Rosehill rejection: Why did ATC members look a gift horse in the mouth?
The prospect of 25,000 new homes on a site situated in the heart of Australia's fastest-growing region were stakes Premier Chris Minns had no option to mount. Under the National Housing Accord he has committed to delivering 377,000 new homes across NSW by 2029. Weigh up the racecourse's adjacency to a newly-constructed light rail network, a coming metro line and a surging jobs hub in Parramatta, and the odds looked impossible to ignore.
The NSW government has made no secret of the centrality of housing supply to its agenda. From its establishment last year of the Housing Delivery Authority, through to its pursuit of its Transport Oriented Development initiative, its colours were clear and unambiguous.
Recent measures by the premier to upscale the state's production of modular homes – and the contingent manufacturing jobs boost – only upped the stakes. As did the commitment from Peter V'landys, chief executive and board member of Racing NSW, to 'ensure the revenue derived from the [Rosehill] proposal is reinvested to benefit the racing industry as a whole'.
Even these assurances couldn't get the proposal over the line. Nor did the prospect of around $2 billion in upgrades to other racetracks, or the sweetener of food, beverage and membership fee concessions. If I know punters' logic, the reason might lie in sentiment, rather than logic. Let me tell you why.
Loading
My grandpop, Harry, was a veteran of the 1945 New Guinea campaign. He would forlornly recall he was 'too tall' to be a jockey. Still, he remained a lifelong horseracing devotee. He lived in a fibro housing commission house in Granville, due to the state's last great housing shortage post-World War II. It was only five minutes from Rosehill racetrack, where he would periodically venture to, 'see a man about a dog'.
Normally unassuming, Harry would harshly shush all of us grandkids when the races came on his 'transistor'. Either that, or he'd send us to the corner shop to buy him a packet of Rothmans Extra Mild cigarettes. 'Get some lollies' with the change he would add.
When I was older, I asked Harry in gambling parlance what the 'tells' were in backing a horse trackside. 'Form be damned', he would rail. 'If you see a horse in the mounting yard sweating too much on a chilly day, give it a miss', he advised. 'Ears up, ears up!' That was his favoured sign. An alert, edgy horse was a sure bet, pop assured me.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘A big deal': PM Modi meets King Charles as India-UK free trade deal signed
Entertainment Reporter Bronte Coy discusses King Charles' meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 'The King has been keeping busy,' Ms Coy told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. 'This was part of a two-day visit by the Indian prime minister, which was largely to discuss the free trade deal which he'd signed earlier in the day before meeting King Charles. 'That deal was three years in the making, so quite a big deal, particularly post-Brexit. 'The prime minister also turned up with a tree sapling as part of an environmental initiative that he himself had launched, so absolutely the way to the King's heart there, with plants and gardening and the environment.'
News.com.au
16 hours ago
- News.com.au
Why hundreds of women are lining up in Sydney
An event that dates back to World War II is still drawing a huge crowd, as shoppers compete to get designer items from Hermes and Burberry for 10 per cent of the retail price. The Peter Pan Op Shop event, which has been running for 85 years, kicked off on Thursday and will be held until July 27 in Sydney. Videos from the event show hundreds of people lining up, wrapping around the block, before doors even opened on Thursday. Inside, clips showed hundreds of women digging through racks hoping to score a designer item they could cherish forever. Items on the racks include a mint green Christian Dior suit, which typically retails for more than $3000, selling for just $300. There was a Burberry suit worth $2000 being sold for $300 and a Louis Vuitton dress, valued at $1800, selling for $320. A fashion show kicked off the event before doors officially opened on Thursday, and hundreds of people have come through so far — and the interest doesn't appear to be slowing down. The same goes for the event itself, which seems to get bigger every year since it started in 1941. It began during a time when clothes were rationed, and women would put on a fashion show to model clothes they were looking to offload. Vicki Barrack, 62, is a volunteer on the Peter Pan Op Shop Committee and began her experience with the event as a shopper at the age of 28. 