FOR over 50 years opinions about dams, pulp mills, poker machines, forestry, mining, super trawlers, cable cars and salmon farming have divided the Tasmanian community. The controversy that’s currently tearing the state apart concerns a stadium — and whether Tasmania needs, or can afford another one.
The latest bout of community conflict was triggered by the AFL’s former CEO, Gillon McLachlan. When former Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein presented another case for a Tasmanian team to be included in the national competition, the AFL’s response should have given him pause. For Tasmania to be granted a team Mr McLachlan insisted a new stadium must be built. And it must be in Hobart, include a roof, be able to seat 23,000 people, and its location must be the waterfront site at Macquarie Point.
This exacting price to finally have a team in the national draw was inherited by Jeremy Rockliff when Peter Gutwein unexpectedly resigned in 2022. There was no obligation for the incoming premier to agree to the AFL’s one-sided and unreasonable conditions. He could have chosen to renegotiate the deal, or even say it was too high a price to pay and withdraw altogether, but he didn’t. That decision has left Tasmanians once again mired in conflict.