The New South Wales deputy premier has again hinted that the government may reconsider its $2.5bn plan to knock down and rebuild two Sydney stadiums.
John Barilaro said governments had to learn to listen to public sentiment, and if there was “red hot anger out there, we’ve got to actually take that on board”.
Barilaro, the NSW Nationals leader, suggested the rebuild of Allianz Stadium, next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, was more palatable than the project at the former Olympic stadium at Homebush, which is 17km from the CBD.
“I can’t see there is any reason why we won’t continue to proceed with the stadiums because you would hope that the information that we made the original decision on does stack up,” he told ABC Radio on Friday.
“But I’ve learnt in politics, never say never.”
The Nationals have previously played significant roles in overturning policies that have hurt their prospects in the bush. They had pushed back against the council amalgamation policy and the ban on greyhounds. Both were overturned.
Barilaro said a final decision was yet to be made on the stadium projects, and business cases for the Allianz and ANZ venues were still to be fully considered.
He expected that to happen within the next few weeks. The business cases would then be considered by the expenditure review committee, of which he is a member.
“Sometimes, as governments and politicians, you’ve got to learn to listen, and if there is red hot anger out there, we’ve got to actually take that on board in the final decision,” Barilaro said.
“But at this stage, if those business cases come in and they tick those boxes, the government will have to make an announcement on its next stage.”
The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, reiterated last week that the planned stadium projects were government policy and the intention was for them to go ahead.
Berejiklian has maintained the policy despite heated criticism. An online petition against the plan has now attracted 198,601 signatures.
The business plans for the redevelopment of the stadiums are being done by Infrastructure NSW.
The Australian reported last month that Infrastructure NSW had already signalled a potential cost blowout of hundreds of millions of dollars.
On Thursday, the Labor leader, Luke Foley, said no one in the NSW cabinet “apart from Stuart Ayres” had publicly supported the plan.
