East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): NSW Government Response (1997)

Looking back at recent entries in the series, 1997 was a major year in the redevelopment of East Circular Quay with the construction of the new buildings, criticism of the redevelopment, public opposition and from its opponents, alternative schemes to redevelop the area. 

This week, we will focus on the State Government's response to the redevelopment and its response to criticism from opponents of the redevelopment. 

East Circular Quay was under the jurisdiction of Sydney City Council, which regulated planning guidelines. As the redevelopment of both development sites at East Circular Quay was over $50 million each, the Central Sydney Planning Committee had the authority to either approve or reject a proposed development. The committee was not comprised entirely of those sitting or working for the council. Four members of the committee are appointed by the Planning Minister. 

Opponents felt that the State Government needed to take action to halt redevelopment. As mentioned in Part #18 (June 24 2024), the NSW Government had ruled out the acquisition of the site due to the cost - $700 million at the start of 1997.

David Brice Scheme

Last week, I provided an overview of David Brice's scheme to consolidate the sites of Quay Apartments and the Royal Automobile Club onto one site, build one tall tower, and scale back the development at East Circular Quay.

Source: Totaro, P. & Wainwright, R. 1997. "Quay question: will Sydney accept this trade-off?" The Sydney Morning Herald, June 4.1.

He was unable to persuade the State Government to consider his scheme. The State Government felt that the proposed park at East Circular Quay was not a suitable tradeoff in exchange for building the 55-storey tower south of the Cahill Expressway, citing the size of the park and the proposed height of the tower. 

Land Swap proposals were suggested such as redeveloping part of Observatory Hill Park, but were not supported by the government.

Source: Anon. 1997. "Architects want Bridge park swap". The Daily Telegraph, April 16: 15. 

Bob Carr's view

It was reported that Bob Carr (Premier) was privately supportive of demolishing the Bennelong Apartments building, though it was the cost of demolition that it would impose on the State Government that was holding him back

Source: Allen, L. 1997. "Demolition a tall order". The Australian, March 29: page unknown. 

Some cited articles mentioned in this post were sourced from the Factiva Database.

Entries in this Series

1. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The first apartment block proposal (1979)
2. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Opera Garden Centre Scheme (1984)
3. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unilever House Hotel Conversion (1986)
4. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Opera Garden Centre Scheme Revisited (1986)
5. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unilever House Hotel Conversion (1987)
6. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): CML's 1990 Scheme
7. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): CML's Bennelong Centre (1991)
8. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The Revolving Office Tower Scheme (1991)
9. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): East Circular Quay 'Ideas Quest' (1992)
10. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Mirvac Hotel Scheme - 61 Macquarie Street (1992)
11. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): New Planning Guidelines unveiled (1993)
12. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The shift towards residential development (1993)
13. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Residential Scheme unveiled (1994)
14. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Construction commences (1995)
15. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Construction continues (1996)
16. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Unveiling "The Toaster" (1997)
17. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): The protests (1997)
18. East Circular Quay Redevelopment (Series): Redevelopment Visions (1997)

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Donald Trump and Sydney's proposed casino (1986) - NEW FINDINGS

Last year, I shared some material relating to a proposal by Donald Trump to construct a casino resort complex on the eastern side of Cockle Bay at Darling Harbour.

This week, NSW Cabinet papers from 1987 were made to the public. In addition, The Australian last month had revealed information relating to how the Unsworth Government (1986-1988) handled his proposal to build a casino resort and will provide a short summary of the material.

Above: Donald Trump's Casino Resort proposal for Darling Harbour (1986).

We now have a model of what Trump's resort would have looked like which was published in The Australian on Friday. As I mentioned, Harry Seidler was commissioned as the architect by Trump. The hotel tower reminds me of Shell House in Melbourne.

Sydney was being promised something special. It would look quite dated by today's standards and perhaps a redevelopment might have been in order.

Last year, I referred to a report from The Sydney Morning Herald from May 1987. Trump had tried to evade police checks required for operators of casinos in NSW. Cabinet Minutes show that while the concept had "public appeal", a NSW Police Board Report had suggested that Trump had links to the Mafia. Financial viability was also identified as a concern by CIBC Australia.

While the Darling Harbour Redevelopment Authority and the Casino Operations Board were satisified with the Trump proposal, it (along with three other proposed schemes) were rejected by Cabinet.

