‘A multi-billion dollar proposition should not be drawn up on the back of a napkin’ – NSW parliament to hold inquiry into Rosehill

A parliamentary inquiry will be held into an Australian Turf Club proposal to redevelop and sell off Rosehill racecourse.

The establishment of a Select Committee in the Upper House of the NSW parliament was voted upon in the Legislative Council on Wednesday afternoon and it was passed 21-18, with support from the opposition as well the crossbench, including the Greens, the Animal Justice Party and Independent MP Mark Latham.

The Committee will have the power to call before it those involved in the proposal, including the board members and executives of the ATC as well as Racing NSW. Committees can also ask ministers and senior public servants to explain and justify their actions or decisions.

Damien Tudehope, the leader of the opposition in the Upper House, put forward the motion to establish the committee on behalf of the Shadow Minister for Housing, Scott Farlow.

Rose Jackson, who is the Minister for Housing in the Minns’ government, spoke of the government’s opposition to the Committee, while Tudehope’s motion was supported by contributions from the AJP’s Emma Hurst, the Greens’ Cate Faehrmann as well as Latham.

Tudehope said the recent release of a tranche of documents under a parliamentary standing order or a ‘call for papers’ had raised more questions about the Rosehill process than it had answered.

“The details that we have learned, courtesy of a racecourse housing developments proposal pursuant to Standing Order 52, passed in the March sittings, have been eye-opening to the lack of impartiality from the Minns’ Labor Government to the unsolicited proposal to redevelop Rosehill Racecourse,” Tudehope told parliament.

“A multi-billion dollar proposition should not be drawn up on the back of a napkin. It should go through the appropriate processes for such a major project, the timeframe of which the Rosehill proposal passed through Government left no such time.”

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Peter V’landys met with representatives of the NSW government to express his support for the sale of Rosehill while raising concerns about the Australian Turf Club’s board structure weeks before the contentious proposal was announced.

The StraightBren O’Brien

Tudehope said he held particular concerns over how quickly discussions had developed and whether the proposal had been facilitated by the government. This would fail to make the ATC’s proposal unsolicited, which it needs to be for it to be considered.

Jackson defended the government’s transparency on the Rosehill decision-making process, having complied with the call for papers and provided relevant information to the parliament.

“We welcome transparency. What we don’t welcome is an effort to frustrate and delay the opportunity to explore this proposal,” she said.

“The establishment of a parliamentary inquiry, a committee to go through all of this is nothing more than a stunt because those opposite are determined to snuff out any discussion about more housing in this state.”

Brickpit or bust? Where to for Sydney metropolitan racing should Rosehill be closed

Should the ATC’s proposal to close, redevelop, and sell off Rosehill materialise, it would raise a burning question about the future make-up of Sydney’s metropolitan tracks. Bren O’Brien looks at the options on the table.

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Meanwhile, Hirst said the AJP was concerned about Racing NSW’s involvement in the Rosehill process and supported the Committee’s efforts to clarify how the process had evolved.

“The Animal Justice Party has significant concerns about the conduct of Racing NSW, the lack of transparency in Government oversight more generally, and the way that this links with the proposals in regards to Rosehill Racecourse, and of course the link between animal welfare,” she said.

“We want to make sure that these concerns are able to be ventilated at this inquiry, and that’s why we’ll be supporting.”

Latham, an ATC member and outspoken critic of the Rosehill process, revealed he would not be on the committee but, in typical robust fashion, expressed his support for the Select Committee.

“This committee is much needed because for anyone who’s read the SO52 documents, it’s been a weird, weird, confusing, perplexing, disastrous process that’s led us to the point of a proposal for the sale of Rosehill racecourse,” he said.

He described the implications of the Rosehill deal as “the biggest privatisation that Sydney’s ever seen”.

“It’s just how bad and rushed and ad hoc the process has been. So the committee is warranted for that and many other reasons,” Latham said.

“The bigger public purpose here is to have a good look at what has been a shonky process behind the scenes.”

McGauran backs Rosehill process, insists on members’ vote

Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran has defended the process around the Rosehill sale proposal and insists ATC members will have final say on whether it proceeds.

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