What we’ve got here is failure to communicate

By demolishing Allianz Stadium just days before people go to the polls, the government risks punishment at the ballot box.

For a leader who often gives the impression she is so cautious she would be hard pressed to bite into a hot pie lest she burn her mouth, Gladys Berejiklian has gone crazy brave on stadiums. The first “courageous” — in Yes Minister parlance — decision she made was to say she could build two stadiums at once, at a cost of $2 billion, in 2017.

It seemed one too many, particularly for rural electorates, where the government is most at risk of losing its majority and country people feel the money should be spent on them instead.

The government has spent so much in the city and the bush on schools, hospitals and rail lines that this is almost an illogical argument … but hit any regional centre and the stadiums issue and the size of the spend comes up.

The second crazy-brave decision appears about to happen: demolishing Allianz Stadium just days before people go to the polls, and risking punishment at the ballot box.

Only an appeal and further injunction can stop demolition works occurring within days, effectively forcing it on the people of NSW, no matter what they do on March 23.

Allianz Stadium did have safety problems but the fact it was in the rich eastern suburbs of Sydney never helped Berejiklian’s argument. Worse, the NRL was insisting on an ANZ Stadium upgrade as a priority, meaning the Premier was caught between the SCG Trust and Alan Jones on one side and the NRL on the other; she decided to please everyone and build both.

Controversial policy requires a good sales job. Berejiklian announced she was building two stadiums then failed to follow up. It is yet another example of how a failure to communicate has dogged her for two years and may see her fall into minority government or worse on polling day.