We must spend more wisely than on a stadium we don’t need and can’t afford.
We are Tasmanian doctors strongly opposed to building a new AFL stadium. We are motivated by a sense of care, and a desire to avoid our politicians committing to a disastrous investment which will powerfully contribute to bankrupting our state.
Tasmania has the poorest, oldest, sickest, and most spread-out population of any state. We must have well-targeted spending on public services and infrastructure. Our community needs the support of quality education, healthcare, housing, and appropriate job creation for a better future.
Tasmania already has too much debt. We must not allow our children and grandchildren to be burdened by our poor financial decision-making. Our politicians have been captured by AFL executives and their unreasonable demands to build a white elephant that will cost the public purse $2 billion over the next 10 years. Money must be spent on things our community really needs.
Peer-reviewed academic research informs us that spending taxpayers’ money on sports stadiums does not provide an economic development catalyst and does not benefit the funding communities; they are poor public investments.
We support Tasmania having AFL men’s and women’s teams and understand the many benefits of having these teams. We reject the suggestion that this requires a new stadium. We call for our elected members to stand up and oppose an organisation that would lead us to financial ruin.
The coming state election will be largely a contest about which politicians can best tackle the task of budget repair. This repair job will be much harder if we waste money on a new AFL stadium.
Signed
Dr. Roya Arabi
Dr. Jessie Archer
Dr. Sally Atrill
Dr. Stephen Ayre
Dr. Emma Ball
Dr. G. Bannink
Dr. Jowho Bart
Dr. Kate Bendall
Dr. Lydia Birch
Dr. Brittany Birrell
Dr. Alison Bleaney OBE
Dr. Jenni Bond
Dr. Brian Bowring AM
Dr. Christine Boyce
Dr. Darren Briggs
Dr. Craig Brown
Dr. Simon Brown
Dr. Terry Brown
Dr. Graham Bury
Dr. David Challis
Dr. Rohan Church
Dr. Tom Clemens
Dr. Richard Climie
Dr. Kirsten Connan
Dr. Nicholas Cummings
Dr. Frances Daily
Dr. Maureen Davey
Dr. Geoffrey Davidson
Dr. Anna de Bruyn
Dr. Trudi Disney
Dr. Emil Djakic
Dr. Lucy Donnan
Dr. James Duff
Dr. Nikki Elkerton
Dr. Anna Elliston
Dr. S.I. Emmett
Dr. Holly Evans
Dr. Frank Formby
Dr. Karla Fenton
Dr. Tim Flanagan
Dr. Michael Fox
Dr. Jane Gorman
Dr. Rebecca Graham
Dr. Catherine Hamilton
Dr. Elizabeth Haworth
Dr. Andreas Hendarto
Dr. Christopher Hilton
Dr. Tania Hingston
Dr. Diane Hopper
Dr. Joanna Howe
Dr. Amy Imms
Dr. Emily Isham
Dr. J.E. Isherwood
Dr. Anna Johnston
Dr. Fiona Joske
Dr. Nerida Kelly
Dr. Farida Khawaja
Dr. Hannah Lake
Dr. David Lang
Dr. Eleanor Loughhead
Dr. Emily Mackrill
Dr. K. Magraith
Dr. Katherine Maher
Dr. Sara Maloney
Dr. Catherine Mayhead
Dr. Robert McIntosh
Dr. Rosemary Mollison
Dr. Simon Morphett
Dr. Sam Murdoch
Dr. Philip Murrell
Dr. Kieran Nixon
Dr. Patrick O’Sullivan
Dr. Margret Oetterli
Dr. Helen Parkes
Dr. Scott Parkes
Dr. Erin Paul
Dr. Lester Pepingco
Dr. Bronwyn Posselt
Prof. Jan Radford
Dr. Felicity Rea
Dr. Frank Redwig
Dr. Sruthi Sarma
Dr. Alan Scott
Dr. Anna Seth
Dr. Sue Shearman
Dr. Robert Smith OAM
Dr. Anna Spinaze
Dr. Catherine Stephan
Dr. Josephine Topp
Dr. Malcom Turner
Dr. Mel Venn
Dr. Stuart Walker
Dr. Bryan Walpole
Dr. Michelle Williams
Dr. Jennifer Wright
Dr. Kristine Barnden
Dr. Peter Brooks AM
Dr. Fiona Beer
Dr. Frank Nicklason
Dr. Clare Smith