THE former prime minister Paul Keating has condemned the State Government's decision to renege on a commitment to make an early start on the "historic" headland park planned for Millers Point and has questioned the establishment of a new authority to take charge of the project.
Mr Keating said he had lost a battle to protect the headland park from budget cuts on Thursday night, following a heated debate with the Premier, Nathan Rees, the Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, and the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally.
"This is a very disappointing outcome," Mr Keating told the Herald yesterday. "I argued with the Premier, with the Treasurer and with the Planning Minister that the money was in the budget forward estimates, put there by former premier Iemma and treasurer Costa, and it should be retained," he said.
Creating a new authority, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, to take over the project made no sense, he said. "I cannot find any compelling reasons for it."
Some senior Labor insiders say the move to set up the authority represents another victory for the Labor powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi, the Finance Minister.
The Herald has learned the pair lobbied Mr Iemma long and hard to have Barangaroo, affectionately known as the Hungry Mile, removed from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority's control in the weeks before he was ousted. Ms Keneally denied yesterday having any conversations with Mr Tripodi and Mr Obeid before bringing it to cabinet.
She revealed the three-year delay of the park and the new authority yesterday, saying the Government could no longer justify spending up to $175 million on the park before it had received money from leasing land south of Millers Point to developers.
"Given the current economic environment … the Government cannot and will not outlay $150 million … for the sake of having a park which will be an asset for over 100 years in place three years early," Ms Keneally said.
Mr Keating said: "What is doubly disappointing is that the minister is suspending the expressions of interest on the headland. There is no reason why that could not continue, regardless of the timing [of park construction]." He also said the Government had failed to make the project bipartisan.
He dismissed lobbying in property circles that the headland should be the site of an "iconic" building to match the Opera House, which seems to be gaining traction with some ministers.
He said there was little chance that a building could be designed that would equal the high standard of the Opera House. "What modernism would give us would be a box."
Labor sources told the Herald Mr Tripodi and Mr Obeid complained repeatedly in recent months to Mr Iemma.
"They were always on about Barangaroo," one senior observer told the Herald . "Tripodi and Obeid objected to SHFA being involved in the process and oversighting it. They said SHFA would get it wrong, that it wouldn't turn out to be a financial precinct, that it would be too slow. Iemma examined their complaints but they were all bullshit."
Another source said: "There is no justifiable policy reason to do what Kristina has announced. It's a ruse. There is not even a good political reason to do it; this is nothing more than an obsession of Tripodi and Obeid to control the development of Sydney's foreshores."
Mr Tripodi's office had no comment yesterday.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff