After defying Parliament’s earlier motion to table updated stadium costs, the Liberals remained tight-lipped about whether they would even make public the final price of the stadium before they sign the construction contract. In light of this serious lack of transparency, the Greens have tabled a new motion seeking to order the Government to make the stadium costs public.
In the Public Accounts Committee last Friday, Treasurer Abetz admitted the stadium cost was likely to go up, and as good as walked away from his government’s $875 million cost cap. The conflict in the Middle East has driven up construction costs, and no one genuinely believes the stadium price will still be $1.13 billion – not even the Government’s own Treasurer.
This is exactly why Parliament passed a motion in May, calling on the Government to develop an updated stadium cost estimate. But the Liberals have shamefully defied the will of Parliament and are refusing to release the true stadium cost to the public.
Now they’re trying to pull the wool over Tasmanian’s eyes by pretending that releasing a new cost estimate would endanger the tender process. Make no mistake, this is more spin from a government intent on keeping a big stadium price rise secret from Tasmanians.
Clearly feeling the pressure, the Premier said he would give Tasmanians an ‘update’ before the stadium contract is signed. We asked the Premier in Question Time to detail exactly what such an update would be, and when it would be given. It won’t surprise many people that he refused to answer.
It is Tasmanians’ money the Liberals are happy to dole out for the stadium. People deserve to know how much extra above the $875 million cost cap the Liberals are planning to spend on building the stadium, before a contract for its construction is signed.
Clearly the Liberals won’t willingly provide taxpayers with this information. It’s why the Greens have tabled a motion, seeking to order the Liberal Government to make public new cost estimates for the stadium before they lock Tasmanians into a contract for its construction.
We hope Parliament will support this motion, as they did with the last one on a similar matter of stadium cost transparency.
