What the candidates in Franklin told Our Place about their voting intentions
Over the past two months people from every corner of the state have taken a pledge to exercise their vote to put the health and welfare of all Tasmanians before the arrogant demands of the AFL.
To help you honour that pledge, we asked every candidate one simple question:
If elected, will you vote for the use of public funds (costing $ hundreds of millions) for construction of a new stadium for AFL in Tasmania?
This is how they responded:
| Jehni Thomas-Wurth – Animal Justice Party | No | The Animal Justice Party exists to represent the rights and interests of non-human animals so this issue is outside our policies and positions, however my view is that public funds are better used for helping our community in need and that includes better support for shelters and rehoming of companion animals, as well as reducing the numbers of animals killed on our roads. |
| Clare Glade-Wright – Independent | Yes | I don’t like Mac Point as the location due to the beautiful historic nature of the area. I would like to see the Truth and Reconciliation Park here as per original masterplan for the area. I support a stadium at Regatta Point noting that there are more happy stakeholders like HCC and RSL. |
| Bob Elliston – Independent | No | I’m opposed to an AFL stadium in Hobart because it is the wrong use of public money, at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and for the wrong reasons. Our top priority must be our ability to survive as a healthy community in the face of worsening global heating. Even if there was no danger from climate change, an expensive stadium for the benefit of the AFL corporation would be a shocking waste when ambulance ramping proves there are large and chronic problems with Tasmania’s health system. |
| Tony Mulder – Independent | Yes | Not wedded to Mac1, Mac 2 seems a good alternative. |
| Gideon Cordover – Greens | No | The Tasmanian Greens do not support the investment of many hundreds of millions taxpayer dollars in the construction of a new stadium in Tasmania. Tasmania has several stadiums in which AFL, and other sports, are routinely played. While we strongly support an AFL and ALFW team, we believe they should play in the existing stadiums and be based in Launceston. York Park is one of the best playing surfaces in the country and has hosted AFL games for well over a decade. The Greens support the pledged $130 m upgrade to York Park and have formally proposed it be the ‘Home of football’. |
| Rosalie Woodruff – Greens | No | The Tasmanian Greens do not support the investment of many hundreds of millions taxpayer dollars in the construction of a new stadium in Tasmania. Tasmania has several stadiums in which AFL, and other sports, are routinely played. While we strongly support an AFL and ALFW team, we believe they should play in the existing stadiums and be based in Launceston. York Park is one of the best playing surfaces in the country and has hosted AFL games for well over a decade. The Greens support the pledged $130 m upgrade to York Park and have formally proposed it be the ‘Home of football’. |
| Toby Thorpe – Labor | Uncommitted | The stadium is currently in the planning process. This process is finally an opportunity to get answers about the project that the Liberals have failed to give Tasmanians. We should let this process run its course before committing to a final position on the project. |
Help by sharing this information on Facebook
Some questions you may be pondering:
What if I vote for the Liberal Party?
In your electorate (and in every electorate around the State), every Liberal Party candidate failed to respond. We know the Liberal Party publicly advocates for a stadium at Macquarie Point. For more information on their position, we looked to the Premier’s Media Conference of 15 February and his undertaking to cap stadium spending at $375M. Click below to refresh your memory on our thoughts about that.
What if I vote for the Labor Party?
Across the entire state, only two ALP candidates took the time to respond. One ticked the NO box and one ticked the UNCOMMITTED box – not a reflection of a tightly held party position. Again, we looked to the stated party position – to renegotiate the deal. On 12th March 2024 the Labor leader announced her party would see how the AFL Team went before committing to a stadium. This leaves the door open for a decision to be made in favour of a stadium in Hobart at any point in time the ALP – if in government – decides is the right time. In light of continuing AFL arrogance and intransigence, we wonder whether a vote for Labor might turn out to be a vote for a stadium?
What if I vote for one of the minor parties?
Minor party candidates were more responsive than either of the majors.
We recommend that, when reading the results for the minor parties, you ensure that the candidate’s comments are consistent with their declared position. And, as with the Labor responses, have an eye to the party’s capacity to hold a consistent line.
Most of the minor parties have websites you can visit that set out policy positions on other issues that are important to you. Beware fake sites – some groups have stooped pretty low in this campaign and created sites in the name of other parties setting out fake policy positions. And while the Our Place campaign is about a stadium, we would not encourage people to vote for NO STADIUM parties that hold other policy positions likely to cause harm to Tasmanian communities or individuals.
What if I vote for an Independent?
It was only amongst the Independents that we found any YES responses.
As with the minor party candidates we recommend that, when reading the results, you ensure that the candidate’s comments are consistent with their declared position (e.g. you decide if a NO sits comfortably with: “I support a more moderate plan for a Hobart stadium, or perhaps the privatised model … ”).
And we recommend that, where you are considering parking your vote with an Independent who will vote NO for a stadium, you take the time to find out more about them. Our campaign is about a stadium but we would not encourage people to vote for NO STADIUM candidates who hold other policy positions likely to cause harm to Tasmanian communities or individuals.