BRUMBY AND THEOPHANOUS DISCUSS NEW RECTANGULAR STADIUM

Sunday, 10 August 2008
Summary: Victorian Premier John Brumby and Major Projects Minister Theo Theophanous discuss the new rectangular stadium, and the union walk-off at the construction site of the new Children’s Hospital.  The Premier also responds to questions about tenders for the construction of desal plant, car crashes and speed, and taxpayers footing the bill for his 55th birthday celebration.
JOHN BRUMBY:    Alright, well, I’m obviously delighted to be here today with the Minister for Major Projects, Theo Theophanous, with the captain of Melbourne Victory, Kevin Muscat, with the Chair of Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust, Russell Caplan, and with the many representatives, of course, from Grocon here today who are doing such a fantastic job on this stadium.

This is a fantastic stadium, where we are so proud of the progress to date on this stadium, the rectangular stadium.  The MCG, of course, in the background, the last big sporting project that was completed by Grocon, and this will be another fantastic project for Melbourne: $267 million, seating 31,000 people, new design, geodesic dome, which is gonna provide, I think, a fantastic aesthetic image, but it’s also gonna be fantastic for spectators to watch. 

And the pitch just behind us here, all of the 31,000 spectators who sit here will get a fantastic view of the game, very, very close to the pitch itself, and I guess this stadium, when you think of it, put it in perspective, this is the missing link in what is going to be the best sporting precinct anywhere in the world.  And we’ve got great arenas, we’ve got the MCG, we’ve got Vodafone, we’ve got Rod Laver, but the one missing link that we needed down here was the stadium for the round ball, so for soccer and for rugby, and that’s what this stadium will do. 

And I think the architecture, the design, the placement of it here within the precinct, people can walk from the city, they can walk down from Fed Square, they can walk from the arts precinct, it’s a sensational location and a sensational project for our state, and it is that missing link, it’s the last bit of the jigsaw, to give us the best sporting precinct anywhere in the world.

I might ask the Minister for Major Projects to say a few words, as well.

THEO THEOPHANOUS:    This project has taken some time to get going, but it’s going to be a fantastic project for Melbourne.  It’s on time and it’s on budget, and that’s the main thing from a point of view of a Major Projects Minister.

But this took a lot of vision to make the decision to actually have this particular stadium built here.  It was always the case that although many of us are Aussie Rules supporters – and I’m a Bulldogs supporter, for those of you who don’t know – the point was that we always thought that the international game of soccer and rugby, we needed that missing link here in Victoria, and that’s what this is about. 

So, I congratulate everyone that’s been involved in putting it together.  It’s going up very quickly, as you can see.  We’re looking forward to a very intimate experience of the sort that you get in some of the European stadiums, when you go and watch a soccer match in Europe.  So this is going to be terrific, and it will attract new interest in this sport, and will round off, as the Premier said, our precinct, our sporting precinct, to make it the absolute best sporting precinct in the world.

BRUMBY:    And…today’s visit is really a chance to look at the progress, but also of course we’ve got the Olyroos and Argentina tonight in the Olympic Games, so that’ll be a great game, and we’ve clocked up one medal already, one gold with Stephanie Rice, so we’re very, very proud of that, and the soccer game will be, the football game tonight will be a fantastic game.

Kevin, do you want to say anything from the point of view of Melbourne Victory and what this is gonna mean, or…?

KEVIN MUSCAT:    Yeah, I mean, obviously, just to come in here today, as you mentioned…with…our code’s come such a long way in a short period of time, and…this will give us an opportunity to play in a rectangular stadium that…  As you mentioned, I’ve probably played in quite a few stadiums around the world, and having the opportunity to come here today and have a look…where people are gonna be watching the game from and how it’s gonna end up looking, I’m looking forward to it.  Just gotta hope and pray the legs can hold up till it’s actually finished.

BRUMBY:    [Laughs] She’ll be finished at the end of 2009, so they’ll be right for 2010, so I reckon those legs will be [inaudible] [laughs].

MISCAT:    The concern about my legs, not the actual building, but my legs, yeah.

[Laughter]

BRUMBY:    We’ll have to do a special game to mark your legs, or something like that.

MUSCAT:    Fingers crossed.

BRUMBY:    But I think the atmosphere will be great, too, looking how close the seats come down there; like, you’ll just get…and that’s so important with…the soccer, isn’t it?  And you just get that atmosphere, you’ll have 31,000 people, and they’ll be so…you’ll almost be able to reach out and touch the ball – it’ll be fantastic.

MUSCAT:    Looking forward to it.

BRUMBY:    [Laughs]   

REPORTER:    When will the first match be played?

BRUMBY:    The first match, I think, is 2010.

RUSSELL CAPLAN:    Somewhere in, probably, the early second quarter 2010, by the time all of the internals of the stadium are fit for use.

REPORTER:    And the budget won’t be going beyond the $267.5 million, Minister?  You’re quite confident of that?

