A planning panel has delivered a crushing blow to Tasmania’s stadium dreams, recommending the Macquarie Point project should not be built.
The Tasmanian Planning Commission found the proposed stadium would saddle the state with escalating debt reaching $1.8 billion within a decade.
“The panel recommends that the project should not proceed,” the panel stated in their report released today.
The damning assessment found the stadium’s costs far outweigh any benefits, with a cost-benefit ratio of less than 0.5.
The project would cost every Tasmanian household not on government support approximately $5,900, according to the panel’s calculations.
“At the end of 10 years, because of the compounding interest on deficit financing, the debt attributable to the stadium would be approximately $1.8 billion,” the report stated.
The panel criticised the stadium as inappropriate for the historic Sullivans Cove location.
“The size, shape and location of the site is ill-suited to a building like the stadium – a singular, large, bulky monolith which will overwhelm those surrounding buildings and the setting,” they found.
The proposed venue would have “very significant adverse impacts” on heritage sites including the Cenotaph, Royal Engineers Building and Hunter Street buildings.
Economic benefits would represent less than 0.1% of Tasmania’s Gross State Product and total employment, the panel determined.
“The reason for this is that the economic and social benefits are small compared to the public cost of the stadium,” the report stated.
The stadium project was declared a ‘Project of State Significance’ in October 2023 as part of Tasmania’s bid to secure an AFL licence.
The panel concluded the project would offer limited community benefits outside major events.
“In very simple terms, the stadium is too big for the site and the benefits it will bring are significantly outweighed by the disbenefits it creates,” they stated.
The recommendation now goes to the minister for final consideration and parliament for approval.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff says the report “massively underestimates the social and economic benefits that the stadium, a new AFL team and a supercharged events industry will have on Tasmania”.
“It’s the reason why new stadiums right across the nation are approved using special laws, not the traditional planning scheme.”
Rockliff thanked the TPC for completing its report, but said it is “now time for democratically elected members of parliament to have the final say”.
“We will continue to fight for this project. Because as a growing state, we simply cannot afford not to,” he said.
“This is so much bigger than politics. This is our future on the line.”
Independent Clark MP Kristie Johnston has called on the government to “accept the refusal and move on”.
“This divisive, unaffordable project has been mishandled from the very beginning,” she said.
“The TPC know it’s a dud, and its trusted experts have spoken clearly against the stadium.”
