The Tasmanian Parliament has overwhelmingly rejected a push for a referendum on the Macquarie Point stadium, voting down the proposal 30-4 despite claims of widespread opposition to the project.
Independent MP Craig Garland, who brought the motion forward, argued that Tasmanians deserved a direct say on the multi-million dollar project. But his call for a statewide vote was shut down on Wednesday.
“When both major parties turn a blind eye to the evidence, the facts and the people, that is precisely when you need a referendum,” Garland said.
“Whether you’re for or against the stadium, giving the people a vote on a project of this magnitude and significance is critical. And if the Premier had done that at the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Garland pointed to polling suggesting more than 60% of voters in the state’s north oppose the stadium and cited the recent federal election results as evidence of public discontent.
“The clear collapse of the Liberal vote in Tasmania, particularly in the north, is the clearest message you can get that this stadium is strongly opposed by voters,” Garland said, not acknowledging federal Labor’s previous $240 million commitment for the Macquarie Point precinct.
He also revealed advice from the Tasmanian Electoral Commission estimating a referendum would cost around $5 million.
“That is a small price to pay before the government allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to a project we do not believe is necessary,” Garland said.
Minister Eric Abetz rejected the referendum proposal, arguing that tough decisions are what elected representatives are for – even when they’re not popular.
“I think of John Howard introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Highly unpopular, nearly cost him government. Three years later, everybody said, what on earth was that about?” Abetz said.
He also responded to suggestions that Tasmania could rely on existing venues like Bellerive Oval or York Park instead of building a new stadium.
“If the AFL honestly thought they could run a good Tasmanian team in these second-class facilities, why wouldn’t they then support, at a lot lower cost, the retrofitting of one or the other facility?” he said.
“The simple fact is that it can’t be.”
“We have this capacity in this state which is, I think, a great opportunity, a transformative opportunity of once and for all dealing with this industrial wasteland which has been sitting there for well over a decade.”
The Greens, Labor and independent David O’Byrne also opposed the referendum, with O’Byrne doubling down on the link between the stadium and securing a Tasmanian AFL team.
“Don’t get up here and say you support the team but not the stadium because in the cold hard light of day, they are connected and we need to come to terms with that,” O’Byrne said.
“It’s either there or we don’t have it. And if we don’t have it, we don’t have a team.”
Independent MP Rebekah Pentland was one of the few to back the referendum, saying many Tasmanians still feel they haven’t had a proper say.
“The idea that you have to offer blind support to the Macquarie Point Stadium in order to back the team is not something I’m willing to accept,” Pentland said.
“And hundreds and thousands of Tasmanians feel the same way.”
The state government is expected to introduce legislation to support the stadium this month.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has warned that if upper house MPs don’t get behind it, the Project of State Significance process will be scrapped.
