There comes a moment in every contentious public debate when the spin becomes so transparent, the desperation so palpable, that even those genuinely trying to maintain an open mind must pause and ask – what are we really being sold here?
The Coordinator-General’s eleventh-hour intervention into the Macquarie Point stadium debate represents precisely such a moment. Released selectively to a sympathetic media outlet just days after the government’s formal response to the Planning Commission’s damning assessment, this “analysis” raises more questions than it answers – and the most pressing question is simply, why now?
If the Coordinator-General genuinely possessed compelling economic evidence that contradicted every independent expert assessment to date, why wasn’t it presented to the Tasmanian Planning Commission during the formal assessment process? The Commission, after rigorous analysis, concluded the project would return less than 50 cents for every dollar spent.