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Democracy being the strange old beast that she is, it is difficult to judge what people vote for.
Particularly when compulsory voting means some less civic-minded folk presumably turn up at the polls to avoid a hefty fine or to scoff a charity sausage.
But after the Coalition retained power in the NSW state election, it is possible to say with confidence there was one thing Sydneysiders did not vote against — new or refurbished stadiums.
Well, at the very least, they did not vote against stadiums in numbers sufficient to justify the ALP's strident anti-stadiums campaign — egged on by populist polls and petitions purportedly demonstrating vast and even passionate opposition to the government's $2.2 billion "stadiums splurge".
The ALP's big moment of the campaign was supposed to have been opposition leader Michael Daley "sacking" conservative shock jock Alan Jones from his position on the SCG Trust live on air.
Those not generally amused by Jones's typically strident opinions and hectoring interview technique no doubt enjoyed the sound of the schoolmaster being disciplined in his own office. Yet this piece of political pantomime has not resonated much beyond the espresso belt.
At the same time the message that saving money on stadiums would mean more schools or hospitals did not hit the electoral nerve the ALP expected.
Perhaps this was because Mr Daley botched his "gotcha" moment with Jones by wrongly claiming fire sprinklers had been removed from the SFS to exaggerate the allegedly hazardous nature of the structure — just one instance where a lack of attention to detail dogged his campaign.
Perhaps voters concluded there were more important issues or that stadiums and schools/hospitals were not, as the ALP insisted, an either-or proposition.
Or — and this might surprise those who vehemently opposed the stadium agenda — perhaps there is a significant number of Sydney sports fans who want to enjoy the games their teams play in world class stadiums.
But regardless of the reason, that the stadiums issue has been settled unequivocally at the ballot box is a major win for the fans of those Sydney sports clubs who will benefit from the new taxpayer-funded venues.
Sydney Football Stadium — or what's left of it — will be razed and rebuilt as a showpiece venue that we are promised will compare favourably with Brisbane's Lang Park, Melbourne's Docklands Stadium and even the best of Europe and the USA's boutique arenas.
Sydney Olympic Stadium will be refurbished and reconfigured as the rectangular stadium it should have been immediately after the 2000 Olympics — and would have been if the savvy AFL had not hijacked the construction process by committing a relatively paltry $10 million to the project.
Even as Premier Gladys Berejiklian claimed victory, some within Sydney's very satisfied sports community were suggesting even more than the $810 million pledged should be spent rebuilding the Olympic Stadium.
This cause will not be hurt by the re-election of the Liberal Member for Penrith, Stuart Ayres, who has been the strongest proponent of stadium rebuilds and subsequently the biggest target of ALP anti-stadium electioneering.
At the very least Sydney's largest stadium will finally be the shape it should have been 19 years ago and, hopefully, provide a more intimate atmosphere for Socceroos internationals, State of Origin, Bledisloe Cup games and other big occasions.
So Gladys will build them ... but will they come?
After more than a decade advocating the construction of better stadiums in Sydney, my greatest reservation before the election was that the leagues (NRL, A-League, Super Rugby) and their clubs had not done enough to drive attendance and big membership models.
In the face of the "build schools and hospitals instead" argument, Sydney sport had not demonstrated a current or even potential demand for better stadiums at the lavish price tag presented.
The counter argument is that it will only be when state-of-the-art stadiums are built that demand rises.
Some contend that had Parramatta Stadium been opened before the election we might have been spared the agonising stadium debate as the popularity of new venues was made obvious — and, as a result, the ALP might not have concentrated so heavily on an issue that did not turn a single metropolitan seat in its favour.
Parramatta Stadium is already sold out for its first game between Parramatta and Wests Tigers on April 22 and it is anticipated the new arena in its centrally located and (by some inner-city types) underrated location could drive strong growth in NRL and A-League crowds.
Novelty value or the start of a new era in which infamously reluctant Sydney fans are tempted to leave their lounge chairs or boats by more comfortable surroundings and attend sport in greater numbers?
History will be the judge.
For now, thank goodness, the incessant and sometimes stupefying arguments and opportunistic personality politicking of the stadium wars have been silenced at the ballot box.
Topics: a-league, soccer, sport, nrl, rugby-league, state-elections, elections, government-and-politics, sydney-2000, nsw, australia
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