Magazine - Libs Slam Oval as a Con

By Editor in General News on 10th Mar 2010 23:50

The South Australian opposition has hit back at government attacks on its financial credibility, claiming to have discovered a blowout of about $100 million in Labor's plan to redevelop Adelaide Oval into a 50,000-seat stadium.

Opposition finance spokesman Rob Lucas yesterday described the Adelaide Oval project as a "giant con" and claimed there was a "conspiracy of silence" over its costs, which would not be finalised until after the March 20 election. "No one with any knowledge of this proposal believes Mike Rann's costings are accurate," he said.

The government has promised $450m to redevelop the Adelaide Oval into a stadium hosting cricket, AFL, rugby and international soccer. A spokesman for Treasurer Kevin Foley dismissed Mr Lucas's claim and said he was "making this up". "I promise on the soul of my grandmother we have not received any advice to say the $450m is not enough," he said.

Mr Lucas said information provided to him from "three separate sources" with knowledge of the Stadium Management Authority and its two working parties showed the cost estimates for the Oval redevelopment had blown out by $90m.

The cost of the current redevelopment of the Oval's western grandstand had blown out by $15m to $20m, Mr Lucas claimed. The project was "dead in the water", given Mr Foley's commitment not to provide more than $450m in funding, and the South Australian Football League's demand that it not be made responsible for any cost blowouts.

But Mr Foley said the $450m grant for the redevelopment was a figure brought to the government by the AFL and sporting codes in South Australia.

The government has been critical of the opposition over its costings during the election campaign, questioning its figures for rebuilding the Royal Adelaide Hospital and turning the Southern Expressway into a two-way highway from its current one-way configuration.

Source & More: www.theaustralian.com.au

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