A new report from the Housing Industry Association reinforces fears about the negative impact of the stadium on housing, finding it could drive up housing costs and slow the delivery of new homes. The Liberals need to stop putting building a stadium before building homes for Tasmanians.
Ask any tradie and they’ll tell you – they can only just keep up with the current demand for building homes. Add a massive project like the stadium into the mix, and there just isn’t going to be enough skilled tradespeople to get both jobs done.
Many factors, including the cost of the workforce, is going to drive up the already blown-out costs of the stadium. But to add insult to Tasmanians who conclusively reject the stadium, it’s going to mean higher costs and delays for Tasmanians just trying to get a roof over their head. If Hobart has to house a fly-in workforce it’s only going to make things worse.
The Greens have been raising these concerns for a long time. But at every stage, the Liberals have refused to tell Tasmanians the truth about the impact of the stadium on the state’s housing supply.
There’s more than five thousand Tasmanians on the social housing waitlist, rental vacancy rates keep getting lower and rents are rising. Building the homes Tasmanians need should be a top priority for the Rockliff Government.
Instead, they’ve been focussed on building a stadium Tasmanians don’t want and don’t need. It’s time they got their priorities straight and put Tasmanians struggling to get a roof over their heads above their roofed stadium.
