Premier says Everest Cup projection ‘the right thing for Sydney’ as Scott Morrison says decision a ‘no-brainer’ • The Alan Jones-Opera House row proves Sydney is in thrall to the gambling industry

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has called for critics of the plan to promote Sydney’s richest horse race, the Everest Cup, on the sails of the Opera House to reserve judgment, saying that the plan was “a good compromise” as critics would see on Tuesday night.

Her comments came as the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the decision was “commonsense” and that he did not understand “why people are getting so precious about it”.

The plan to promote the event, which was supported by the controversial broadcaster Alan Jones, including publicising the barrier draw on the sails and showing the Everest Cup itself, was given the go-ahead by the premier on Friday, overriding an earlier veto by the Opera House chief executive, Louise Herron.

Play Video 1:36 Plan to beam gambling ad on to Sydney Opera House sparks national outrage – video report

At a press conference, the premier defended her decision, which has been widely criticised by anti-gambling campaigners and prominent Sydney figures.

'It's not a billboard': anger at use of Sydney Opera House for horse racing ads Read more

“There will be no logos or names – the only words on there are the words on the trophy itself – and that is consistent with what’s happened in the past,” Berejiklian told reporters on Sunday.

She said that the vast majority of the projection would be “artistic material” – the colours of the silks of the horses – but a spokesman confirmed that three to four minutes of the projection would include the barrier draw and the Everest Cup with the logo and words “The Everest”.

“What we are doing, it’s the right thing for Sydney and for NSW,” Berejiklian said.

On Sunday afternoon, Morrison said he supported the decision to advertise the race on the sails of the Opera House.

“This is one of the biggest events of the year,” he said. “Why not put it on the biggest billboard Sydney has?

“These events generate massive opportunities for the state, for the city. I mean, just look at the biggest event this place sees every year, down at Bathurst. I would put the Bathurst 1000 on the Harbour Bridge if I thought it would get more people there.”

Morrison said the Everest Cup created jobs and that the decision was “a no-brainer”.

“We’re talking about an event that is one of the big money spinners for the state. It creates jobs. This isn’t about advertising a packet of chips, this is about advertising one of the biggest events that New South Wales holds.”

Berejiklian said the decision was “at the back end of the decision-making process”. The government had earlier rejected a plan by Racing NSW to drape banners in the colours of the racing silks from the Harbour Bridge but had given the go-ahead to using the Opera House sails to promote the event.

Herron then rejected the plan, saying it was in breach of the Opera House’s policies on logos and commercial promotions.

“It’s a compromise and it’s a good compromise,” Berejiklian said on Sunday. “My father was a welder on the second-highest sail, so the Opera House has a special place in my heart … I wouldn’t want to jeopardise that.”

Meanwhile there is new scrutiny on the role broadcaster Alan Jones played in reversing the decision, after he conducted a highly combative interview with Herron and called for her to be sacked.

The 2GB presenter has been a long-time owner of racehorses, through his company Belford Productions, and is a close friend and business associate of John Messara, the owner of the Arrowfield stud and chairman of Racing NSW.

My father was a welder on the second-highest sail, so the Opera House has a special place in my heart … I wouldn’t want to jeopardise that. Gladys Berejiklian

While Jones does not have a horse running in the Everest Cup this year, Messara’s company, Arrowfield Group, owns Shoals, a filly starting in the 2018 Everest.

Jones also co-owns Snitzel with Messara, whose offspring Redzel won the $6m first prize in the Everest Stakes in 2017. Redzel is owned by a syndicate of prominent racehorse investors.

Jones declared his stake in Snitzel during an interview with the Racing NSW CEO, Peter V’landys, last year, when he correctly predicted Redzel’s win. Jones said he was in a syndicate of about 30 owners of Snitzel.

As a racehorse enthusiast and investor, Jones was also instrumental in urging the state government to cut NSW’s racing parity tax in 2015 to bring it in line with Victoria. He conducted another highly combative interview with the then premier, Mike Baird.

The tax cut will cost NSW taxpayers $235m in foregone revenue over five years.

However, it has helped Racing NSW to enrich the prize pool in NSW to $260m, including setting up the Everest, which is billed as the world’s richest horse race.

Companies and trainers who want to take part in the Everest have committed $1.8m each for three years each to obtain one of the 12 starting slots. But the prizemoney in the race makes it an enticing gamble: a total of $13m in winnings in 2018, rising to $15m in 2020 .

Those who have invested include gambling enterprises Tabcorp and the Star; the Australian Turf Club; premier trainer Chris Waller; auction house Inglis; stud farms Aquis and Coolmore; and racehorse owners and breeders including James Harron Bloodstock, Greg Ingham’s GPI Racing, Max Whitby and associates, Yulong Investments and Damion Flower’s Jadeskye Racing.

News Corp, which broke the story on the the Opera House’s refusal to allow the sails to be used to carry the Everest logo and barrier draw, also has close ties to Racing NSW.

News’ tabloids depend on a steady stream of income from Racing NSW, Racing Victoria and Tabcorp, which pays the company millions to print and distribute the form guides each week, as well as favouring the tabloids with advertising.

While readers understand that advertising is paid for, the form guide arrangements with both News and Fairfax are not well known.

When the Guardian recently asked how much News was paid, it responded: “Both Fairfax and News Corp have had commercial arrangements in place for more than 10 years to publish the NSW form guides.

“For the Daily Telegraph, the cost of more than 60 pages of racing form is jointly funded by Racing NSW and TAB. The form guides provide a valuable information service for the followers of racing by providing them with race fields, form and expert tips and analysis.”

Sydney Opera House ordered to display horse racing advertising on its sails Read more

News Ltd says the form guide carries the logos of Racing NSW and TAB. News also owns betting comparison sites punters.com.au and odds.com.au and is the largest Australian recipient of gambling advertising in its newspapers and pay TV channels.

But the question is whether these commercial interests infect the news pages.

On 20 September, as Racing NSW was locked in a negotiation with the government and the Opera House over promoting the Everest Cup, the Telegraph carried an interview with V’landys.

V’landys said NSW public­ servants were thwarting events by having a “can’t do attitude­”, putting red tape and obstacles in the way.

“We never use the Harbour Bridge to promote anything,” he said. “We never use the Opera House to promote anything.

“Everyone is so possessive of them that we’re not promoting Sydney. Rather than looking for reasons to use these assets, they give you pages of reasons why you can’t.”