Less than a month before Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Sydney for World Youth Day, an unholy row is brewing over the event's costs and its impact on local businesses in Australia's biggest city.The five-day celebration of Catholic youth has been billed as a major boost to the city's economy, attracting up to 125,000 international visitors and culminating in a Papal mass before 500,000 people on July 20.
But the devil, as World Youth Day (WYD) organisers have found, is in the detail.
World Youth Day's funding has come under scrutiny after the New South Wales government committed almost 110 million dollars (103.5 million US) to staging the event, arguing that it will pump 150 million into the economy.
Critics have cast doubt on the government's economic modelling and questioned why such generous funding has been handed to a religious organisation representing about 26 percent of the population.
Media reports put the Catholic Church's financial contribution to WYD at 10-15 million dollars, although organisers have refused to reveal exact figures.
Greens lawmaker Lee Rhiannon said the state government had not finalised funding arrangements less than four weeks before the event, potentially leaving taxpayers liable to foot the bill if costs rise.
She said the situation was "effectively creating an open-ended tab for the Catholic Church.
"The Catholic Church now has the government over a barrel," she said.
Rhiannon said concerns raised by Sydney's hoteliers this month showed the predicted economic benefits from WYD did not hold up.
Australian Hotels Association chief executive Sally Fielke said hotels had been forced to reduce their rates because the anticipated flood of pilgrims had not materialised and ordinary tourists were avoiding the city over that period.
Bookings showed occupancy rates -- normally 75 percent -- were down to 30 percent, she said.
"The numbers that were predicted to fill our hotel rooms have simply not materialised," Fielke said. "There is a genuine concern coming from our industry."
The state government said while arrangements for WYD were still being "fine tuned," issues of cost and liability had been settled and it stood by its estimates about the event's economic benefits.
"There's an old saying that you have to spend money to make money," said the government's WYD coordinator, Kristina Keneally.
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