Yes, I’m Andrew Wilkie, and I’m the master of ceremonies for this event. I’m also, of course, the independent federal member for the Electorate of Clark.
Now, I warn you, I’m going to be running a very tight ship. We only have until 1:00, and I’m mindful that there are people here who have ducked out of work during their lunch hour. So I do want to stick to that 1:00 deadline, please. And we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. We’ve got 5 excellent speakers and, at the end, we need to have enough time to vote on a motion that I’ll be putting to the meeting.
Now, although I am not one of the speakers formally for today, I do want to put it very clearly on the public record where I stand on the stadium. And in my mind it’s as simple as this. The community do not want it, the community do not need it, and the community cannot afford it. And I have said as much personally and directly to Gillon McLachlin and to Andrew Dillon. And I have said as much repeatedly personally to the Prime Minister when I have urged him in the strongest possible terms that not one cent of federal money should be going to the building of the stadium.
Now, I want you to reflect on the following motion. It won’t be amended. It’ll simply be a case of, at the end of this meeting, I’ll ask you to vote yes or no on it.
And the motion is:
This meeting calls on the Tasmanian Government to:
- immediately abandon its Macquarie Point Stadium proposal before any more public monies are wasted on this unachievable project; and
- renegotiate the team agreement with the AFL to deliver AFL and AFLW teams while reclaiming the state’s sovereignty over decisions regarding where and when AFL and AFLW sporting facilities are to be built or upgraded.
So reflect on that motion please as you hear our speakers and I’ll go straight to our first speaker which is Vica Bayley. I don’t think I need any introductions frankly for any of these speakers, but I have been told to say a few words.