THEOPHANOUS:    We’re confident that we’ll bring this in on budget and on time.  And, I have to say, there’s international interest already in teams wanting to come and play here; I know from my connections with Greece that there’s a couple of teams in Greece that are interested in coming in the inaugural year, Premier, so I’m sure that there’ll be a lot of interest internationally for teams to come here and play on this superb stadium.

REPORTER:    What sort of standard of games are you looking to attract here?

BRUMBY:    I think you’ll get the best standard.  So you’ve got…and this is the home ground for Melbourne Victory, so you’ve got the whole A-League and, if my memory’s correct, there may be more teams that join the A-League in the future, so you’ve got all of that competition, plus you’ll get international competition, plus you’ll get the rugbies. 

And this is a great-sized stadium, 31,000.  Remember when we started this, we were looking at 20,000, and we went to 27,000, and then we went to 31,000, and we went to 31,000 because we think that’s the right size: it’s big enough to get significant games, but it’s compact enough, too, for the week-to-week games.  But we’ll get the very best games here, and this will be…every seat, bar, I think, a couple, perhaps, in the front row is gonna be under cover here, so it’s gonna be a fantastic stadium, fantastic spectator sport, and I don’t think there’s any doubt at all that this…the demand will continue to grow to meet the needs of this stadium.

REPORTER:    Minister, were you concerned at all by the union walk-off at the Royal Children’s Hospital this week, and what can be done to get things rolling again there?

THEOPHANOUS:    Well, the Children’s Hospital is not one of the projects that Major Projects Victoria is doing, but…and the Premier’s probably in just as good a position to respond to this question, but we always are concerned whenever there is any industrial action that affects any of our major projects.  And we talk to the unions and we try and ensure that we get back on track.

I have to say that most of the major projects that come under my purview and the ones that are being built in this state are, in fact, on budget and on time.  So, we’ve learnt to do it well in our major projects, and this is an example of one that’s being done well at the moment.

BRUMBY:    So I haven’t been briefed since Friday, but as you know, on Friday the matter was being mediated, and the guys returned to work.  So, work was under way on Friday, and I haven’t been briefed over the weekend, but it’s a matter being considered by the Commission.

REPORTER:    Premier, the tenders for the desal plant [inaudible] they come in for the initial stage, are you expecting, sort of, heavy competition?  It’s a huge contract.

BRUMBY:    Yeah, it’ll be huge competition.  There are something like 230 or 240 desal plants in operation around the world, and there’s another 40 which are under consideration or planning at the moment, and ours is one of them.  Ours is one of the larger ones, and there’s a huge amount of interest.  And…all around the world, governments, countries are looking at how they supply water in a time of climate change, and desal is the appropriate way to do that.  So, you’re gonna see some of the biggest companies from around the world that are bidding. 

And…at a time, I think, when the world economy is slowing a bit, a project like that is gonna mean a lot of jobs for Victorians, thousands of jobs for Victorians.  And you look at all of the major projects that we’ve got under way across the state, whether it’s this one, whether it’s the Convention Centre across the river, these are major projects generating jobs for Victorians, so they’re gonna be good projects.

REPORTER:    Premier, there’s been a series of quite serious car accidents this weekend, and most of them have involved speed.  Are you concerned that people just aren’t getting the message to slow down?

BRUMBY:    Well, I’m very concerned about a couple of the cases that I’ve been briefed on this weekend, and I know police are concerned about a lot of speeding cases this weekend, but one of them…a P-plate driver doing close to 150 kilometres an hour in a 60 zone, I mean, it’s just…just…words [inaudible] defies description, isn’t it?  It’s just so stupid, so unacceptable. 

But I’m concerned, particularly…we’re in genuine winter weather: it’s wet; it’s cold; a lot of snow round, a lot of black ice around.  People need to drive more slowly, and they need to be driving below the speed limit, not at the speed limit, and not exceeding the limit; they need to heed the warnings. 

And, as you know, we are concerned.  We’ve had a great record of reducing road accidents and fatalities over the last five years – we’ve had the five lowest years on record – but the last year, our reduction hasn’t been as rapid, for example, as New South Wales, and so we’re having a look at whether we need to do more, because we’re determined to tackle the level of road fatality and road accidents, and the biggest contributor is speed.  You know, we’ve got all the TAC advertisements, Wipe Off Five, bigger police presence, more speed cameras – we’re doing all of those things – but people need to get the message: don’t speed. 

REPORTER:    Premier, there’s been reports about your birthday celebration at Dunkeld while you were on Community Cabinet earlier this year.  Do you think that was a reasonable expense for taxpayers to have footed the bill for your birthday celebrations?

BRUMBY:    Well, when MPs are away, as they were on that occasion…they’re entitled to a meal and they’re entitled to stay in a motel, and that’s what we did.  And as for my birthday, I would have preferred to be at home, actually.

REPORTER:    So you don’t think it was extravagant, as some people have claimed?

BRUMBY:    Oh, well, I haven’t heard anyone claim that.