1996: Rare Sunday Telegraph Article on Gladys Berejiklian

With Gladys Berejiklian recently gaining the job as Premier of NSW, I am reminded of this article that I found several years ago from when she had been elected as President of the Young Liberals in NSW in 1996.

In newspaper profiling the Premier in recently, you do see the images of her in the outfit that you see below, but was surprised that the photo below of her standing on the steps of Parliament House in Macquarie Street was not featured.

Source: Van Den Nieuwenhof, L. 1996. "Gladys prepares to fight for Libs". The Sunday Telegraph, November 3: 60. 

At the time, she was only 26 years old and wanted to use her appointment to the role to highlight the issues of youth e.g. Generation X. She was asked to comment on the recent debate on immigration as highlighted by Federal MP (now One Nation Leader & Queensland Senator) Pauline Hanson just two months before. Despite her Armenian heritage, she felt at the time there needed to be a restriction on the number of immigrants permitted into Australia each year.

Very few people reading this article were thinking back in 1996 that Gladys would end up running the nations premier state, but it was a sign of things to come. A politician of the future was in the grooming.

The staffer for (then) NSW Opposition Leader Peter Collins, would end up succeeding him as the Member for Willoughby in 2003 when Collins retired from politics. She worked her way up through the shadow cabinet.  When the Liberals gained power in 2011, she became Transport Minister. Under Mike Baird (2014-17), she ascended to the role of treasurer and when he retired last month, endorsed her to lead the Liberals. On January 23, the party room elected her as Premier in a unanimous vote.

Her appointment as Premier also makes her the first woman to lead a Liberal Party Government in any Australian State Parliament, and the second woman to lead a government in NSW.

The stereotypes were being bulldozed then? I hope even more can be bulldozed now.  Will she finally bulldoze the negative stereotypes of women leading in politics that sections of the media has created under the leadership of others i.e. Clover Moore, Julia Gillard and Christine Nixon? I hope so. Gender does not shape how one leads. It's the decisions that a leader makes that defines their ability to lead.

1986: Donald Trump and Sydney's proposed casino

Darling Park could have been home to Donald Trump's Hotel and Casino Resort. Photo was taken by the Author.

Donald Trump has been elected in the past week as the President of the United States, succeeding Barack Obama.

And it just happened in this past week, I came across a 1990 clipping from The Daily Telegraph where the man himself revealed plans to build one of his famous casino resorts here in Sydney, and that led me to finding out a little more his plans.

His unsuccessful quest to build a casino in Sydney dates back to 1986 when Barrie Unsworth was the Premier of NSW.

The proposed location was not where The Star casino is located. It was planned for Darling Harbour on the current site of the Darling Park office complex and Cockle Bay Wharf.

On November 10, 1986, Trump's intentions to seek a casino licence were reported in The Sydney Morning Herald. 

The hotel and casino complex would be designed by architect Harry Seidler, who would be flown to view his casino's in Atlantic City, New Jersey to guide him in creating the design.

Trump's position was:

Sydney's a wonderful city. and if properly done, this could be a tremendous success for Sydney and everyone involved.  It's a great concept, if it's well executed.

He did face competition with up to a fifteen tenders involved and was shortlisted as one of five tenders in December 1986. In May 1987, Trump had been eliminated with Genting and Civil & Civic the only contractor remaining. They also would eventually be dropped.

Like the scrutiny with James Packer & Crown Resorts in terms of police and government checks with his project at Barangaroo, Trump appeared to try to advert these checks as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald in May 1987. Think about his reluctance to give details as part of his presidential campaign relating to his business dealings.

Source: McLean, P. 1990. "Trump bid on cards for casino". The Daily Telegraph, January 10, 7. 

Trump continued his campaign for several years and it bubbled back to the surface in 1990. He told The Sun Herald on April 22, he said Sydney would have one of the world's greatest casino's. Another interesting comparison with James Packer who wants Sydney to have the world's greatest casino. He did feel that the State Government wasn't interested.

We probably lost an opportunity from the same ineptness from our politicians that Trump seems to believe is plaguing politicians in his home country. If you look at the history of his "empire" of three casinos, they were doomed to fail. His third casino Trump Taj Mahal opened in 1990 in  Atlantic City. Upon opening it was the world's biggest casino. Struggling to pay debts, the casinos were floated on the American Stock Market as Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in June 1995.

