Save Moore Park organisers silenced by government agency

Attempts by Moore Park Golf Club to rally support for a petition to save the course from a hatchet job tearing it in half have been stifled by a government agency playing Big Brother.

The NSW Government has Big Brother tactics in play to silence a campaign designed to save Moore Park golf course from a nine-hole hatchet job.

Greater Sydney Parklands – the government agency managing the golfing precinct – has banned the Moore Park club from openly promoting a petition that opposes plans to tear the course in half.

Club president John Janik revealed to The Daily Telegraph how posters and QR codes are prohibited from being on display anywhere around the course, including at the driving range and the entry to the car park.

Mr Janik said he has made numerous requests to staff and executives at Greater Sydney Parklands, seeking permission to hang the marketing materials at key vantage points.

He claims those verbal approaches during informal discussions and at face-to-face meetings have been refused on every occasion.

Greater Sydney Parkland has banned the Moore Park club from openly promoting a petition that opposes plans to tear the course in half. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Despite the on-course blockade, the Save Moore Park Golf Collective which includes the club, Golf Australia, PGA of Australia and Golf NSW has recruited almost 30,000 signatories to its petition.

According to Mr Janik, an initial attempt to hang marketing collateral brought a swift response from Greater Sydney Parklands.

“We were asked to remove them,” he said. “When we asked why they said: ‘We’re a government organisation, we’ve got to abide by government requirements and therefore we can’t promote this’.

“On every other occasion we’ve requested, it’s been declined. A dozen times at least.”

Mr Janik said he continued to seek approval “just in case they’d changed their mind”.

He had also continued escalating the issue within Greater Sydney Parklands.

“Finally you talk to the most senior people and the answer is still: ‘No you’re not getting it’,” he said.

A spokesperson for Greater Sydney Parklands said: “Consistent with the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust Regulation, GSP does not approve the erection of political signage and/or campaign/petitioning signs, banners, materials on GSP lands.”

The prohibition extends to the Moore Park Golf Course website, where there is no mention of the government plans, or the petition calling to keep the course in its current 18-hole configuration.

What the website does promote is affordable membership along with “convenience, accessibility and spectacular views of the city skyline … the best public golf course in Sydney”.

The Save Moore Park Golf Collective which includes the club, Golf Australia, PGA of Australia and Golf NSW has recruited almost 30,000 signatories to its petition. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

To secure petition numbers, Mr Janik said the Moore Park Collective relied on the support of volunteers to approach the public directly, members emailing or texting friends, and Golf Australia promoting the campaign in newsletters.

“We also have a QR code in our office, that’s our own territory,” he said. “So when someone comes there it’s OK. But the rest of the golf course we’re unable to put up any signage at all.

“Absolutely it’s disappointing. I keep referring back to the reason why Moore Park golf club is here.

“It was created by the City of Sydney back in 1913 for the working class, strictly for the working class. It’s been like that for more than 110 years.

“If you cut it off that’s the end of public golf to the working class because no one can afford all the other courses around here. It’s sad that it’s happening when we’ve got a cost of living crisis.”

But Mr Janik is still hopeful an alternative plan from the collective will win out, where the course will be reconfigured but kept at 18 holes while also delivering 15 hectares of public space.

“Our proposal meets all the criteria you’d want,” he said. “We’re giving up a fair bit to try and get an outcome which benefits everybody in the community.”

Originally published as Save Moore Park organisers silenced by government agency