'I owned my own modelling agency at the time and I was just starting out and wanted to look fabulous but didn't have the money so I went to the op shops,' she told 'I'm an ex-model, so when I went to the op shops people used to follow us around asking, 'can we have what you don't want because you have such a good eye'. So we would help other people shopping and give recommendations on what they should try and buy.' Ms Barrack was then approached to be on the committee and helped set up the day. She said one of her favourite things about the event was the timeless treasures that could be found — and revealed she still has items she purchased from the first event she went to. Ms Barrack believes the event draws such a huge crowd every year because of the endless unknown possibilities. She said the committee was looking for younger volunteers to join, to keep the event going and bring fresh ideas, especially when it comes to social media. 'As our committee ages we need to keep reinvigorating and getting young people equally as excited about fashion and sustainable,' Ms Barrack said. 'If you have any kind of a love or interest in fashion, come to one of these and see what's available. 'Learn from different generations of other fashion lovers – you'll learn a lot. There are labels you may not have even heard of and they can explain the history of these garments and where they came from. 'There was a hat that came in yesterday that was from the queen's milliner — there's history people can learn.' Peter Pan Op Shop is run by Barnardos Australia, an organisation designed to help end child abuse and neglect by supporting families to keep children safe and at home. All the money raised is donating to their causes, such as Beyond Barbed Wire. Ms Barrack said when she first started on the committee, she remembered asking what was done with the money. 'She explained Beyond Barbed Wire to me, and I said 'Shouldn't we be taking clothes out to the women in the prisons and help them put outfits together so when they leave jail they have clothes to wear?'' Ms Barrack recalled. 'I organised for the committee to take clothes and we got names and sizing and a description of the women and we put together outfits for the women. That made everyone a lot more in touch with what we were doing — it helped the kids in the system with Bernardo's.'
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Australian swimming's fresh wave face world title test
The new wave in Australian swimming face an immediate resilience test at the world titles, head coach Rohan Taylor says. Taylor is overseeing a Dolphins team with a near-quarter of debutants, plus five new coaches, at the championships starting on Sunday in Singapore. "We don't have a footy game every week, we go once this year," Taylor told AAP. "So we have got to make sure that they get the experience. "Next year we will have a multiple competitions that they will be exposed to. "But the first one is the one that will test their resilience." Proven performers and gold-medal winners including Kaylee McKeown, Kyle Chalmers, Cam McEvoy and Mollie O'Callaghan form a core of a team including 10 world championship rookies including 16-year-old breaststroker Sienna Toohey. And the 10-strong coaching team under Swimming Australia's head coach Taylor has been revamped after last year's Paris Olympics with five fresh faces. Taylor was impressed with integration of the newcomers at the Dolphins' camp in Darwin before arriving in Singapore. "Having new people come in - a quarter of the team, half the coaching staff - they slotted in really well, it was really nice to see. That is the first step," he said. "The second step will be when they get into competition, obviously anything can happen. "It's going to be how they manage themselves, manage the ups and downs that come with it. "We have had a pretty consistent group of coaches and athletes over the last cycle that we worked with. This is just a new test for us as a leadership." The titles were vital for Taylor's plans for the ultimate goal, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. "I want to be able to look at the next three years to ensure we're working on all the key things for LA," he said. "I just want to know where are our gaps, where are our strengths ... and what do we need to be doing about it as an organisation." Australia will unveil a revamped women's 4x100m freestyle relay team on night one at the Singapore Sports Hub. The retired Emma McKeon and Shayna Jack, who missed selection, are missing from the relay team that won Olympic gold last year. Also on night one, Paris silver medallist Elijah Winnington and a rejuvenated Sam Short renew rivalry with Germany's Olympic champion Lukas Martens in the men's 400m freestyle. And with Ariarne Titmus yet to return post-Olympics, Lani Pallister will fly the Australian flag in a highly-anticipated women's 400m freestyle boasting Canadian Summer McIntosh and American legend Katie Ledecky. McIntosh, at Canada's trials last month, regained the 400m free world record from Titmus and also set global records in the 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley.
