The Liberal party has been informed that the SANFL have told the Government they could not sign any agreement by the deadline. The SANFL have signed a letter of intent indicating they will use a redeveloped Adelaide Oval but some of the key non negotiables demanded by the SANFL have still not been met.

 

The government has now been forced to delay the deadline for negotiations until December.

 

In April this year Premier Rann told the South Australian people “I don’t want to extend the deadline-that’s just an excuse to keep talking”. (The Advertiser April 7)

 

The project has gone from ”not costing a cent more than $450 million” to a current cost of more than $600 million and an August 31st deadline that  cannot be met.

 

The Opposition has also been told the earliest possible date to commence construction is now late 2011 early 2012.

The government also needs up to $40 million for the Stadium Management Authority, money that could be wasted if an agreement cannot be reached.

 

The Opposition has also been told the government’s plans to spend a total of $1.1 billion redeveloping the oval, convention centre and casino on the river bank. Treasurer Foley once described on radio Liberal plans to revitalise the river precinct as "what we’ve gotta be very careful is we’ve gotta do what we can afford … what we can’t afford to do is to give an illusion, which is effectively what the Liberal Party has, is that we will have effectively a Las Vegas. They’re talking about casinos and hotels.”    (5AA 15.10-15.49)

 

While the government is preparing a budget to slash public sector jobs and cuts services to thousands of South Australians, taxpayers should be concerned the way this project has been handled. The Rann government should admit it made a mistake and cancel the oval project.