The AFL has stood firm on its requirement for a new stadium in Hobart, following a meeting with anti-stadium MPs at AFL House in Melbourne today.
AFL Chief Operating Officer Tom Harley met with Greens MPs Vica Bayley and Cassy O’Connor along with independents Kristie Johnston and Peter George, who urged the organisation to drop its stadium requirement for the state’s to gain its own AFL team.
The AFL reiterated that a new roofed stadium at Macquarie Point with a capacity of at least 23,000 was a non-negotiable condition for granting Tasmania the 19th licence.
“The AFL’s continued position is a clear component of the licence bid from the Tasmanian taskforce was a new roofed stadium at Macquarie Point,” the AFL said in a statement following the meeting.
“It is a condition for the grant of the 19th licence and that position has not changed.”
Independent Clark MP Kristie Johnston described the discussion as “very frank” but acknowledged the AFL’s position remains unchanged.
“We presented the views of the delegation that Tasmania does not need, cannot afford and doesn’t want a stadium. The AFL likewise were very frank with us that no stadium equals no team,” Johnston told Pulse.
The delegation attempted to leverage findings from the Tasmanian Planning Commission report, which Johnston said “details in great length that a stadium will deliver a poor outcome for Tasmanians”.
When pressed about the financial impact of not having a stadium, Johnston said the AFL admitted it would be “in the vicinity of 5.4 to 5.9 million dollars per year”, which she argued was “a relatively small amount compared to the significant impost of a multi-billion dollar stadium”.
She said despite their perseverance, the AFL’s position was unchanged.
“They were very clear and that’s been their position right along, that no stadium, no team.”
‘The AFL continue to blackmail Tasmanians and it is unconscionable for them to do so, knowing the consequences if Tasmanians build this stadium.”
Greens MP for Clark Vica Bayley argued the requirement represented “extreme corporate overreach” by the AFL.
“We are strongly in support of a Devils footy team in Tasmania. We want an AFLW and an AFL men’s team to play in the National League,” he said.
“But no other team has had to and no other state has had to incur the cost burden and the impacts to its cityscape of a billion dollar stadium that we don’t need,” Bayley said.
Independent Franklin MP Peter George expressed concern about the divisiveness of the issue, saying the stadium plans “will bankrupt our state”.
The AFL reiterated that if the stadium vote fails in parliament, there will be no team for Tasmania.
“The AFL look forward to the vote on the stadium in the coming weeks and the state continuing to build on the momentum and progress already made by the Tasmania Devils and their 214,000 members,” an AFL spokesperson said.
