Amidst global instability, inflation and challenges to the construction industry, the Tasmanian Government revised its estimated cost of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium from a total of $775 million to $1.13 billion.
But economist Nicholas Gruen tells Tasmania Mornings presenter Leon Compton he estimates the cost would be even higher at $1.5 billion, according to an update of his original independent review into the stadium, this time commissioned by anti-stadium group Macquarie Point Vision Ltd.
“The number of cents Tasmanians get for every dollar spent has gone from 44 cents of economic benefit to under 40 cents, about 39 cents,” he says.
“In our pessimistic scenario where some of the risks come in, like if the roof isn’t as easy to build as people think, if there are geotechnical problems, then Tasmanians get about 27 cents for every dollar that they spend on the stadium.”