In short:
Tasmania’s government has released its response to the state planning commission’s scathing report last month recommending the proposed AFL stadium project at Hobart’s Macquarie Point not proceed.
The Macquarie Point Multipurpose Stadium Government Response outlines the case to forge on with the build, and includes the economic, cultural and social benefits. It also warns, “this opportunity for all Tasmanians is too big and too important to turn our back on”.
What’s next?
The stadium still needs to pass both houses of Tasmania’s parliament. A stadium order will be tabled before parliament in the first week of November.
Anti-stadium group Our Place was sceptical of the government’s financial case, with spokesperson Roland Browne describing the report as a work of fiction.
“Report after report after report by everyone from Saul Eslake to the Tasmanian Treasury has made it clear that these vanity infrastructure projects must stop or the axe will fall ever harder on jobs and services while taxes will rise,” he said.