The Liberals’ massive budget blowout should be the last straw for their billion-dollar Hobart stadium.
The stadium was already a bad idea when this year’s deficit was forecast at $300 million – especially given the need for increased investment in health, education, and housing. But with the budget now another $1.2 billion worse off, bulldozing ahead with this project would be absolutely cooked.
The Liberals have spent the past two years trying to pretend we can afford a stadium. This was despite signing Tasmania up to a dud deal with the AFL that made taxpayers responsible for every dollar of budget blowout for the project, and failing to secure GST exemptions for $240 million federal government funding.
Arguing we can afford a billion-dollar plus stadium in the face of a $1.7 billion increase in debt is as ludicrous as it is reckless. Yet both Liberal and Labor politicians continue to support this project.
If they had any sense, the Rockliff government would take a look at the books, use their common sense, and scuttle the stadium. The alternative is yet more cuts to the areas most important to Tasmanians, like health, schools, and affordable housing.
