Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds has defended the Hobart City Council’s stance against the proposed stadium at Macquarie Point during a heated interview on SEN Tassie Breakfast this morning.
Despite maintaining she is “absolutely” pro-team and pro-stadium, Reynolds told hosts Tim Paine and Brent Costelloe that Macquarie Point is simply “not the right place” for the facility.
“We remain really concerned about this project at this site,” Reynolds said, referencing the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s report which she described as “very informative” and “very balanced”.
Her comments come after a council economic report revealed the stadium would drive ‘significant economic impacts’ for the city.
Reynolds revealed she hasn’t spoken directly with Tasmania Football Club CEO Brendan Gale about the council’s issue, but said her “door is open”.
She instead advocated for refurbishing Bellerive Oval, suggesting it could include “adding a new grandstand” and “acoustic and lighting wings” similar to Adelaide Oval’s redevelopment.
Reynolds said Bellerive Oval is “in a fabulous location”, a claim which the hosts quickly shut down based on their own experience.
“It’s very hard traffic-wise. And as someone who’s played there for a long time, it is severely outdated and the footprint just simply isn’t big enough to house professional sporting teams, particularly cricket and footy,” co-host and former Australian Cricketer Tim Paine said.
She suggested putting $400 million into a Bellerive Oval redevelopment, which the hosts said would not be feasible.
“There’s not enough space around that ground … how do the people get in and out of it … There’s one road in and out,” Paine said.
Reynolds suggested ferries could be used to transport people back to the Hobart CBD, an idea which Paine said would create “all sorts of chaos” with “20,000 people walking down suburban roads at midnight”.
Reynolds responded by saying there would be “similar numbers going into Glebe” from the Macquarie Point stadium, while Paine said “I don’t think I’ll be walking up to Glebe”.
“I’ll be walking into Salamanca to support small businesses to have a beer at clubs, to eat at restaurants. It’ll be thriving down on the waterfront, Paine said.
The hosts challenged Reynolds on why the council is opposing a development that would not require any council investment while bringing economic benefits to the city.
Reynolds argued the project’s complexity and massive budget would divert funding from other community sports infrastructure.
“We have an urgent need for community investment and community sports facilities… There is no money left for anything else,” she said, citing needed upgrades to facilities including the Southern Netball Centre and Hobart Aquatic Centre.
“I was … at INCAT’S opening their amazing electric ferry last week. They want just $80 million to make Hobart the hub for building big electric ferries for the world,” she said.
“They say that could lead to 3,000 jobs in two years, but that money is not available.”
“We’ve got a UTAS that wants a STEM precinct which could return $1.46 for every public dollar spent at Sandy Bay.”
She said one of the “big challenges” in Hobart isn’t the tourism and events sector.
“That’s going pretty well in Hobart. We’re the most tourism-dependent city of all the capital cities. Where we’re falling behind is the knowledge economy,” she said.
“These are those professional, highly paid knowledge jobs that come out of things like the science, technology, engineering, and maths.”
“That’s why young people are leaving the state. It’s because of the lack of opportunities in those professional knowledge economy sectors.”
The Stop the Stadium rally is scheduled for tomorrow at 11am on Parliament Lawns, though Reynolds confirmed she would not attend and would instead be meeting anti-stadium Senator Jacqui Lambie for breakfast.
The Tasmania Football Club yesterday submitted their formal submission to the Tasmanian Planning Commission, stating the stadium is the ‘single most important economic factor’ in team’s success.
