Door to stadium deal open for Constantine if Knights fail
A STATE Government representative said yesterday that the lease for EnergyAustralia Stadium would be put out to tender opening the door for Jets owner Con Constantine to possibly gain control if negotiations between the Newcastle Knights, Wests Group and International Sports Centre Trust fell through.
Premier's Office Hunter regional co-ordinator Ben Chard was confident yesterday that a deal would be formalised shortly between the NRL club, Wests and the trust, which manages the stadium on behalf of the State Government.
Chard would be "very surprised" if those parties were unable to agree to a new 12-year lease extension. The Knights' current arrangement expires on January 8.
But he admitted that the lease agreement was not a fait accompli, and Constantine would be entitled to bid for it if the Knights-Wests alliance could not broker a deal with the trust.
"If that breaks down, then, quite simply, we will go out to tender," Chard said.
"Everything is by no means signed and settled, however at this point in time we are still confident that we have a decent agreement with the Knights and Wests and are expecting them to proceed on those terms."
He said if the lease was put out to tender, the Jets, who sub-let the stadium from the Knights, "would have every right to put in a bid, just as any company would".
Asked why it had taken more than 12 months to complete the paperwork, Chard replied: "It's hard yards, but we're getting there.
"It's taken so long because it's a complex management arrangement . . we have been working through that.
"There was a change in management at the Knights which delayed the process quite substantially."
Constantine believes his A-League soccer club and the Knights should be allowed to share the stadium as co-tenants, but Chard described that suggestion as "garbage".
"You've got to have a manager of the facility, and who that manager is is a point obviously of disagreement with Con and the Knights," Chard said.
"The decision was taken by cabinet to get the co-joint arrangement between the Knights and Wests, while recognising that it is still a State Government facility at which all tenants, including the Jets, will be catered for . . .
"How do you run any building, or any organisation, with one organisation walking in one day and a different organisation another day?
"You've got to have an overall manager driving the process, managing the overall facility.
"You can't have co-joint tenants in relation to facilities.
"It just doesn't make any sense."
Constantine has repeatedly queried why the lease was not put out to tender before it was initially offered to the Knights, claiming the process lacked "transparency".
But Chard said: "I don't think he's got any justification at all for complaint.
"Cabinet made the decision in the best interests of continuity and the best interests of the stadium's management, that it would be offered back to the Knights.
"Our interest as government is very simple: it's about maintaining a viability for all of the clubs the Jets and the Knights and getting a decent arrangement so that we are still in charge of who plays at what is a government facility.
"The agreement accommodates for all interests, including the Jets.
"It's a good working agreement for all of the parties.
"The decision was taken in terms of the best way forward, and we believe what we've got is a sensible proposition that supports all of the codes."
Chard would not comment on Constantine's complaints that the Jets received no income from food and drink sales, which are controlled by Wests, at the Jets' home games.