Financial problems continued to plague the Casino's with Trump in charge and the company declared bankruptcy in 2004. It is believed that Trump moved away from the company in 2006 and still battled with threats of bankruptcy for the next decade. It was not helped by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09

Two of his Atlantic City casino's no longer exist Trump Plaza closed in 2014, Trump Taj Mahal closed this year. However, his third casino in Atlantic City - Trump Marina was sold and is now a second incarnation of the Golden Nugget Atlantic City Brand.

So if Sydney did have a Trump Hotel & Casino, it would still be around.

It's obvious that the State Government would not want a casino to close. It might have meant a change in management at worst to keep it going.

Sydney is a major international city and a popular tourist destination for international tourists. Atlantic City has had competition from Las Vegas and closer to home in the United States, the rise of gambling in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and preference for air travel.

As for location, it would have been located as mentioned on the current site of the Darling Park complex and Cockle Bay Wharf.

But even if Trump Sydney was turning over a profit, it may have had to subsidise the operations in Atlantic City and service the debt. It may have not even been enough to save them.

Had Trump been put in a position to sell, it would probably have been too late for Crown to buy the casino with preparations for his Barangaroo Casino Resort well advanced in 2014.

Then again its only predictions.

1994: John Fahey's Vision for Circular Quay

The NSW Election as we know was held recently and one face that you might have recognised during election night coverage and at the Liberal Party Election Launch was former Premier John Fahey (1992-1995).

One topic of regular discussion on Circular Quay during the 1990s was what to do with the Cahill Expressway and to redevelop the precinct. Then Prime Minister Paul Keating wanted it to be pulled down as the recently opened Sydney Harbour Tunnel provided the "first and only opportunity" for it to be removed. In July 1994, he attacked the State Government led by John Fahey for not embracing the opportunity. For the state government, the $450 million cost of demolishing the roadway plus redirecting cars and trains was too cost prohibitive. The money was better off being spent on transport infrastructure across New South Wales.

Keating accused them of lacking vision while branding the roadway an "eyesore". He went further and also said that the state government was unfit to showcase the city for the 2000 Olympic games. Federal government money was offered to make it happen. Still, the answer was "no". Fahey told The Daily Telegraph in its edition of July 14, 1994, that he had made requests for Federal assistance but was ignored.

Fahey wrote exclusively for The Sunday Telegraph the following week (July 17) where he revealed his vision for Circular Quay which included:

• Replacing Wharf 4 with a public walkway.
• Reconstruction of the remaining wharves to open up to the harbour.
• Relocation of bus and taxi stands to allow for the new square.

The cost of works was projected at $40 million. A design competition would also be held. 

While he felt that the Cahill Expressway needed to be pulled down in the long term, it needed to stay for the time being citing demolition costs and redirecting cars and trains as mentioned.  Instead, they proposed an upgrade of Circular Quay. One feature was to include an archway as part of improving the concourse area for Circular Quay railway station and creating an open space linking Customs House with the Quay. No outdoor cafes would be in this area. 

   

Source: Fahey, J. 1994. "My vision for our Quay: Main feature an archway promenade." The Sunday Telegraph, July 17: 4-5. 

While the archway never became a reality, our wharves did get their makeover, Wharf 4 is still with us and a public square was built outside Customs House. Footpaths along Alfred Street were also enlarged. It was all completed by the Olympic Games in 2000. Those in Sydney at the time would remember it was one of the official CBD live sites broadcasting Olympic events.

The public square at Customs House was one feature of Fahey's 1994 vision that became a reality.

Photo taken by the Author. 

Still, in 2015, there are calls to pull the Cahill Expressway down, but nowhere near the attention it did receive two decades before.

SYDNEY TRANSPORT PROPOSAL: The "Hi-Tech Inter-City Super-Train" (1988)

Today the NSW State Government announced plans to accquire 65 new trains to run on intercity routes serving the regions surrounding Sydney. The Unsworth Government (ALP) in 1988 announced that new "supertrains" were due to come into service by the end of that year. It never happened.

Source: Comeng. 1988. "Comeng to Supply Hi-Tech Inter-city Super-Train!" (Advertisement).The Daily Telegraph, March 3 :13. 

Six years later we got modified outer suburban versions of the Tangara train with higher seats which could bend, luggage racks near the doors and toilets. They were merely scaled down from what was proposed. 2007 saw the introduction of OSCARS, which were really millennium trains modified again for outer suburban travel.

Updated November 2018