Plans for special enabling legislation to get the Macquarie Point stadium out of the ground have effectively been shelved as a result of the state election.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Wednesday confirmed the timeline for the legislation has become tangled up with the Project of State Significance (POSS) process.
The Tasmanian Planning Commission, having published a damning draft report on the stadium months ago, is expected to hand down its final POSS findings on September 17.
That is likely to land before any stadium legislation can be re-tabled in the new parliament, which next sits on September 9.
“As I’ve said previously when it comes to the enabling legislation there was a key set of timeframes that we had to adhere to when it comes to the AFL agreement,” Rockliff said.
“The timeframes of the POSS process – which still continues – and the enabling legislation have converged and so we will work through that.”
The stadium remains central to the state’s bid to secure an AFL licence for the Tasmania Devils.
Opposition to the Hobart waterfront project has been fierce, especially from the Greens and all crossbench MPs except independent David O’Byrne.
Labor, under embattled leader Dean Winter, supports the stadium – though Winter now faces a leadership challenge from colleague Josh Willie.
That uncertainty casts fresh doubt on the project’s future, with reports during the election campaign that some within Labor had pushed Winter to abandon support for the stadium entirely.
Rockliff said any way forward, whether through enabling legislation or the POSS process, would ultimately need approval from both houses of parliament.
“A lot of key information has been put on the table as a result of the hearings throughout the election campaign, so now we’re out of caretaker we can regroup and map out a pathway forward,” he said.
“The POSS process continues and if that is what we continue with then there will be a vote at the end of the day in both houses of parliament.”
More on this story: Election result sends ‘strong signal’ on stadium support, says Rockliff
