Peter FitzSimons: Number crunchers queuing for Premier's stadium figures

Peter FitzSimons: Number crunchers queuing for Premier's stadium figures

Friends, good news!

After all our ranting and raving over the insanity of knocking down three fine stadiums only to rebuild them for a lazy $2.5 billion, all with no transparency, no business plan, no nuttin', it appears that Premier Gladys Berejiklian will be answering at least some of the public's concerns.

Under pressure over stadiums: Gladys Berejiklian.

Under pressure over stadiums: Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Once we get a detailed business case," she told the ABC's Richard Glover, "we will release it to the community."

I, for one – and I am joined by at least a dozen professional number crunchers from the community who have offered their services, including some from the DoSomething Foundation, which helped me crunch some of the following numbers – can't wait to see it. It should be a doozy, given the Premier also maintaining to Glover that both the SFS and Olympic stadium now make "a billion dollars a year [each]." Yes, as I noted in my column on Thursday, that means each stadium, right now, is putting $20 million into NSW coffers, every week, as in $3 million a day? That is FANTASTIC! I don't mean this nastily, but seriously. Does anyone else know of any other buildings in the world that make that kind of freight?

John Shakespeare.

John Shakespeare.

Ah, but it gets better still. For not enough that they are making that kind of money right now, the Premier has still not recanted from her previous claim that the expense of knocking them down can be reclaimed in two years, meaning, of course, that by knocking them down and re-doing them, they will be earning an extra billion dollars a year! Truly, one of the great businesses of all time.

There remains, however, one problem I can see. The latest public documentation I can find on what the Olympic Stadium paid the NSW government in taxes for the previous financial year was from 2015. It came to – $2 million. As to the SFS, last year, 232,635 people attended NRL matches there, while between them, the ARU, Super Rugby, FFA and The A-League contributed 502,788 spectators in total. So for all sport at the Sydney Football Stadium for the whole year a total of 735,423 paying punters. The latest Sydney Cricket Ground Trust Financial report has it that the average annual total revenue for the SFS is a tick over $90m, with costs ranging between $80m and $90m.

Oh, and there is this.

"The Trust's operations for the financial year ended 28 February 2017, resulted in an operating surplus of $1.4 million compared to the budget which projected an operating surplus of $1.2 million."

I know. Even allowing for the odd Coldplay concert and the like, it doesn't seem to all add up, does it? But, the Premier promises the "detailed business plan," will explain it all before they go ahead, and we can all look forward to it.

Money spinner: Coldplay perform at Allianz Stadium.

Money spinner: Coldplay perform at Allianz Stadium.Credit:Edwina Pickles

And yes, yes, of course I suspect that the Premier will maintain that the benefits extend beyond just the NSW coffers, to the whole economy, but that's not good enough. Firstly, for the new stadiums to "pay for themselves," in two years, for that claim to back up, it needs to be flowing into the coffers of the NSW Government.

Secondly, the whole thing is a very familiar argument – and completely discredited around the world as taxpayers and ratepayers rise against seeing their money wasted on big promises that are never fulfilled. As a matter of fact, a visiting US academic, Professor Stephen F Ross, the Executive Director, Penn State Center for the Study of Sport in Society, wrote to me after reading my Thursday piece, saying "Your column in today's SMH was spot on, but just scratched the surface. American economists have pretty much demolished the argument that stadium construction is a prudent public investment ... A strategy based on massive construction of multiple large stadia is unwise ... Despite not knowing any of the major decision-makers, I must take respectful issue with the implication of your article that these men and women are either irrational or stupid. I would encourage you ... to dig further and to report on who stands to win and who stands to lose from these proposals. I suspect, as a rank outsider, that this will reveal a perfectly rational strategy to use taxpayer dollars to achieve some private purpose."

Well? Who does stand to win? Obviously, if they go ahead, the mob that ends up knocking the stadiums down rebuilding them will make a fortune. It will be interesting to see how tightly aligned they are with the LNP. And who else stands to win of course are the politicians who are pleasing influential people. The news site Crikey this week floated the rumour that "in return for Ayres spruiking the project, Alan Jones (who's on the board of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust which is behind the push for the new stadium) has promised to throw his support behind Ayres to replace Gladys Berejiklian as premier." Before Christmas Minister Ayres has personally denied that to me, and I take him at his word.

But the losers, either way, are clear. That would be we the people of NSW who are putting money to nonsense, when it could and should be spent in so many more valuable ways. And if you don't believe that this is an international issue that cities the world over are struggling with, watch this complete demolition by John Oliver on all those in America who have pushed stadiums, only to be left with massive public debt.

I encourage you to play #StadiumSplurge Bingo with it, and tick off all the issues that he raises, which have a direct parallel with our situation. Watch it, get it, and then, if you haven't already, sign this petition against it, which has just cracked 180K signatories. We're going on with this.

