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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-02 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE OVAL

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is for the Treasurer. Is it correct that the government will spend $450 million on upgrades to the Adelaide Oval that do not include a roof to the stadium or extra car parking on site?

An honourable member interjecting:

Mrs REDMOND: Yes, that is correct.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The house will come to order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:24): Today we had a very long press conference, in excess of an hour. We exhausted questions. The leader asks that probing question: does it have a closing roof on it? No, sir, it does not. That was evident in the fly-through video presentation and in all the pictures that were put out if you look at Adelaidenow.

The government primarily had initial meetings with the Premier and subsequent meetings with me, Andrew Demetriou, Leigh Whicker and Ian McLachlan—a proud conservative Liberal, if there is such a thing. I acknowledge the work of Ian McLachlan, a fine South Australian and a great leader of the South Australian Cricket Association. In all the discussions we have had with Andrew Demetriou, ultimately the design was up to what football and cricket wanted. We had a number of meetings.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: She laughs. Why would we want to listen to what football wanted? Why wouldn't we just build our own stadium and just hope that they will come and play?

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The wind. How often have you been to the football?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You don't go to AAMI?

Mrs Redmond: Never been.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Never been to AAMI! The leader has just said that she has never been to AAMI Stadium. The leader of the Liberal Party, professing to know what's best for football, has never been to AAMI Stadium—never been to AAMI Stadium. Oh, my God! I am gobsmacked.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I understand the Deputy Premier being gobsmacked—he is very easily gobsmacked, apparently—but—

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop!

Mr WILLIAMS: —the question was: is there a roof and is there car parking?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer needs to turn back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I will come to car parking in a moment, but the Liberal Party, putting themselves up as an authority on what is best for football—

Mr WILLIAMS: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, you have just directed him to come back to the substance of the question, and he is deliberately—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop will take his seat. The Treasurer will turn to the substance of the question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The design was up to them. In an earlier meeting I had with the AFL, they had commissioned, together with some others, concept plans that we then took through some evolutions to what we have now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs Redmond: I know how to talk to them.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The leader just said she knows how to talk to them. I don't think she has been talking to Ian McLachlan. Never once do I recall—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The football codes or the cricket have not asked for a roof. Cricket wouldn't want one because you might hit the roof when you are going for a massive great big tonk straight back down over the bowler's head, and football has never asked for a roof.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: This is not Chicago. We don't have blizzards. This is a Mediterranean climate. I have to say to the leader that, having watched many a game at both Adelaide Oval and Football Park over the years, wind is an element of the game. Tossing the coin, you always want to kick with the wind. I am happy to give the leader some lessons on the finer points of football.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Attorney-General!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I reckon that if Andrew Demetriou and the AFL are happy with no roof, and the SANFL are happy—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —and the Power are happy and the Adelaide Crows are happy, I think we can take that as a reasonable amount of advice that this is the right structure. They have never asked for a roof. It would destroy both the ambience and the functionality of that ground.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: When it comes to car parking, as we said in a press conference today, the preferred position of the football and cricket associations is to maximise (as they do now for cricket) parking on the existing parkland spaces.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is warned.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Because the leader has never been to Football Park, parking at Football Park is on grass and it is in winter—and it works. I do not think there is a different soil type or different grass—maybe there is. To the leader, at Football Park when you go down West Lakes Boulevard you turn in onto some gravel and park on the lawn, and you can drive off; you do not get bogged. As my good friend—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —and astute football follower, the Attorney-General (and a great lover of the Port Adelaide Football Club) said, we had football at Adelaide Oval right up until about 1974. I know the leader would not remember this, but I remember as a lad going there one day and there were about 67,000 people at Adelaide Oval.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, exactly. That is why I remember it. We are coming back after you blokes one day; don't worry about that. Port Adelaide v Sturt to be the curtain raiser to the first AFL game. Now, where was I? Parking. That is what they want. I have already had discussions with Michael Harbison and Peter Smith, the CEO of the council. They have introduced the concept, which can be worked through, of additional parking or supplementary parking, which could be underground parking, looking at that as a commercial venture. Those things can be worked through. With respect to car parking, nominally, they are looking at 3,500 car parks, not the 13,000 that they want over here. Also remember, as the Premier mentioned earlier—I love it when a plan comes together—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —from Seaford to Gawler, from Semaphore/Port Adelaide/Outer Harbor, from Grange, from Belair, trains will be coming into the city, and I am sure the minister can arrange for some express trains. When you hop out of those trains there is a beautiful, large walking bridge going over, and you just stream into the ground. Each and every week a city alive: a city where commerce will be in full flight. They will not be stuck down that end of the city and have to walk all the way up and back. They will be right next to it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: As much as—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: As much as I shout over the members opposite, can I say this as I wind up. This has been a project 18 months in the making.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: If they think I am misleading the house, can they please move a substantive motion? In the evolution of time, meeting after meeting, a million phone calls, the AFL—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The AFL, SANFL and SACA have met secretly, or in private, in Adelaide, I think, on more than one occasion. I have met with Andrew Demetriou and Ian McLachlan, as I have with the SANFL, over the last 18 months, as has the Premier. There was a two day meeting roughly three or four weeks ago in Melbourne, which also included an overnight stay by the officials. They worked through the night. A term sheet was signed by both parties, the SACA and the SANFL, and was witnessed by Andrew Demetriou. The Chairman of the AFL, Mr Mike Fitzpatrick, with whom I had had previous discussions, was intimately involved with all of these discussions over that two day period.

Mrs Redmond: You've got an MOU.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: MOU!

Mr Williams: Eighteen months, and this is all you've got to show for it.

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Eighteen months, and all we have got is this. Getting SACA and the SANFL together, walking in step and agreeing to go back to Adelaide Oval, has taken 18 months. I wish it was a lot quicker; trust me, I wish it was a lot quicker, but it was not.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: These parties are absolutely committed to it. We believe there is no obstacle that will stand in its way.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: A little soft interjection from the deputy leader. This is a historic agreement. This is an agreement of enormous goodwill. The public of South Australia will embrace this in force. While there are issues that have to be worked through, in fairness to both sides—and they are well known—I do not believe, nor do the parties involved, that they are show stoppers.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Bragg!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The only people whingeing, whining and complaining are the Liberals—and the leader who leads them has never been to Football Park and does not know that people can park their cars on the grass at Football Park. She is hardly an expert.

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