Dear David O’Byrne,

We respond to your recent epistle in a Hobart paper in support of a stadium at any cost, noting, as explained below, you most likely have not read the very report you criticise, nor the Government’s Terms of Reference engaging Dr Gruen. We ask that, if you are going to re-publish these claims, you take account of the following:

You stated: It’s no secret that I am a supporter of a Tasmanian football club and the Macquarie Point stadium. However, my support comes with a dose of realism, acknowledging that in life we rarely have a perfect process or set of conditions to allow us to achieve what could be a wonderful outcome.

‘Perfect is the enemy of good’? So, we are expected to accept the ‘less than adequate verging on woeful’ as realistic? That’s your baseline? Your ‘dose of realism’ looks more like acceptance of a corrupted process, born of poor leadership and a lack of vision.

In this case, however, there really wasn’t any process – this fiasco sprang fully formed from our Premier’s mind in his desperate attempt to impress an AFL bigwig and paint himself as a hero. Either that, or just a transparent attempt to avoid scrutiny of his hapless premiership.