The Sydney Cricket Ground Trust claims they need $700million from taxpayers to build a new stadium because of safety concerns.
Sydney’s most powerful sporting board, however, appears to be okay with the Members’ and Ladies’ stands being allowed to stay despite being made of wood.
These sections of the SCG were both built during the nineteenth century, in 1878 and 1896 respectively.
The SCG Trust claims they need $700million from taxpayers to build a new stadium because of safety concerns but they are apparently okay with the 19th century Members’ stand (pictured) which is made of wood
They stand next door to the 30-year-old concrete Allianz Stadium, in Sydney’s Moore Park, which the SCG Trust wants demolished and replaced because of apparent fire safety concerns.
New South Wales Opposition Leader Michael Daley pointed out this hypocrisy on Tuesday as he vowed to sack unelected SCG Trust board members, including 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones, were his Labor Party to win the March 23 state election.
‘Some of the [claims] were about safety and compliance, that the stadium wasn’t built for today’s standards and it was unsafe,’ he told reporters.
‘Well I make this point – the ladies’ stand and the Members’ Stand at the SCG are made of wood.
New South Wales Opposition Leader Michael Daley (pictured) pointed out this hypocrisy on Tuesday as he vowed to sack unelected SCG Trust board members
‘They don’t comply with today’s standards either. I don’t see people rushing to try and knock them down.’
In an earlier heated exchange with Jones on Tuesday, Mr Daley pointed out the Members’ and Ladies’ stands of the SCG ‘don’t comply with modern standards’.
‘They’re flammable as well. We don’t knock them down, do we?,’ he said.
Jones, who has been an SCG trustee for 30 years, said Allianz Stadium had no fire sprinklers which was ‘completely in breach of the building code’ and had insufficient emergency exits.
Mr Daley then sensationally accused the SCG Trust of ripping out sprinklers from Allianz Stadium.
‘The board’s ripped them all out under the cover of darkness,’ he said.
Sydney radio 2GB broadcaster and SCG Trust board member Alan Jones (pictured) said Allianz Stadium had no fire sprinklers ‘completely in breach of the building code’
SCG Trust board member Maurice Newman, a former chairman of the ABC and the Australian Securities Exchange, told The Australian he was considering launching defamation proceedings against Mr Daley over this suggestion.
SGT Trust spokesman Phil Heads told Daily Mail Australia the heritage-listed Members’ and Ladies’ pavilions at the SCG had been retro-fitted with sprinklers, smoke alarms and heat sensors.
He also disputed Mr Daley’s assertion fire spinklers had been ripped out of Allianz Stadium.
‘Mr Daley’s claim that the Trustees of the SCG “ripped out’ the Allianz Stadium fire sprinkler system ‘under the cover of darkness’ is incorrect,’ he said.
‘The venue was constructed in 1988 and has never had a fire sprinkler system.’
Mr Daley also claimed the fire sprinklers at Allianz Stadium (pictured) had been ripped out by the SCG board ‘under the cover of darkness’ – a claim refuted by the SCG Trust
On Wednesday, Jones stepped up his attack on Mr Daley.
‘He was completely out of his depth and still is,’ he said.
Mr Daley, who took over the Labor leadership in November, has vowed to take on the powerful SCG Trust little more than two weeks out from the state election.
‘I don’t care what enemies I pick around town, whether they think they are powerful or not,’ he told reporters.
‘I will take the side of the ordinary citizens of NSW every day regardless of the peril it puts me, personally, in.’
Mr Daley has vowed to sack the SCG Trust board, including Jones, with replaced them with people that ‘better reflect the diversity of the sports loving people of NSW’.
‘If I’m elected, the board will go,’ Mr Daley told Jones as he faced him in the studio.
Liberal Premier Glady Berejiklian has promised to spend more than $700million of taxpayer money to demolish and rebuild Allianz Stadium.
Labor has vowed to cancel this project, along with an $800million plan to refurbish ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park, in the city’s west, were it to win the election.
Mr Daley then sensationally accused the SCG Trust of ripping out sprinklers from Allianz Stadium (pictured in the 2GB studio on Tuesday)
‘I know you’ve been on that board for 30 years,’ Mr Daley said.
‘Sorry about the SCG Trust, thanks for your service.’
Jones, a former state Liberal Party candidate, replied: ‘We don’t mind, that’s your job.’
Mr Daley told Jones he intended to remove the trustees that oversee operation of the Moore Park sporting facilities, such as Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The Opposition has pledged to instead invest the money in schools and hospitals.
This is a major point of difference with the Liberal-National state government, with a January Newspoll showing both sides of politics on 50:50 support.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Daley clarified that he would only sack the unelected members of the board.
Former rugby union player Phil Waugh and retired Test cricketer David Gilbert, who were elected by members will stay, as would former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill.