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Manly feud claims top lobbyist
Roy Masters | May 29, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/...1243456684088.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
THE bitter, internecine political feuding at Manly claimed its highest-profile victim with club joint patron, life member and chief raiser of government funds, Kerry Sibraa, resigning from the Sea Eagles' board.
Sibraa is a former president of the Senate and high commissioner to Zimbabwe.
In a resignation letter, which football club members will start to receive today, he writes: "It is disappointing, to say the least, that this great club is being torn apart by ego, arrogance and self-interest."
When the politics at Manly become too bitter for a politician, even one who has negotiated the power plays in the ALP and confronted Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, it's a bloody battle at Brookvale.
The trigger for Sibraa's resignation is a report in a Sydney newspaper that he has contributed nothing to the club, despite 10 years of lobbying that resulted in then NSW premier Morris Iemma gifting Brookvale Oval $6.6 million and Warringah Council offering $4m, in addition to $1m from the Howard government for lighting.
"Unfortunately, leaks and non-attributable briefings of the media have been used as tactical weapons by a number of participants in this dispute," Sibraa writes. "In the course of them doing this, many statements have been made that are not factual and innocent people have had their reputations sullied."
Sibraa was given a lifetime achievement award at last year's presentation night, which followed the Sea Eagles' grand-final victory.
He was one of the few independent directors on the all-powerful board, which is split by the rival Penn and Delmege families.
The seven-man board that runs the NRL team consists of two directors from each of the Penn and Delmege families, two from the football club and one from the Leagues Club, whose premises are now owned by the Penns. For five years, Sibraa has been one of the two representatives from the football club. His letter reminds members the football club was the principal entity blocking a move of the Sea Eagles team to the Central Coast.
Roy Masters | May 29, 2009
http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/...1243456684088.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
THE bitter, internecine political feuding at Manly claimed its highest-profile victim with club joint patron, life member and chief raiser of government funds, Kerry Sibraa, resigning from the Sea Eagles' board.
Sibraa is a former president of the Senate and high commissioner to Zimbabwe.
In a resignation letter, which football club members will start to receive today, he writes: "It is disappointing, to say the least, that this great club is being torn apart by ego, arrogance and self-interest."
When the politics at Manly become too bitter for a politician, even one who has negotiated the power plays in the ALP and confronted Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, it's a bloody battle at Brookvale.
The trigger for Sibraa's resignation is a report in a Sydney newspaper that he has contributed nothing to the club, despite 10 years of lobbying that resulted in then NSW premier Morris Iemma gifting Brookvale Oval $6.6 million and Warringah Council offering $4m, in addition to $1m from the Howard government for lighting.
"Unfortunately, leaks and non-attributable briefings of the media have been used as tactical weapons by a number of participants in this dispute," Sibraa writes. "In the course of them doing this, many statements have been made that are not factual and innocent people have had their reputations sullied."
Sibraa was given a lifetime achievement award at last year's presentation night, which followed the Sea Eagles' grand-final victory.
He was one of the few independent directors on the all-powerful board, which is split by the rival Penn and Delmege families.
The seven-man board that runs the NRL team consists of two directors from each of the Penn and Delmege families, two from the football club and one from the Leagues Club, whose premises are now owned by the Penns. For five years, Sibraa has been one of the two representatives from the football club. His letter reminds members the football club was the principal entity blocking a move of the Sea Eagles team to the Central Coast.
