Earlier in the afternoon, the NSW Heritage Council had also joined the chorus of complaint against the decision. In a letter emailed to the Premier on Tuesday and obtained by Fairfax Media, chairman Stephen Davies expressed his disappointment. "The Heritage Council of NSW is extremely disappointed with your decision to allow The

Everest light projections onto one of NSW's and Australia's iconic heritage sites, the Sydney

Opera House," he wrote. Protestors shine light onto the sails of the Opera House during the launch of the Everest barrier draw projection. Credit:Wolter Peeters "It is the view of the Heritage Council that the use of the Opera House for the commercial

advertising of this event is a completely unsatisfactory and is an inappropriate use of this

significant heritage place that is valued by many around the world."

According to a survey conducted on Monday night by market research firm Micromex, 18 per cent of 903 respondents were supportive to some degree of the Premier’s decision to allow numbers and branding in the Opera House promotion of the barrier draw for the Everest, a heavily marketed race that is only in its second year. Fifteen per cent of respondents were not very supportive, while 66 per cent were “not at all” supportive. Loading “These results are worse than we saw for stadiums,” said Stu Reeve, the managing director of Micromex, whose clients mainly include local councils but have also numbered state government agencies. “There are certainly concerns around the government promoting gambling, and the damage that gambling does to the community,” said Mr Reeve.

“And secondly, that the government is acting at the best behest of interested stakeholders rather than in the broader sense the community.” Ms Berejiklian agreed to the use of numbers and an “Everest”-worded trophy in the campaign on Friday, over the objections of Opera House chief executive Louise Herron, who had wanted to comply with her institution’s policy of not allowing branding to be projected on the structure. The use of numbers was to give meaning to the barrier draw for the race; but on Tuesday Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys determined to conduct the draw in the morning, citing security concerns over holding the event live on Tuesday night. Protesters against promoting the Everest Horse Race onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Credit:James Brickwood Racing NSW suspended betting on the race during the day.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that if Labor comes to power, he will review the laws protecting Australian World Heritage-listed sites such as the Opera House, to see if they need strengthening against commercial use. “I don’t want to see sites like the Opera House used for commercial purposes”, he told Fairfax Media. “These sites are part of our national character, they’re not here for big business to use whenever they feel like it.” Protesters assembled on the harbour foreshore opposed to the projections of promotional material for the Everest Horse Race. Credit:James Brickwood He said he had no problems with horse racing being promoted , but “there are literally thousands of other places these ads can be put up.. It shouldn’t be on the Opera House.”

“This shouldn’t be allowed to happen again.” Also on Tuesday broadcaster Alan Jones apologised over an aggressive interview he conducted with Ms Herron on Friday. "To Louise and those people who've been offended, I apologise," Jones said on his morning 2GB breakfast program on Tuesday. Alan Jones has apologised to Louise Herron over his remark. Credit: Steven Siewert Micromex’s surveys are conducted through an online panel that the company uses to understand sentiment around community issues. The firm was not paid by any organisation to inquire into views about the Opera House promotion.

In December, Micromex reported that 67 per cent of respondents were opposed to the state government’s then plan of knocking down and replacing two stadiums. A ReachTEL poll commissioned by the Herald in March reported that 59 per cent of voters were opposed to this scheme. Loading In this latest survey, when asked whether the values expressed by those politicians who supported the Opera House promotion of Everest were “in alignment with the broader community'', 68 per cent of respondents said no, 13 per cent said yes, while 19 per cent did not know. Sports Minister Stuart Ayres on Tuesday said he “definitely worked with Racing New South Wales on coming up with the idea for the Opera House''. “We weren't able to use the Harbour Bridge in the short time that we had available before the barrier draw,” Mr Ayres said.