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http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/200...news/010.shtml
The stadium argument turned into a political football this week as Subiaco council quietly accepted credit for the Kitchener Park proposal that is drifting into favouritism with the government.
The Kitchener Park idea came out of Subiaco after the first report by the Stadium Task Force.
That report suggested that a stadium could go on Mueller Park.
That idea horrified Subiaco residents and council - the park has more than 200 trees and is heavily used by residents and nearby workers and visitors to Princess Margaret Hospital.
Chester Burton, Subiaco chief executive, said that, right from the start, the task force had opposed the idea of revamping Subiaco Oval.
Subiaco council had said it wanted football to remain in Subiaco, but not on Mueller Park.
Mr Burton said that led him and other senior management to go to a planning consultant, Max Margetts, and ask him to review the task force proposal and see if there was another way to figure a stadium into Subiaco without mangling Mueller Park.
The result was the Kitchener Park plan - for a stadium immediately west of the present Subiaco Oval and using one-third of the current oval.
As task force chief John Langoulant put it: "The flank where John Worsfold played for the Eagles would still be a flank in the new stadium."
Subiaco mayor Heather Henderson and some councillors were amazed and less than delirious when they discovered what Mr Burton had done.
They were still telling the world that they were 100% behind the revamp of Subiaco Oval. They did not know about the Kitchener Park plan.
And that is still Subiaco council's official position: it made a unanimous decision last September to try to keep football in Subiaco and backed the WA Football Commission plan for Subiaco Oval.
It repeated that position in March when it sent its response to the task force, along with the Kitchener Park plan.
But now Perth's 60,000-seat stadium could well be on Kitchener Park - the work of Max Margetts and Subiaco council staff.
The task force said last month that the best options were East Perth or Kitchener Park, followed by Burswood Island.
It estimated a new stadium at $800 million. It said the WAFC plan for Subiaco Oval was not acceptable.
Meanwhile, on the political front, Sports Minister John Kobelke said this week that he had decided a revamp of Subiaco Oval would lead to a second-rate stadium and be a waste of taxpayers' money.
He preferred Kitchener Park.
But no decision would be made unless major sports, particularly football, agreed on a stadium.
Then the details could be negotiated.
He was followed within hours by Premier Alan Carpenter saying that he was ready to make the stadium an election issue.
He said on ABC Radio that another budget would be passed before the next state election.
He was prepared to work out a stadium proposal and launch it as part of the election platform.
Within three hours of that statement, Opposition Leader Paul Omodei declared the Premier was playing politics when he should make a decision and build a stadium quickly.
Mr Omodei said the government had the capacity to do the job and the stadium should be built within five years.
"The Premier saying that the location of the stadium will be an election issue shows that he is more interested in playing politics rather than getting on and making decisions in the best interests of WA," Mr Omodei said.
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