‘Long and laborious’ – Minns expects protracted negotiations on Rosehill should ATC vote pass

NSW Premier Chris Minns says he will not begin negotiations for the potential government acquisition of Rosehill racecourse until after the club members vote on the proposal on April 3, and he expected talks over any purchase to be ‘long and laborious’.

The ATC confirmed this week it had changed tack in its approach to the Rosehill process and would seek a $5 billion price tag directly from the NSW government for Rosehill rather than develop and commercialise the site itself.

Those details were included in the two resolutions it has asked members to vote on at the Club’s Extraordinary General Meeting on April 3.

That led to suggestions that the Minns government had already agreed to acquire the site, something the ATC ruled out in its Notice Of Meeting, issued on Wednesday evening.  

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Premier said it was still a hypothetical situation.

“It’s really up to (turf club) members to make the decision about the future of Rosehill – if they do that, then we get to the next stage, which is a negotiation,” Minns told reporters.

The Rosehill project is currently progressing through stage 2 of the unsolicited proposal process. Regardless of the vote of members, it will be the NSW cabinet which decides if it progresses to Stage 3. Only then can negotiations over a purchase begin.

“The content of the Resolutions represents the ATC’s position on the matters contained in them as part of its process in developing a proposal to be put to the NSW Government.  The NSW Government has not negotiated or endorsed that position,” the ATC said.

ATC chairman Peter McGauran said the building of a Metro station, and the timing of that, was crucial to the need to decide on Rosehill now.

“It’s the opportunity now and it’s a once-off because of the metro station,” he told 2GB.

“We wouldn’t even be having this conversation, let alone contemplating the sale of Rosehill racecourse, if it weren’t for the Metro station. The government needs an answer right about now, because they’ve got to write contracts.

“You can’t insert a metro station once the line is completed. So we have to grasp the opportunity now or it’s lost forever.”

Take $5 billion or risk ‘painful choices’ – ATC pitch to voters on government Rosehill buyout

The Australian Turf Club has set its terms and its price for the sale of Rosehill and has told members they risk “more painful choices under less favourable conditions” if they fail to endorse a $5 billion sale directly to the NSW government at next month’s special general meeting.

The StraightBren O’Brien

The ATC has clarified several aspects of the voting process after concerns were raised when details were sent out on Wednesday night.

The Straight spoke to several ATC members who were confused by the voting process and concerned about its integrity. 

Some members claimed they were able to vote multiple times on the two resolutions, but an ATC representative told The Straight that an individual member’s vote would only be counted once.

Voting is connected to a membership number and while it may appear members are placing multiple votes, they were simply overwriting their previous entries. This process allows members to vary their vote as they wished before the extraordinary general meeting.

The ATC said the process was standard for all companies and is governed by law. It did admit that members may not be familiar with the process and it could have done a better job of explaining how it worked.

The proxy process has also prompted queries and confusion, especially the role of the chairman.

The ATC said that a proxy vote being assigned to the chairman did not necessarily mean that vote would follow the chairman’s preference, which is to vote in favour of the resolutions.

Members can instruct the chairman which way they wish to vote and by law the chairman must vote according to those instructions.

The ATC also allayed any suggestions that the proxy rules meant that the chairman could vote on behalf of any member who didn’t vote.  

Anti-sale group Save Rosehill has urged members to delay their vote until further instructions are received.