NSW Government dumps farcical Olympic Stadium redevelopment

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We argued previously that the NSW State Government had hit ‘peak stupid’ in deciding to spend $2.5 billion to demolish and rebuild the Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Football Stadium, both of which are underutilised.

These stadiums were assessed to deliver zero net economic benefits for the state, according to analysis by hired gun KPMG. Moreover, these stadiums were to be paid for by selling-off the lease to the state’s monopoly land titles registry – a move that has very likely resulted in end-users being gouged by the new monopoly owners, with the NSW State Government also losing a reliable income stream.

In March 2019, Premier Gladys Berejiklian compromised somewhat on the projects, announcing that “Allianz Stadium will be knocked down and rebuilt but ANZ Stadium will undergo a “major renovation” – as opposed to the full $1.25 billion for a knockdown and rebuild” – a move that would save some $500 million and reduce the total cost of the projects down to $2 billion.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.