The RSL has hit back at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he urged the upper house to pass an order that would allow the Macquarie Point stadium to go ahead.
The veterans’ organisation says the current roofed design would “adversely impact on the sanctity and heritage” of the Hobart Cenotaph, the nation’s oldest state capital war memorial.
National President Peter Tinley said the prime minister should “consider these values in his comments”.
“… The current stadium design will forever change its sacred values,” Tinley said.
“It was purposely sited to command key sightlines across the city and down the Derwent River where the troops departed for Gallipoli and many of these would be destroyed and the Cenotaph dwarfed by the roofed stadium design.”
“The RSL is pro-stadium provided it does not impact on the historic sightlines from the Cenotaph, so we urge acceptance of the RSL Tasmania compromise.”
The warning comes after Albanese called on Legislative Council members to back the stadium ahead of a vote in the coming days.
“I take this opportunity to call upon members of the Legislative Council in Tasmania to vote for the stadium and to vote for Tasmania getting a footy club,” the prime minister said on Thursday.
“Vote for Tasmanian young people having the opportunity to stay in Tasmania and to dream of playing for the Tassie Devils.”
“You have an important task ahead in the coming week and I don’t want to see that go backwards.”
The RSL said the project “must respect the sacrifice of Tasmania’s veterans and war dead”.
RSL Tasmania has put forward a compromise, saying it could back the project if views to St George’s Anglican Church, Battery Point and the river mouth are preserved.
That would “likely require the stadium to be built without a roof”, the organisation said.
It previously proposed a wish list of requests to the state government in a bid to mitigate its concerns over the proposed stadium.
This included naming rights for select stadium stands and priority for incorporating veteran-led food and beverage businesses in the venue.
“We encourage the Tasmanian parliament and the AFL to adopt a sensible compromise and develop a lower height stadium that still provides for Tasmania’s AFL entry but protects the values of the state’s sacred monument to our war veterans and service personnel,” Tinley said.
The Legislative Council will vote on the enabling stadium order within days.
