Labor have again abandoned their job as Opposition to hold the Liberals to account on their ruinous and unnecessary new stadium, voting against a Greens’ motion to establish a Scrutiny Committee in the week before the stadium bill comes to Parliament.
The Liberal’s stadium bill is a cooked up, secretive behemoth, and without doubt the most corrupted legislative process in Tasmania’s history. MPs aren’t planning experts, yet we are being asked to assess and approve a development which the government acknowledges is still only half designed.
The Liberals are doing everything to bypass the independent planning assessment process with this bill, and Labor is supporting them.
Our parliamentary scrutiny motion would have allowed MPs to receive information from the mouths of regulators about their proposed planning permit conditions in the stadium bill, and whether the government has adopted them. The Liberals have hidden the details of their stadium proposal from the public at every turn, and there’s a lot of questions about this rushed development that need answering.
It’s the basic duty of an Opposition to scrutinise the government, but Labor have instead given the Liberals unconditional support.
It seems no matter the cost, problems with the project, or corrupted process, Labor are willing to provide the Liberals with a political shield.
While Opposition Leader Dean Winter is running a protection racket for the Liberals, the Greens are once again the real Opposition, giving voice to Tasmanians’ concerns about their dud stadium.
