The Tasmanian Greens condemn the Rockliff Government’s response to the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s damning rejection of the billion-dollar Macquarie Point Stadium. It’s little more than a glossy propaganda document that re-runs the same arguments that were prosecuted in the Commission’s hearing process and rejected by the experts.
Vica Bayley MP, Greens Acting Leader
The Liberal Government are utterly delusional in their response to the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s unequivocal recommendation that the stadium should not be built. There is nothing in this response that offers any credible answer to the multiple, profound negative findings of the expert panel that the Premier himself established.
The Liberals’ response, designed to replace the facts with spin, is convincing no one. Their so-called positive impacts were already put to the Planning Commission and have been roundly rejected in their cost-benefit conclusion.
The Planning Commission were clear – the stadium should not proceed. It will be a budget black hole, accumulating $2 billion of debt within the decade.
The Commission found that Tasmanians will be worse off as the government is forced to up taxes or cut services to pay for the stadium. This Government response does nothing to clarify exactly how Premier Rockliff will pay for this.
With health and housing services already underfunded, Tasmanians simply can’t afford a stadium. The Premier needs to remind himself who he’s working for. Are Labor really going to keep letting the Premier get away with this?
Cassy O’Connor MLC, Greens MLC for Hobart
The contrast between the substance and facts in TPC report and the insulting, fanciful response from the government is stark.
They are treating Tasmanians like mugs, with dishonest assurances that the massive debt is manageable and every problem identified by the Planning Commission, easily fixed. It’s dangerous propaganda, given the enormous consequences of any Parliamentary decision to approve the stadium against independent, expert advice.
While the Greens and some crossbench members will fight the stadium’s approval in the lower house, given Labor’s craven capitulation and backing for the Macquarie Point stadium, it’ll be up to the Legislative Council to prevent this utter folly.
I trust my Independent colleagues will recognise their responsibility here, look at the actual evidence presented by the experts, compare it with the Liberals’ propaganda and save Tasmanians from a huge mistake that would blight them financially for generations.
Helen Burnet MP, Greens Member for Clark
The government has utterly misrepresented and fails to understand the impacts on Hobart’s prizewinning, unique built heritage. The Planning Commission report stated clearly that this would be irreversible and have negative consequences on both heritage and landscape if the stadium project at Macquarie Point went ahead.
The proposed stadium will be an eyesore as an ugly backdrop to Hobart’s heritage buildings and diminish the connection to place the Cenotaph has.
The government has a fanciful notion of mass transit to and from the proposed stadium. Our transport system can’t meet current demand of everyday commuters, and it won’t be possible to shift people without infrastructure and bus upgrades being delivered, something that seems to have been largely left out in the government’s thinking.
The network will be more congested at every major event. The stadium’s location will inevitably cause gridlock, and the government has no serious plans to deal with that.