Hayne Plane carrying extra cargo

All these years on, it remains my favourite sporting chant insult. See, the scene was set at the 1999 cricket World Cup when Australia was playing

Scotland at Worcestershire. Late in the match, Scotland is going after the large Australian total, when Shane Warne, finds himself fielding way down in deep long-on, in front of a rowdy group of Scots, with a few Pommy blow-ins, who decided it would be a very good idea to pick on our Shane.

It starts with the choir leader dropping his raised arm, as the first half sing out in a loud mock whisper:

"Who ate all the pies?"

"Who ate all the pies?"

"Who ate all the pies?"

The other section of the choir answer, singing in a crescendo:

"Shane did!"

"Shane DID!"


And now altogether:


Preseason shape: Jarryd Hayne watches on at Ringrose Park this week.

Preseason shape: Jarryd Hayne watches on at Ringrose Park this week.Credit:AAP

Which leads me, oddly enough, to Jarryd Hayne.

One doesn't want to be unkind – no, really – but having seen some footage of him training at Parramatta in the pre-season, I must ask: has he been eating a lot of pies lately?

What They Said..

The grandson of colourful racing identity Jack Sparrow, Alex, at the funeral of the 94 year-old: "[Grandpa always told me,] 'Cheats never prosper but they always have a better chance of winning'."

Ice skater Harley Windsor on being the first Indigenous athlete to represent Australia in the Winter Olympic Games: "At first it was a little bit of a shock and stuff like that, but I guess it just makes me feel a bit proud and a little bit honoured that I can be the first one."

Federal MP Tim Watts, in the House of Reps on Thursday: "I rise today to express my outrage at the exclusion of Australian Ben Simmons from this year's NBA All Star game. In a record-breaking rookie year for the Philadelphia 76ers Ben is currently averaging nearly 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game. He's already had five triple doubles and frankly, no one with two brain cells to rub together would want Goran Dragic on their team." And so say all of us.

Key New England Patriot player Malcolm Butler on being benched for the Super Bowl – a decision that probably cost them the game: "F---. It is what it is. I don't know what it was."

Tommy Raudonikis on what his doctor advised him re fighting cancer: "He said 'one out of three'. But he said 'it's better than the New South Wales side, they've got none out of 11!'"

Opposition Leader Luke Foley in NSW Parliament on Thursday: "Today four senior government ministers were asked questions about the stadium splurge and not one of them could bring themselves to utter the word 'stadiums' ... This is the first state government in history that does not talk about its biggest spending commitment ... Apologies to Oscar Wilde: This is the policy that dare not speak its name."

Ian Roberts on a study of RL players' brains: "To be told you have brain damage is really hard to hear. I was fully aware there was something wrong with me, but to be told I had scarring on the brain was surprising. It's irreversible damage."

Hard to hear the truth: Ian Roberts.

Hard to hear the truth: Ian Roberts.Credit:Wolter Peeters

Emily Kelly on her husband, former NFL player, Rob Kelly, living with brain damage from his career: "But when all those big hits happened and the fans cheered, did they cheer despite knowing a man just greatly increased his risk for dementia? Was anyone worried about an ALS diagnosis or a CTE-related suicide at 40 after their favourite player suffered repeated blows to the head on the field? No, they cheered and they celebrated because they didn't know. And neither did we."

Randall Margraves, father of three girls who were abused by American gymnasts doctor, Larry Nassar: "I would ask you, as part of the sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon. Would you do that?" The short answer was no. The long was answer was narrowly avoiding a charge of contempt of court, when he went on with it.

Suzann Pettersen, the 15-time LPGA Tour winner and a golfing partner of Donald Trump: "He cheats like hell ... so I don't quite know how he is in business. They say that if you cheat at golf, you cheat at business. I'm pretty sure he pays his caddie well, since no matter how far into the woods he hits the ball, it's in the middle of the fairway when we get there." Why are we not surprised?


Team of the Week

Lydia Lassila. One of Australia's best, she heads off to her fifth Winter Olympic Games.

Australian Women's Roller Derby Team. Won silver at the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester, England. They need a nickname. High Rollers?

Paul Creighton. The teacher from Dapto High School "– where my brother is Principal, by the by – has officially been crowned the 2017 MyGolf School Ambassador year". Delivering a range of innovative programs and engagement methods to a large cohort of female students." Bravo.

Big Bash League. Over for another summer. A fortnight from now, I'll bet you will struggle to remember a single match in detail. Bubble gum cricket.

Australian Davis Cup team. Fought the good fight, but lost to Germany and now face a play-off to stay in the World Group.

Twitter: @Peter_Fitz

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