The report into the Rockliff Government’s Mac Point stadium by independent economist Nicholas Gruen finds a litany of major issues with the Macquarie Point stadium.
With our state in the midst of a housing crisis and so many critical problems in the health system, it’s always been clear to us that the stadium is absolutely the wrong priority. Now an expert report commissioned by the Rockliff government itself is ringing the alarm bells about how misguided this project is.
At its core this report confirms what the Greens and many others have been saying years – that the Premier signed a completely dud deal with the AFL, and that the stadium will cost over a billion dollars to build. This creates a huge risk to the state budget and will inevitably mean less funding for important health infrastructure and housing.
We’ve repeatedly heard Liberal politicians scoff at any suggestion there are issues with the stadium, but here the government’s own expert finds many. On top of exposing huge cost blowouts it also makes a mockery of Jeremy Rockliff’s claim that the cost to taxpayers can be capped as he promised. And it shows there will be much less benefit to the state than promised, highlights clear failures of process, and finds that Macquarie Point is the wrong site for the project.
This report clearly shows why this stadium should not be built, and we call on Liberals and Labor politicians to get their priorities straight and put a stop to it.
We desperately need more investment in health and housing, not over a billion dollars poured into a stadium that’s in the wrong place and that won’t bring the benefits that were promised.
