Following the Planning Commission’s resounding rejection of a stadium at Macquarie Point, Our Place has released 20 questions about the cost of the project which the government has to date avoided answering.
Spokesperson Roland Browne said:
“Every member of parliament with a shred of conscience should be intensely interested in getting the answers to these questions—and so should members of the Tasmanian media.
“Major costs are being hidden, major questions are being swept under the carpet, and it is clear there will be no upper limit to the cost of the stadium. So where does it end—$2 billion? $3 billion? Or more? The government must be accountable for this slow-motion train wreck. The project is now costed at $1.13 billion, a massive 50% increase on the starting costs. And clearly, the latest $1.13 billion cost is already outdated and fails to account for other significant costs on a yet unfinished design.
It beggars belief that parliament is being asked to write a blank cheque on a project with the capacity to bankrupt us and drive us into recession that isn’t even yet fully designed or accurately costed.
“Parliament should not be voting until the design is finished, the construction cost honestly accounted for by an independent authority, and so many unanswered questions answered truthfully.”
Some of the questions raised are:
- If the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) is .45 based on an (outdated) estimated cost of $950m, what will the BCR be on a cost of $1.13 billion? Or on $1.5 billion?
- What has happened to cricket? What is the consequence to the projected revenue stream of losing cricket?
- How much will the project cost next year, when contracts are to be signed?
- What are the costings for the northern access road and the underground car park?
- How much has the government already spent on the stadium while cutting health and education services?
We will be providing these questions to each and every member of the Tasmanian Parliament.
Update: We received a response from Eric Abetz which you can read here.
We also rated his responses here.
Questions to be asked of the Tasmanian government about the proposed Macquarie Point stadium
- For the stated $1.13 billion cost:
(a) What date is the estimate valid from?
(b) What components of the precinct development are included in the estimate?
(c) What components of the precinct development are excluded from the estimate?
- What is the current estimated cost of the northern access road?
- What will the estimated cost be of the northern access road at the anticipated time of contract exchange?
- What is the current estimated cost of the underground car park?
- What will the estimated cost be of the underground car park at the time of contract exchange?
- What are the estimated costs of transport infrastructure:
(a) bus interchange/plaza?
(b) road construction excluding the northern access road?
(c) Collins Street pedestrian bridge?
(d) any other road works associated with the stadium?
- What are the anticipated costs of stormwater infrastructure to be constructed on the site?
- What is the estimated cost of decontamination of the site?
- How much have the reclamation works at Macquarie Point cost so far?
- Will the government be establishing a fund to cover the cost of possible claims for damages from workers who have been exposed to toxins through working on the Macquarie Point site?
- How much did the TPC integrated assessment cost?
- How much did the State and/or MPDC pay for lawyers and consultants for the TPC integrated assessment, including the hearings?
- Excluding reclamation works at Mac Point and the POSS inquiry, how much has the government already spent on the stadium project since the Premier signed the contract with the AFL in May 2023?
- What has happened to the plan to play cricket matches at the stadium? Is it now a dead letter? How does the absence of guaranteed cricket games at the stadium affect the business case? What are the updated numbers for revenue and expenses? When will a revised business plan be available?
- While the government has said that problems can be mitigated such as noise and lighting, how does the government plan to address the two main objections to the stadium raised by the TPC, namely that it is too large a building for the site, and it will do irreparable damage to the character of Hobart?
- What are the estimated financial impacts on the ongoing business operations of the Bellerive and York Park stadia due to revenue lost to the proposed Macquarie Point stadium? i.e. what will the additional annual financial costs to the Tasmanian taxpayers be of continuing to operate both of these existing stadia in addition to the Macquarie Point stadium?
- What is the estimated cost of the required compulsory acquisition of Hobart City Council-owned land at Macquarie Point?
- What are the estimated costs associated with (a) affordable housing and (b) wharf upgrades at Macquarie Point, noting that both of these developments are required as part of the Australian Government’s contribution of $240 million for the site?
- With the Government refusing to consider raising additional taxes to fund construction and operation of the new stadium, will paying for the stadium require budget savings through sacking of Tasmanian public servants? If so, how many positions and from which departments will they be lost? And what is the estimated total cost to the taxpayer of these redundancy payouts?
- Given the TPC found a BCR of only .45 for a $775 million dollar stadium costed by the MPDC at $974 million but which the Premier only revealed post the TPC report would now cost $1.13 billion, how much lower is the return, using TPC metrics, based on $1.13 billion? And how much lower is the return once the northern access road, underground car park, storm water etc are factored in?