Tasmanian MPs will be presented with a draft order for the Macquarie Point stadium by the end of the week, with parliament to then face a yes or no vote with no room for amendments.
Minister for Macquarie Point Urban Renewal Eric Abetz on Wednesday released the government’s response to the Tasmanian Planning Commission report, which recommended the project not go ahead.
Abetz said the commission’s findings were subjective and demonstrated that the stadium could be built, with parliament now to decide the fate of the $1.13 billion project.
He said it would be a take-it-or-leave-it deal once the order reached parliament.
“It’s either a yes or no vote,” he said. “The order … once it’s in the parliament, it cannot be amended.”
“But we have set out a draft order for people to have input into and before it is the order that is tabled in the parliament, there is always the possibility of changing a comma or a full stop or indeed a word here or there.”
The conditions will be largely the same as those proposed in earlier enabling legislation that failed to pass before parliament was dissolved.
Abetz said he expected MPs to receive the draft “by the end of the week” for review before it becomes a formal order.
He framed the upcoming vote as a choice between ongoing inaction and the long-awaited transformation of what has been a vacant gravel site for years.
“This has been a vacant industrial wasteland for over a decade. People have come up with proposals from the Eden Project to a new hospital,” he said.
“We’ve come up with a development for the whole precinct and it’s time to move ahead.”
He said the TPC report confirmed the stadium was technically feasible, with all practical concerns about transport, safety and construction addressed.
“The questions that the TPC raised were more of a subjective consideration,” Abetz said.
“This is a project that is just so fundamentally important for the future of our state and our youth that we will be seeking to proceed and go ahead with it.”
The $1.13 billion project will be funded through federal and state contributions, the AFL, and borrowings, with debt to be repaid over the venue’s 30- to 50-year lifespan.
Abetz said he was confident the government’s response would win over wavering MPs.
“I have every confidence that this is a document that will help convince more of our fellow Tasmanians and more of our parliamentarians that this precinct development should go ahead,” he said.
“This is going to be an iconic gateway to the capital city. It is going to be transformational … there are just so many aspects of this development that will be so positive for Tasmania.”
The stadium’s fate now rests with the upper house, where the government must secure independent support from at least three MLCs.
Labor has previously committed to progressing the development through the lower house, as has independent MP David O’Byrne, alongside the Liberals.
