Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, really quickly, I acknowledge the work of my colleague, Helen Burnet, the member for Clark, in relation to Dave/Devarshi. We are very proud of you and your compassion, Helen, on behalf of us. When I say us, I do not just mean the Greens, the parliament, or the Tasmanian community, it is collectively. You led the charge on telling Dave’s story and we had a great outcome, a silver lining on a very dark cloud for that man and his family. Thank you, and congratulations.
I rise tonight to give an update on the Hobart Cenotaph and ask a few questions. It is timely, given the release of some renders today. I acknowledge the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs for giving me a heads-up earlier today and dropping off some renders – the renders that were released – and tell him that I very much appreciate that. I know the RSL has articulated their appreciation of the engagement with you, minister, over the last little while. Nonetheless, I note the comments of the RSL as per the ABC’s report today that, in short, they say images of how the proposed AFL stadium could impact the view to and from the Cenotaph have been released. The RSL says the new images do not ease its concerns and warns the stadium will destroy sight lines. Mr Hardy said:
We can do things like put it behind trees, soften images, put it from different angles. The reality for us is still the same. It will be 54 metres high and it will destroy sight lines. The sight lines are being destroyed. If people accept that, so be it, but we will just ask that we get the renders from the sight lines. If you affect the sight lines, you affect the essence of the Cenotaph.
That is why we are going to bring into this House legislation to protect the values of the Cenotaph and those sight lines at the request of the RSL. The Cenotaph is a really important place. It is Australia’s oldest state war memorial. It is 100 years old next year. Its site was explicitly chosen because it is a prominent landmark. It is heritage listed, and one of the criteria it is heritage listed for is because the place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group. The listing says:
The cenotaph is a prominent landmark within Hobart, commanding a number of important sight lines throughout the city. The site has a strong and special meaning to Tasmania as a site of Anzac remembrance, ceremonial services and other events since 1919.
That is why it is heritage listed. Those sightlines are today protected. The Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme has 15‑metre height limits at Macquarie Point. It has desired future character statements that nothing adversely impact on the cultural heritage and reverential ambience of the Hobart Cenotaph and its surrounds, and it explicitly lists the sight lines from the Cenotaph down the river to St George’s Church and the like.
I am very dubious about some of the renders that were released today. We have had three renders released. I note that it was planned by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation that these were at the request of the RSL, and they noted that on their website. Indeed, they were at the request of the RSL, but the RSL also requested other renders to be developed – renders from the actual sight lines – and they have not been developed. As a result, the Macquarie Point Development Corporation has pulled down from its website this caveat that they were produced at the request of the RSL.
I am glad the minister is in the Chamber because I also received another diagram – a schematic diagram of the impact on the cenotaph that, on a first look from our perspective, looks wrong. It looks stretched. It looks very different. I think it looks completely fabricated. I am not sure whether this is generated by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation, minister. Perhaps you can elucidate us – or whether it comes from your office, but to us it looks completely fabricated. The city looks like it is rearranged in the background to minimise the impact of the stadium. The stadium itself looks like it is stretched in some way, shape or form, and I am not sure whether this has actually even been released yet by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation.
We are concerned that the full suite of images and renders from the Cenotaph of the sight lines of the Cenotaph were not released. We are also concerned that this diagram may be fabricated and may not be a true reflection of what the impacts of the stadium on the Cenotaph and on the city would be, and as a result has no credibility whatsoever.
If you cannot trust this kind of image and the images that are produced by this government when it comes to the impacts on the Cenotaph and the PR campaign around the impacts on the Cenotaph, I ask how can we trust the government’s commitments around how much this will cost, what the impacts on the traffic will be, what the impact on the Tasmanian budget will be and what other impacts will be. This is a serious issue of concern and of trust. The POS process completely throws out the door the protections for the sight lines of the stadium. The POS process completely throws out the door the protections for the sight lines of the stadium. The POS process actually gives power to a single panel, then ultimately us as the parliament, the absolute ability to make a decision on this stadium, irrespective of these longstanding protections for the sight lines. I put on the record tonight my concerns about this particular image.
I will be seeking some clarification from the minister as to where it comes from and what credibility it has. For us, in the Greens, it raised significant concerns and I believe they are shared by the RSL.
