Tasmanians know our small state can’t afford a new stadium, and they understand the money to pay for it has to come from somewhere. Disturbingly, it’s now looking like Labor are prepared to make wide-ranging cuts to the public service to help fund building a new Hobart stadium. The question is, how many jobs, and what will they cut?
In March the independent expert panel assessing the Hobart stadium revealed that the project would add 1.86 billion dollars to the state’s debt over a decade. That means over $500,000 will be added to the debt every single day for the next ten years. It’s outrageous – and that’s not even including the inevitable budget blowouts.
The stadium is going to cost Tasmania so dearly that the Liberals have already admitted they’ll slash 2500 public service jobs and sell off public land to try to pay the bill. And now it looks like Labor are set to follow their lead.
In his interview with ABC Stateline, Dean Winter refused point blank to rule out wide-ranging cuts to the public service. This is shameful. Tasmania’s in a budget mess, and the Labor Leader seems to be considering cuttings jobs in the public service while simultaneously spending huge sums of taxpayer money on a new stadium in Hobart.
It’s time for the Labor leader to stop trying to dodge these questions and to start giving some honest answers. The savings he’s outlined in this campaign would barely make up for half the debt the stadium will add to the state’s balance sheet – and he’s spent most of that money on new policies anyway. So where’s he going to find the funds for the stadium?
Under Labor’s plan, it’s either cuts to the public service to pay for the stadium, or $500,000 added to the state’s debt every single day for the next ten years. Our community doesn’t deserve either.
With the election just a week away, Labor need to come clean. What are they looking at cutting to fund the stadium? How many jobs will be lost? And why do they think a stadium is more important than essential services?
