees of the SCG had “ripped out” the Allianz Stadium fire sprinkler system “under the cover of darkness” was incorrect. “The venue was constructed in 1988 and has never had a fire sprinkler system,’’ it said.

Later, during a visit to the marginal Sydney seat of Coogee, Mr Daley launched a second attack on the SCG Trust board, declaring its members were “archaic”.

“What we’ve got here is a board that was in on the fix, if you like, the $737m of the great rip-off of taxpayers,” Mr Daley said.

Scott Morrison said Mr Daley’s promise to sack the SCG Trust board was proof Labor was “drunk with power” and full of “hubris”.

— Additional reporting Elias Visontay