Unfortunately, following a sustained campaign by vested commercial interests, the government and opposition teamed up in the upper house to remove some of the big wins we achieved in the Greater Sydney Parklands Trust Bill.

The ban on car parking on Moore Park has been delayed until 31 December 2025 – two years after initially promised. By the time cars are gone, the stadium will have built two new car parking stations on its land with a net gain in spaces. This is despite the traffic gridlock caused by matches and the loss of parklands for light rail and the Tibby Cotter Bridge, projects that help patrons get to events by public transport.

My amendment to limit leases on public recreation land to 50 years was deleted. Leases of 99 years will be permitted, which is essentially freehold land. While this will facilitate redevelopment of the former showgrounds land, my amendment to require an open tender process for all public recreation space was retained which means plans can no longer proceed under the opaque unsolicited proposal process.

When the bill returned to the lower house for agreement, I argued the changes have made it nothing more than a bureaucratic restructure. My speech > HERE.