Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has survived a no-confidence motion in state parliament over his handling of the Macquarie Point stadium project.
The motion, brought forward by Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff during Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting, was defeated 28-7 before lunch – with the seven votes in favour from Greens MPs and independents.
The political challenge came just a day after the government announced it would proceed with the stadium without private investment, instead relying on the Macquarie Point Development Corporation to borrow funds to cover the shortfall.
Woodruff accused the Premier of deliberately misleading Tasmanians about the project’s funding.
“The Premier has spent over a year misleading Tasmanians and the parliament about the stadium cost cap, having repeated this claim without any evidence that it could or would be achieved,” Woodruff said.
She described the government’s approach as “a corrupted process” and claimed Rockliff had broken his pledge that taxpayers would contribute only $375 million to the stadium and “not a red cent more.”
Leader of Government Business Eric Abetz dismissed the motion as a “stunt” with no real merit despite the Greens’ forceful presentation.
Labor, despite their criticisms of the stadium project, refused to support the no-confidence motion.
The opposition’s Shane Broad explained their position was based on avoiding government collapse.
“If successful, this motion brings down the government,” Broad said. “The Greens today are playing with fire. We’ve just had a federal election, I don’t believe Tasmanians are ready for another state election.”
