A fiery crowd of anti-stadium protesters gathered on the lawns of Parliament House this morning, railing against the proposed stadium at Macquarie Point.
Critics slammed the $755 million project as a “dud” that could plunge Tasmania into billions of dollars of debt.
The rally drew politicians from all corners of the state, including Senator Jacqui Lambie, Greens MP Cassy O’Connor and independents Andrew Wilkie, Kristie Johnston, Meg Webb and Craig Garland.
They took aim at Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s decision to abandon the ‘Project of State Significance’ process following a damning draft report from the planning commission, instead opting to push through fast-track legislation that would bypass standard planning procedures.
The crowd opened the rally with the chant of “Stick the stadium up your bum” before Senator Lambie took the mic, firing up supporters with a blistering speech.
“Win or lose I’m a bloody Tasmanian. I ain’t moving on this bloody stadium,” Lambie, who could lose her seat to One Nation, said. “My voters don’t want this bloody stadium.”
“Tasmanians don’t deserve to be blackmailed by the AFL or the Tasmanian Liberal Government. We don’t live in a dictatorship, we live in a democracy.”
Lambie said Rockliff had been got “by the balls”. “So keep bloody squeezing,” she told the cheering crowd.
“And Premier, you can stick that stadium up your bloody bum.”
Greens MLC Cassy O’Connor followed up with an attack on the Premier’s “corrupt” fast-track method and slammed his “blackmail” attempt on the Legislative Council that failing to pass the legislation will bring an end to the Tasmania Devils.
“What an arsehole,” she said. “If we lose the Devils, it’s on Jeremy Rockliff who made a complete hash of this from the beginning and a weak, cynical Labor opposition led, in inverted commas, by Dean Winter.”
“We’re being offered a false choice between the team we’ve earned and deserve and have fought for for decades and the stadium we don’t want and can’t afford.”
Independent Clark MP Kristie Johnston hit out at both major parties, accusing Labor of rolling over for the AFL just as easily as the Liberals.
“[The government’s] level of incompetence regarding the Spirits was unparalleled until the stadium came along,” she said.
“But what I find really insulting is Labor’s position on the stadium. Because let’s face it, when it comes to the stadium, Labor have had more positions than the Kama Sutra book.”
“Just like the Kama Sutra book, whichever way you look at it, we’re being screwed over.”
Upper House independent Meg Webb said the government should return to the negotiating table with the AFL instead of pushing ahead with what she called a “disgraceful” process.
“How dare the Premier of this state hold our team, our promised team, to ransom in this way,” she said.
“How dare he hold its fate over our heads, of the community, of the Legislative Council and emotionally blackmail people into legitimising his egregious error in signing up to his secret deal with the AFL.
Webb, who is up for re-election in Nelson – which includes Sandy Bay and Kingston – against pro-stadium Liberal Marcus Vermey, urged the crowd to keep up the pressure.
“Upper House independents in particular will be the chance for community voice to be heard here,” Webb told the crowd.
“It’s our state, it’s our capital city and it’s our choice.”
Federal MP Andrew Wilkie, fresh off a landslide re-election in Clark, said he believes the stadium saga is a sign of deeper problems.
“I reckon the stadium is not the problem in itself. I think this stadium is a symptom of something even more distressing – the complete and utter collapse of governance in Tasmania right now,” he said.
Legislation to fast-track the stadium is expected to reach the Legislative Council in the coming weeks.
Protesters were urged to flood Upper House members with their views and to sign a new Greens petition calling for the bill to be rejected.
“If all else fails and there are two Upper House independents prepared to vote for this massive mistake, we’ll see you in the trenches at Macquarie Point. And that’s a promise,” O’Connor said.
