Taxpayers won't face any unexpected costs for World Youth Day (WYD) events, a government spokesman says. The government knows exactly how much the event is going to cost and all major venues have been secured, the government's WYD office said.
State government venues for World Youth Day have all been secured, and all issues concerning cost and liability have been agreed," a spokesman for Kristina Keneally said.
"We know exactly how much it's going to cost."
The representative said $86 million would be spent on government services, including policing, transport and road changes, and a further $22.5 million would be spent on funding related to Randwick Racecourse.
"That's a total cost of $108.5 million," he said.
"There is some dotting of the i's and crossing of the t's, some minor operational and some minor technical matters which relate to ... a small number of the individual venues that they're still working out.
"That's what we expected to be doing."
But the NSW Greens are calling for the release of a draft agreement between the NSW government and the Catholic Church outlining who will be responsible for WYD costs.
"The failure to bed down a formal agreement 26 days out from the event means that Treasurer Michael Costa is effectively creating an open-ended tab for the Catholic Church," Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said in a statement.
"The Catholic Church now has the government over a barrel.
"The treasurer is being financially irresponsible by keeping a World Youth Day slush fund which can be continually dipped into to smooth over dramas, with the big winners currently being the church and the Australian Jockey Club."
Ms Keneally said later it was not unusual to be finetuning a large event just under a month before it began.
"It's not unusual with large events that some matters are fine-tuned right up until event time," she said in a statement.
"That was the case with the Olympics and it's the case with WYD."
The details of the agreement between the NSW government and the Catholic Church could not be released until both parties were satisfied, "just like any commercial agreement", Ms Keneally said.
"There's an old saying that you've got to spend money to make money, and that certainly applies with World Youth Day.
"We conservatively estimate (WYD) will deliver $150 million of economic benefit, and the Sydney Chamber of Commerce estimates (it) will bring in $231 million."
The total cost to the government would be $108.5 million, made up of $86 million for police, transport and road changes and $22.5 million for funding relating to Randwick Racecourse.
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