The Tasmanian Greens have pulled their support for the state’s AFL licence bid due to the state’s ‘inability to afford a new stadium’.
The bid to join the national league requires the construction of a stadium that the state “doesn’t need and can’t afford,” according to Greens leader Cassy O’Connor.
The Greens say they still support the idea of Tasmania having its own team in the AFL, however O’Connor has backed the Macquarie Point vision group’s plan to turn the area into a housing, cultural, and arts space instead of a stadium, stating there is ‘little public support or mandate for building a billion-dollar stadium’.
“We have today written to the AFL advising Mr McLachlan and Commissioners of our decision to withdraw from the tripartisan push for Tasmania to join the national league. We do this with heavy hearts,” O’Connor said.
“Tasmanian Labor should do the same. They too were misled by the Premier who reassured us the bid was not contingent on a new stadium, when we now know the AFL said it was a prerequisite from day one”.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has called the move “hardly surprising” from the Greens, saying the stadium development will be a “game changer” for the entire state.
