Sunday opening for Suncorp
The Queensland State Government will get what it wanted - a Sunday afternoon opening of the $300 million redeveloped Suncorp Stadium with a major rugby league fixture involving the Brisbane Broncos.But there is some uncertainty if the stadium will be ready in time after electricians on site yesterday voted to start industrial action from midnight.
About 100 Electrical Trades Union members will refuse to do overtime or any switchboard and substation work at the stadium as they pursue a wage increase.
The bans are expected to remain in place for a month but will escalate unless a new enterprise bargaining agreement is reached.
However, Premier Peter Beattie said he was optimistic the project would be completed on time because some industrial action had been factored into the construction contract.
"We are committed to that date and all the information we have is that it's on target," he said.
The Government received some good news yesterday as Channel Nine bowed to pressure and broke all its normal programming procedures to give early approval for the Broncos-Newcastle Knights Round 12 National Rugby League fixture to be played on Sunday, June 1.
This came after The Courier-Mail revealed Nine seemed certain to demand the match be played on the Friday night because it was the "standout" game of Round 12 and a ready-made ratings winner for Friday Night Football.
Nine's stance threatened to derail Government plans for a gala family day, including a Cairns to Brisbane football relay, to mark the stadium's re-opening.
Deputy Premier and Sport Minister Terry Mackenroth welcomed Nine's decision to give the go-ahead for June 1, saying: "Having the match on Sunday afternoon will allow the public to make a whole day of it and it helps us enormously to have the scheduling in place this early. Now we can work towards making it a truly memorable day."
Nine Sport executive producer Steve Crawley said he decided to give the Broncos and the Government what they wanted "in the interests of rugby league".
"Because of our relationship with the Broncos and because this is a unique situation we have decided to take a commonsense approach and give them what they wanted," Mr Crawley said.
"There is nothing for the Nine network in this decision because Friday Night Football is important to us, and to rugby league, and the ratings would have been enormous for that match on a Friday night.
"But we can understand that everyone concerned with Suncorp Stadium wants to make the re-opening a big success and that they want to use this match to iron out any kinks before the first State of Origin match 10 days later."
Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen was delighted to hear Nine had relented.
"We are grateful to Nine and especially to Steve Crawley because this would not have been an easy decision for them," Mr Cullen said. "This is great news for rugby league."
