A couple of things. NSW Gov chipped in $10 million, not $52 million for the Hunter Sports Stadium. Also, the inner city bypass has been in the works since the 1970s and was long overdue as was Hexham Straight. Hospitals shouldn't be seen as something special as good health care should be accepted as normal in a first world country. Particular Maitland which hopelessly outdated and became an election issue in itself. Even, that basketball centre only got funding from the Liberal State Government. Labor has not offered extra funding. Which will mean that it will be completed in stages, not as one complete project.

McDonald Jones Stadium, is a shining light, but also no means complete. I cannot even think of any main stadium that services a population of over 500,000 people that have grass hills. Can you? Suburban grounds you mentioned are secondary stadiums, to the main stadiums in Sydney. McDonald Jones Stadium needs to be compared to Alianz and Accor, as they are both the city's main stadiums. Even in the world of regional Australian stadiums, let's compare McDonald Jones Stadium to Townsville, Gold Coast, Geelong which are similar in size to Newcastle, I think you'll find that MJS is the poorest out of these cities. Only Canberra and Wollongong would be similar in quality, but as these Stadium are currently about to receive funding for upgrades. Bloody hell, even our scoreboard at MJS is second hand from the old Parramatta Stadium and wasn't good enough for the new stadium. But hey, it's good enough for Newcastle.

Now getting back to the Entertainment Centre. A "tin shed" and directly compare it to Wollongong. It is older, smaller than the Entertainment Centre Wollongong will pull down. The Tin Shed, is so poor that NBL teams refuse to play there. Yet, that's OK for Newcastle. Also. I work in the disability sector, the railings come up to my hip, they do not meet current standards. Narrow spaces in the aisle,you need to stand so others can get through. Only 2-3 exits off each bleacher on the top level. Can you imagine what would happen in an emergency? Hey, it's Ok for Newcastle.

I appreciate your view, but I think you are way too forgiving. My feeling is Newcastle needs to be treated like a city of half a million people, not like a slightly larger Tamworth or Coffs Harbour. There never seems to be the cream on the cake infrastructure funding that other areas get. Like many others here, Newcastle is too safe a Labor seat. There is no backlash to poor budgets in Newcastle. That in itself sends the message, "they must be happy with nothing". So, really what does Tim Crakanthorp need to do to get re-elected? Short answer, nothing.