The Tasmanian Planning Commission has advised against building a stadium at Hobart’s Macquarie Point in a major blow to the Tasmania Devils’ bid to join the AFL.
The panel used blunt language in delivering its recommendation in a report released on Wednesday.
“The panel recommends that the project should not proceed … the panel has concluded that the benefits are outweighed by the disbenefits.”
A render of the proposed stadium.
The panel wrote that “the cost benefit analysis shows that the construction and operation of the stadium results in a substantial net social cost to the Tasmanian community”.
The AFL has not budged on its position that the stadium is essential to the Devils’ AFL and AFLW teams being admitted to the competition in 2028; the granting of the AFL licence is conditional on the stadium’s approval.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he would continue to fight for the stadium. He said the report “massively underestimates the social and economic benefits the stadium, a new AFL team and a supercharged events industry will have on Tasmania”.
Under political pressure, the government declared the stadium a project of state significance, triggering the involvement of the planning commission, which eventually led to Wednesday’s report. In the meantime the government also attempted to push through enabling legislation in to circumvent the usual planning and construction process. That push was halted when an election was called after a vote of no confidence in Rockliff was held in parliament.
Rockliff responded to the report’s release by announcing that parliament would proceed with developing legislation to ensure the stadium was built, with the parliament to have the final say. “As a growing state we simply cannot afford not to, this is so much bigger than politics. This is our future on the line,” Rockliff said.
