Tasmanian Labor have completed yet another hypocritical backflip, betraying the community by voting in support of the Macquarie Point stadium in Parliament late last night.
After spending well over a year publicly campaigning against the Liberals’ proposed billion-dollar Hobart stadium, Tasmanians thought they knew where Rebecca White and her colleagues stood on this issue. But in the early hours of the morning, with few people watching, Labor shamelessly capitulated and voted for the project.
In considering the Liberals’ push to make the stadium a Project of State Significance, the question that faced MPs was simple. All Labor had to ask themselves was whether they believe the stadium proposal has merit and should be assessed further, or if they believe it’s the wrong priority for the state and should be stopped in its tracks. Shockingly, Labor voted to give the stadium their support.
During their contributions last night Labor’s Treasury spokesperson Shane Broad said he thought the stadium will cost $1.5 billion, Deputy Leader Anita Dow said it is the wrong priority for the state, and the Leader of Opposition Business Dean Winter said he thinks the stadium won’t even fit at Macquarie Point. However, these MPs and all their Labor colleagues then sided with the Liberals and supported the stadium.
Until recently, Rebecca White’s Facebook page was awash with “stop the stadium” content, and she was sending out media statements saying the project is “completely the wrong priority” for the state when there’s a crying need for homes and hospital infrastructure. Now somehow she’s talked herself into voting for it.
By backing the Liberals, Labor have contradicted everything they’ve told Tasmanians, and helped bring the stadium a step closer to being built.
Labor can make whatever feeble excuse they like for backing the stadium, but the community won’t buy it. If they really believed this unnecessary billion-dollar plus project was the wrong priority for Tasmania, they would have voted against it.
While the Greens are now the only political party opposed to the stadium, we know we have a huge number of Tasmanians – from all walks of life – on our side. We will not stop fighting for spending on the priorities Tasmanians need, and will do everything we can to ensure this expensive white elephant is never built.
