It’s a news lt article. I Don’t have access to it but basically the qld gov has sacked the qld stadium board and appointed another. Guess who is on it? Mr John Grant. This can’t be a bad thing can it?
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news...g/news-story/0cf6a1b81c775f7c7de1d7904eef9615
Stadiums Queensland board kicked out over claims of price gouging
Kelmeny Fraser, The Courier-Mail
July 1, 2018 12:00am
THE Palaszczuk Government has sensationally replaced the board of Stadiums Queensland amid complaints the body is price gouging the state’s top football clubs.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk vowed that heads would roll after an investigation by
The Sunday Mail exposed the financial burden that the Government body’s soaring rents and levies at major venues imposed on struggling sporting clubs.
Sports Minister Mick de Brenni yesterday confirmed the Government had moved to “refresh” the board in a shift he said would help modernise the operation.
He said the Government had hand-picked a new mix of talent to implement any approved findings of a taxpayer-funded taskforce appointed in April to probe the body’s performance.
It is believed the new board is predominantly from Labor’s Left faction.
A source said the sacked board had been blindsided, believing they had always done a good job.
New board members will include former Australian Rugby League Commission chairman John Grant, north Queensland lawyer Amanda Shircore, health fund executive Cathy McGuane, Greg Webb and Therese Smith.
Chairwoman Sophie Devitt will stay on during the transition and then step down.
Stadiums Queensland manages major venues, including Suncorp Stadium, the Gabba, Townsville’s 1300 SMILES Stadium, Metricon Stadium and the Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium.
Mounting concerns about crippling rents and levies at the stadiums in April prompted Queensland’s NRL, AFL and Super Rugby clubs to join forces in calling for the Government to step in and overhaul the organisation.
The clubs claimed rents and transport levies at Queensland stadiums were now between three and five times more than interstate costs, forcing some clubs to cut staff to stay afloat.
The NRL confirmed its Queensland-based club paid more in rent and operating costs than anywhere else. The Titans rent Cbus Stadium for $110,000 a game and haven’t signed a contract with Stadiums Queensland since 2016.
The Gold Coast Suns pay $8 a ticket in operational costs, compared to $1.20 paid by the biggest AFL and NRL clubs in Australia.
