Sporting Declaration: Labor need to deliver the Broadmeadow sporting precinct

It's not so much that the opposition leader is a compelling candidate, nor that Labor has waged a brilliant campaign. It's just that there is such a rotten stench about the NSW Coalition, the only logical course of action appears to be flushing them down the S-bend at the earliest opportunity, then spraying copious quantities of air freshener.

Humphrey B. Bear would presumably be about a $1.05 favourite to oust Dominic Perrottet, if he chose to throw his hat in the ring.

As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared last week at the official launch of Labor's campaign, Perrottet and his pals are "falling apart before our eyes, cracking like an imported light-rail carriage, breaking down like an out-sourced ferry, plagued by scandal, dogged by resignation ... even stooping so low as to rort bushfire aid.

"Imagine the deficit of character that it takes to even think of doing that, let alone doing that.

"Looking at fellow Australians who have been through hell [and] calculating how they may help you secure a political advantage."

As reported in this paper last week, Perrottet apparently thinks so little of Newcastle that, since being appointed to replace the ill-fated Gladys Berejiklian as Premier more than 500 days ago, he hasn't even bothered to pay the city a single, tokenistic visit.

Minns, in contrast, has made several trips to this traditional Labor heartland over the past couple of years, but I can't help wondering if he needs to lift his game after reading an interview he conducted with my colleague Michael Parris two weeks ago.

In particular, his comments about the proposed "Hunter Park" sporting-and-entertainment precinct at District Park caught my eye.

Parris asked Minns for his "take" on the issue, reminding him that since then NSW sports minister Stuart Ayres and parliamentary secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald unveiled the blueprint for Broadmeadow in 2017, the government has still not followed up with a business case.

"Well, we need to get that business case out," Minns replied.

"When the business case is revealed to us, if we were to win the election, but more so importantly to industry and community leaders in the Hunter, you can't have a situation where such an important piece of the firmament, the infrastructure of the community, has this big question mark over it and there's secret reports that are sitting around on government desks.

"We need to have the information in front of us so people understand the basis and reason for the decisions being made."

That strikes me as a politically correct response, but it's not what I wanted to hear.

To hell with business cases and blueprints and masterplans, what Minns needed to tell the people of Newcastle and the Hunter was: "Vote for us, and we'll build you the sporting infrastructure the seventh-biggest city in Australia deserves.

"We'll be up here the day after the election, with bulldozers and excavators."

OK, I realise it's not quite that simple, but I'm so over this. Six years since the government announced they would fund sporting facilities that were already decades overdue, what exactly have they delivered?

The Knights' Centre of Excellence - of which the Knights had to pay 50 per cent - and an upgrade of the hockey complex. Other than that, diddly squat!

Meanwhile, we haven't hosted a Sheffield Shield cricket match in eight years, because No.1 Sportsground - despite an $8 million upgrade bankrolled by Newcastle ratepayers - is still not up to scratch.

We haven't hosted an NBL basketball match since the demise of the Hunter Pirates in 2006.

We don't have a proper aquatic centre in the region, the basketball stadium at Broadmeadow is so old and derelict the roof has been known to leak, and the tennis centre at District Park has been an eyesore for at least a decade.

As revealed by the Herald, the Wests Group have promised to bring NBL and Super Netball franchises to Newcastle, once a new indoor arena has been built, and Cricket NSW says we would be in line to host Big Bash League and international matches if the mythical Broadmeadow project includes a new cricket/AFL stadium.

All of which might seem slightly pie in the sky, except for the government's commitment - in the unlikely instance they are re-elected - to spend in the vicinity of half a billion dollars on sporting facilities in the swinging seat of Penrith.

Good luck to the people of Penrith. I don't begrudge them one cent, because they'll be paying for all this through freeway tolls for the rest of their lives.

But Novocastrians - in my eyes, Australia's most passionate and parochial sports lovers - deserve a fair share, too.

We should have men's and women's teams in basketball's national leagues. We should have a Super Netball franchise. We should be able to host cricket Test matches and AFL fixtures, as well as major swimming meets and tennis tournaments. I don't think this is too much to ask.

Over to you, Mr Minns.

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