Ever since the first whispers about the deal our Premier had made with the AFL, Tasmanians have been speaking up to oppose the construction of a new stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart.
It took some weeks after his announcement for the Premier to tell Tasmanians what he had signed them up for. When he finally released the Club Funding and Development Agreement (aka ‘Contract’) to the public, the full burden of risk to the Tasmanian community was revealed, including sole responsibility for all cost overruns, penalties for unfilled seats, and multi-million dollar fines for failing to meet staged completion dates. Click below to read the Contract.
And all this for a state with a struggling economy, massive debt, and ever-increasing failures in delivering housing, health and education services to its citizens.
Both Tamanians and mainlanders have given generously to help spread the word about this shameful deal. Our Place marked the 12 month anniversary of Premier Rockliff’s announcement of his ugly stadium by launching a crowdfunder for newspaper ads like this one to show all Australians what is planned for our Hobart.
Tasmanians know that this behemoth is:
- in the wrong place
- bad economic and public policy
- rooted in abuse of power.
So they have told their premier, their opposition leader, their electoral candidates and their sitting parliamentarians that building this will:
- cause destruction of our loved heritage
- mire our state in debt
- further erode our trust in the political process.
Ever since the deal was done, people who love our Hobart have tirelessly lobbied, pledged, petitioned, made submissions, rallied, attended meetings, written letters, given funds and voted for a parliament that would vote down a stadium (only to be betrayed by a Labor backflip). And they have turned their attention to the AFL, making a call for a fairer deal for our state.
The signatories to this shameful deal were Premier Rockliff and then AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan. If you care about retaining Hobart’s precious heritage, Tasmania’s economic future and the wellbeing of the Tasmanian community, please join us in asking Mr McLachlan’s successor, Andrew Dillon, to renegotiate the Team Agreement.
Tasmanians want their footy teams, but they don’t need a new, ugly stadium imposed on their historic waterfront by the AFL!