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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-20 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens:

That this council—

1. Recognises—

(a) that Adelaide United Football Club represents Adelaide and South Australia in a national sporting competition;

(b) that Adelaide United Football Club represents Adelaide and South Australia in an international sporting competition outside of our national league;

(c) the social, health and economic benefits that Adelaide United Football Club contribute to our state; and

2. Condemns the state Labor government for its current lack of support for Adelaide United Football Club.

(Continued from 5 September 2012.)

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (18:11): Can I start by saying that it is really a shame that the Hon. Terry Stephens has framed the motion in such a way that it is not possible to support it without amendment. I therefore move:

Leave paragraph 1 as printed.

Paragraph 2—Recognises the state Labor government for its support for Adelaide United Football Club.

This amendment was circulated the other day. It goes without saying that the government is of course happy to recognise the Adelaide United Football Club's contribution to the state and its position as a South Australian representative in the A-League competition and its place in the Asian Champions League. It has been fantastic to watch the Reds perform well in its current champions league campaign after a pretty difficult domestic season.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Well, they did not exactly lose last night. We will come to that. However, I do not accept the ridiculous notion put forward by the opposition that the state government does not provide support to the club, and as such I have sought to amend this motion. Once again, the opposition has not done its homework and is happy to put forward a motion in this place for political purposes. The Hon. Terry Stephens' assertions that the state government is not providing support to the club and in fact profits from the club are totally incorrect and reflect—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: What is the name of the team they played last night?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Did you watch it? I watched it. I watched it on TV at any rate. His assertions reflect a lack of understanding and research by the honourable member. But we already know the opposition does not like facts, so we really should not be too surprised.

Let me take this opportunity to place a few facts on the table to help the opposition out on this one. We will start with a very basic one. Adelaide United plays its home games at Hindmarsh Stadium, which is without doubt a great place to watch a game of football; the real football, some people would say. You would hope so, given the Liberals' upgrade of the stadium in the late 1990s cost them more than five times the original budget of $8 million, as well as costing the then tourism minister (Joan Hall) her job following a scathing report from the Auditor-General.

Anyway, I digress. Hindmarsh Stadium is indeed a fine venue. The state government owns Hindmarsh Stadium, with the Office for Recreation and Sport currently managing it on our behalf. The Adelaide United Football Club is a tenant at Hindmarsh, occupying office space and gymnasium facilities at the venue and surrounding precinct free of charge. The club does pay, as you would expect, a hire fee for use of the stadium on match days, whether they be A-League matches or Asian Champions League.

However, the state government does not charge AUFC (I will refer to them with their initials rather than using the full name all the time) anywhere near full commercial rent and is supporting the club with a deal that gives them every chance to be profitable. In fact, there is no doubt that the government gives Adelaide United one of the most generous stadium deals for any A-League team in the national competition.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: What was the name of that team they played last night?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Don't you remember, the Hon. John Dawkins?

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I remember, too, and I will refer to them when I want to.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Will you?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I will, yes, if that's alright with you. Let's look at this deal a little more closely, just for the benefit of the opposition. Under the terms of the current hire agreement, AUFC pays a match-day hire fee of $22,000. This compares very favourably with hire fees around $100,000 per game in Queensland and Western Australia and is about one-third of the fee charged to Victorian clubs, so it is important to put these facts on the table.

For this hire fee, Adelaide United receives a string of benefits, such as revenue from match-day ticketing which, depending on their ability to draw a crowd, has been up to $70,000 per match; 20 corporate boxes to sell which, based on the offers on the AUFC website, have the potential to earn more than half a million dollars per season; the rights to sell and retain full revenue from stadium signage around the ground, conservatively worth between $100,000 and $250,000 per season, depending on the club's ability to sell this commercial property; and, as mentioned previously, the club's main administration building and gym space are provided free of charge.

Clearly this stadium deal is a very favourable deal for Adelaide United and indicative of a government doing everything it can to support the club in a national competition that is battling to achieve sustainability. Operating costs absorbed by the Office for Recreation and Sport that are not passed on to Adelaide United include security, pitch preparation and maintenance, pre and post match stadium cleaning and preparation, water and electricity, ambulance and St John's, ticketing staff, administration, media support, and stadium maintenance.

Apart from the heavily discounted hire fee that is paid by Adelaide United, catering is the only other source of revenue for government to offset some of the stadium operating costs. We should be very clear that every time the gates open at Hindmarsh for an Adelaide United game, the government is spending money not making it.

However, rather than addressing this situation by passing on all costs to the club, the government has made the decision to support them and support the sport of football in South Australia, as indeed we should. The government has now financially supported three iterations of the Adelaide United Football Club, and we have done so in recognition of the club's representation of South Australia in the national competition and, on occasions, the Asian Champions League. The state government will continue to assist Adelaide United but we cannot continue to underwrite stadium costs to the current extent.

The Hon. Terry Stephens suggests that the Minister for Recreation and Sport should engage with the club to discuss a new deal. If he had bothered to check, he would know the minister has already done this and, in fact, the terms of a new deal are ready to be signed off now, I understand, terms about which both parties are in agreement.

I am happy to advise that the Minister for Recreation and Sport has met with the Chairman of the Adelaide United Football Club and agreed on a new match-day hire rate of $25,000 for next season. Whilst this is a slight increase from $22,000, AUFC will continue to have the most supportive and generous stadium arrangements of any A-League club, some of which are paying up to four times this amount.

Both the Office for Recreation and Sport and KPMG have recently reviewed other A-League stadium deals and both have reported that AUFC enjoys the most supportive and generous stadium arrangements of any A-League club. In fact, KPMG, as part of its review of Office for Recreation and Sport stadiums, has reported that the total cost to the AUFC of hiring the venue is considered significantly lower than the cost of comparable A-League franchises. Furthermore, during interviews with the CEO of AUFC, KPMG were also told that AUFC acknowledges it has lower fees than the fees paid by other franchises in Australia.

I thank the Hon. Terry Stephens for his comments, even though they are ignorant of the facts in relation to the fee charges. It has allowed the government an opportunity to reinforce once again the very strong support this government provides to the Adelaide United Football Club. The government has no problem whatsoever supporting the first part of this motion; however, I ask members to give the frivolous, unresearched second part of the motion the attention it deserves. Based on the facts I have just outlined, the government and I have no option but to amend the motion as I have to reflect the enormous support the government continues to provide to support the Adelaide United Football Club.

Finally, I take the opportunity to wish the Adelaide United team the best of luck for the Asian Champions League return leg with Uzbeki side Bunyodkor in Tashkent on 3 October. Because parliament rose early last night, along with I suspect most members, I had the opportunity to watch about three-quarters of the match when I got home and, like everybody else, I was disappointed with the red card incident. I really felt for Nigel Boogaard. Following last night's match, they are now locked 2-2. Bunyodkor, I think we all agree, will be no pushover. However, I am sure our boys will get the results they are looking for, with all of South Australia right behind them. I urge all honourable members to vote for this motion in the amended form.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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