The Premier's website announcing the AO plan, released during last year's election campaign, has been rewritten and the date of release has been removed.
The website, at
http://www.ministers.sa.gov.au/index.ph ... reArticle2 now has Rann saying that the State Government will pursue financial assistance from the Commonwealth of up to $100 million to assist it in meeting its in-principle commitment to backing in this project with up to $450 million.
“My position has always been clear. I said that when the sporting bodies signed off an agreement to co-locate at Adelaide Oval, then we would sit down and work out how we can help make the redevelopment of the oval happen,” the site quotes Mr Rann as saying.
Unlike in the original page which didn't mention the scoreboard, in the rewritten page Mr Rann also states that the old scoreboard will stay 'in the oval', although he dores not say that it will remain in its present location:
Mr Rann says the century old scoreboard and the grass hill beneath the Moreton Bay Fig trees at the cathedral end will remain in the redeveloped oval, thus creating one of the world’s truly unique sporting venues.
Mr Foley's quote has also been rewritten:
Treasurer Kevin Foley says the State Government will fund its investment in the project by delaying the $200 million West Lakes tram extension project and reallocating the money to the oval. The extension to Port Adelaide and Semaphore will proceed on schedule.
“We will also transfer the previously-announced $100 million AAMI Stadium grant to the Adelaide Oval. The remainder of up to $150 million (depending on the Commonwealth contribution) will be funded from future State budgets.”
However, the words 'last week', referring to the Liberal's release of their own stadium plan during the election campaign, has been left in the Premier's rewritten page:
“Unlike the Liberal mirage of last week – this is a project that has the support of the peak sporting bodies in the State and the Government has identified how it will be paid for.”
In other words, it is quite clear that SA will put up $300 million from cancellation of proposed works, $50 million will come from future budgets and
"The Premier says that
in the meantime, the State Government will pursue financial assistance from the Commonwealth of up to $100 million."
The above is quite different from the original.
Btw, in February this year Foley costed a 10-13 000 space car park at $600 million - press release, Hon Kevin Foley Deputy Premier & Treasurer Thursday, 18 February 2010.
Lurking behind all this is the SACA debt of $90 million, accruing interest at the rate of $4 million per year on an income of less than $2 million per year, the debt built up over years of operation under effectively the same management as now forms the SACA component of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority which apparently has control of the $450 million (approximate) grant from South Australians (although Kevin Foley 'is in charge' as he claimed on radio last week.
Perhaps the SACA situation is a landmine waiting to go off. How a club could be proud of a ridiculously long waiting list (while going broke) while routinely having half its members' seats empty is beyond me. The member numbers have recently been expanded and the years of waiting eliminated, but only when the outfit was hopelessly in debt.
With the humungous debt in mind, SACA's dream of an entertainment complex attached to their oval makes some sense. At least it might save the taxpayer from having to bail them out. Why not put the casino down there as well and use the old railway station for something else? The casino and the oval wouldn't be such strange bedfellows.
