It’s understood Crows officials are scheduled to meet with incoming Planning Minister Nick Champion next week, although chairman John Olsen was tight-lipped when asked by whether that suggested there was renewed hope for the club’s Brompton bid.
“I don’t want to make any comment on it,” he said.
“They’ve given us the courtesy of reaching out to tee up a meeting when convenient – after that we might be in a position to mxjmtzywake some comment.”
The Crows have shifted their sights to other locations since Lucas’s snub – including working with West Torrens council on a potential shift to Thebarton Oval – with Olsen consistently stating that the club would “scrutinise all options on the table [and] the decision at the end of the day will be what’s in the best interest of the club”.
Insiders have told the points-based judging criteria that awarded exclusive negotiation rights to MAB “wasn’t even close”, both as an aggregate score and “in each of the individual categories”.
Liberal insiders have suggested any move to overturn the recommendation of the Renewal SA board would rob any subsequent process of legitimacy, and likely dissuade other serious contenders from bidding – with one raising the spectre of the previous Labor government’s controversial Gillman land sale.
Lucas did not comment today but has previously argued: “What sort of message does it send to interstate and international investors that a possible Labor government would be willing to tear up a contract on a whim?”
The Government has not responded to requests for comment, or clarified what answers it has sought from Renewal SA about the bid process and the criteria under which the submissions were judged.
