The state of the SFS at the time of the March election has emerged as a significant issue, after Labor Leader Michael Daley warned the government not to sign an imminent demolition contract. Mr Daley has said if Allianz Stadium was demolished before March, an elected Labor government would not rebuild it. NSW Labor Leader Michael Daley says he would not rebuild Allianz Stadium if elected. Credit:AAP Mr Riches told SCG members that the demolition process would run for 12 months. “Demolition itself, given it is a noisy, dusty activity will not commence until after the Sydney cricket Test match, 8th or 9th of January,” Mr Riches said.

"I would expect by the end of March maybe 20 to 25 per cent of the steel roof will be gone and demolition of the stands at the eastern side will have commenced," he said. Much of the questioning at the briefing, audio of which was provided to the Herald, focused on what would happen if Labor, which opposes the new stadium, was elected. “If we are in a position where we are asked by the government of the day to terminate the contract we have executed, normal contractual provisions will prevail,” Mr Riches said. Loading “We will be under instruction of the government of the day.”

Mr Daley has also warned the SCG Trust not to sign a demolition contract. Addressing members at last week’s briefing, the chairman of the SCG Trust, Tony Shepherd, said his organisation would not be signing the contract – Infrastructure NSW would – but that he would sit down with any possible new government to assess its options. “It will be up to them to make that decision based on the state of demolition at that time,” Mr Shepherd said. Asked whether, should Labor win the election, one result would be for a smaller and cheaper stadium to be built on the site, Mr Shepherd said: “That’s quite possible … but again I’m not clairvoyant.” Mr Daley has suggested the SCG Trust could pay for a stadium by itself, either through its own borrowings or a concessional loan from the government.

SCG Trust chairman Tony Shepherd said he would sit down with any new government to discuss options on the future of the stadium. Credit:Brook Mitchell “Lots of luck,” said Mr Shepherd of the idea that the trust, which had an annual surplus of about $2 million, could fund a replacement stadium. “I doubt we could borrow – even with the most generous banker in the world - $729 million and pay it back at $2 million a year.” Mr Shepherd said he would meet with Mr Daley and “repeat to him we are a not-for-profit organisation and we do not have the financial means to service a debt that size, let alone to repay it.” Loading

In his briefing with members, Mr Shepherd provided a fierce defence of the SCG Trust’s actions in advocating for a new stadium. He said the trust, in mid-2016, commissioned safety audits into the state of the 30-year-old stadium. Those reports showed it had multiple safety deficiencies. "Despite what some fools in the media may say, we take that seriously, and we will always," he said. The Sports Minister, Stuart Ayres, has said the state government took its stadium policy to the 2015 election – despite the policy at the time little resembling what it is now. Loading Readers oppose government stadium policy

Exclusive Ucomms/Reachtel polling for the Herald reveals more than 58 per cent of voters oppose or strongly oppose the state government's stadium policy, including knocking down Allianz. About 36 per cent of people polled said they strongly supported or supported the government building stadiums in Sydney, and 4 per cent were undecided. The poll shows the highest level of opposition to the stadiums policy came from National Party voters but a senior Nationals source said the debate was very Sydney-centric. "The stadia issue isn't really impacting regional NSW," the source said.