Documents obtained under RTI by the Greens have revealed that major new electricity infrastructure will be required for the Macquarie Point stadium – information the government clearly didn’t want the community or the Parliament to know before the vote to approve the project.
We’ve heard so much from the government about what they have planned for the stadium, and seen so many flashy graphics of what its going to look like. But nowhere along the way were they up front with the public about the new electricity infrastructure required for the project and who would pay for it.
This is work that TasNetworks have said will be “lengthy and complex” and, given it involves digging up kilometres of Hobart streets, it will be both expensive and disruptive.
Why wasn’t the Rockliff Government transparent about all of this before the stadium was voted on in Parliament? This is clearly an essential part of delivering the stadium so we can only assume they thought being open with this information would have raised further concerns about the cost, risks and impacts associated with the project.
What we can see in these documents is that the amount of electricity needed to deliver on the government’s plans has risen by 50% over just 8 months. With such a dramatic increase, it’s no wonder they didn’t anticipate that much more extensive infrastructure would be required than they’d first assumed. But once they were informed of this fact, they should have fully come clean with Tasmanians and with the Parliament.
This information will be a shock to many Hobart residents, especially given the documented potential for traffic disruption caused by building this infrastructure, and the potential for a large new electrical substation to be built at a sensitive location in the Queen’s Domain. It also raises further concerns about the potential for cost increases for the stadium – not to mention other obstacles.
Significant questions remain unanswered about what form this electricity infrastructure will take and how it will be delivered. But one thing is clear – the closer you look at the stadium, the more it’s clear it can’t be delivered on time or on budget.
