Squiz Shortcuts - The Tassie stadium saga

Your Shortcut to… The Tassie stadium saga

It’s not often that the fate of a footy team hinges on a state election, but Aussie Rules fans will be paying close attention to the campaign in Tasmania because the future of its new AFL team and stadium largely depends on the outcome. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we cover:

• the controversy around the stadium

• why it’s linked to the election

• and whether the Tasmania Devils are headed for extinction before they even play a match…

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A new AFL team for Tassie - that’s a big deal…
It sure is… It was massive news when it was announced back in 2022 - not just for Tasmania, which is a state that loves its football, but for Aussie Rules fans all around the country. 

What’s it called?
It’ll be the AFL’s 19th club, called the Tasmania Devils. They’re gearing up for a 2028 season start, and the news came with the announcement of a brand new 23,000-seat stadium they can call home. 

Where is the stadium planned to be built?
On the waterfront at Macquarie Point in Hobart. But - and this is where the trouble starts - the deal comes with some strict conditions. 

What sort of conditions?
In order to grant the club’s licence, the AFL says the stadium and team must go hand-in-hand, meaning Tasmania has to build it if they want the club to go ahead.

Why is the AFL insisting on a new stadium?
It’s mainly to accommodate fans on game days… The Tassie Devils have 208,000 members already, and the AFL says ticket sales for a national league team will be high. The existing stadiums in Hobart (the UTAS and Bellerive grounds, which are currently used for AFL/AFLW, cricket and concerts) only seat 17,000 people, so they reckon a lot of people would miss out, and it’d cost them nearly $6 million a year in lost revenue.

Any other reasons?
Yep - they also want to make sure the amenities for teams and fans are up to scratch (so, change rooms and toilets), and that the broadcast facilities are spick and span. They also want a roof, so it can be an all-weather venue able to be used for other sports like cricket, and events like concerts.

Got it. So where’s it all up to?
Well, it was on track to go before parliament for approval in July, but the project has had to tackle some challenges…

Oh yeah, like what?
Some major cost blowouts, for one. The stadium was initially costed at $775 million, but it’s blown out by $170 million, bringing the price tag to $945 million. That’s not too far off $1 billion…

…which is a lot of coin for our smallest state to cough up 
Yes it is… There are a few other reasons for why the stadium has been so divisive, but to cut a long story short, the whole project - and because of that, the new club - is now up in the air because (and this is the biggest challenge) Tasmanians suddenly have to vote in an election. 

Hang on, didn’t Tasmania have an election last year?
Yep, they did. This will be Tassie’s fourth state election in seven years and the second within 16 months, so it’s safe to say another trip to the polls wasn’t on their Bingo cards… But that’s where they’ve found themselves after the Opposition leader Dean Winter put things in motion - literally - when he moved a no-confidence motion in Premier Jeremy Rockliff and his minority government a couple of weeks ago. 

Why did he do that?
Because he said Rockliff’s government - a Liberal minority government formed with crossbenchers - was failing on a number of fronts. His main complaint was that the state’s debt was piling up - but it’s important to note that the stadium itself wasn’t one of the issues that led to the no confidence vote, other than the fact it would put a further dent in the state’s budget. He also said the Libs had made a mess of some other infrastructure projects…

Which ones?
Specifically, the purchasing of 2 new ferries for the Spirit of Tasmania fleet before a berth was built in Devonport to fit them, meaning they won’t be in use for years…

Did the government have a plan to fix things?
Treasurer Guy Barnett outlined a plan in the recent budget to get things back in the black by slimming down the public service and potentially selling public assets, but Labor wasn’t going for it… 

So what happened?
Rockliff lost the no-confidence motion, but he refused to step down, opting instead to ask Governor Barbara Baker to grant him permission to hold an early election. She gave that after considering all the options - one of those was having Winter possibly form a coalition with the Greens, but he refused to do that. So, all that to say, Tasmanians will now go to the polls on 19 July. 

OK, what does the election have to do with the new stadium?
The stadium is a political hot potato, so it’s probably worth staking out where all the parties sit on the issue as the election campaign gets underway…

Hit me…
First up, the Greens - who pre-election, held 5 seats of 35 in the lower house of the Tasmanian Parliament - are against it. And they could easily hold the balance of power post-election, so that’s worth noting. 

Got it, where do the major parties sit?
Both the Liberal and Labor parties say they like the idea of having a Tasmanian AFL team. But whether they’re prepared to meet the AFL’s conditions and commit to building a new stadium for it, and how they’re proposing to pay for it if they do, is very much up in the air.

And how do Tasmanians feel about it?
It’s been a divisive issue in the community too. Reports say many Tasmanians - particularly residents from the state’s north where 67% are opposed to it - aren’t sold on the idea of investing millions into a sports venue when the money could be directed into essential services like hospitals and housing. But, there’s also a lot of goodwill for it, and polling numbers from earlier this year show support overall has increased since 2023. 

What are some of the reasons given by people who support it?
Besides the legacy it’d leave for generations of footy fans, many Tasmanians believe the new club and stadium stand to bring a lot of money into the state through tourism and jobs – and that swell of community support and economic promise are 2 big factors why neither of the major parties are willing to say they’ll dump the idea… That’s the big-picture outlook - first they’ve got some design issues to deal with.

What kind of issues?
We mentioned cost blowouts before, and adding to those are a bunch of design issues to be bedded down - like the inclusion of a roof, which the AFL is insisting on, but the head of Australian Cricket Todd Greenberg doesn’t want. He says the grid pattern on the current design would cause “unacceptable” playing conditions through shadow patterns for players in daylight that could pose a health and safety hazard.

What’s the price tag on the roof?
A hefty $190 million, so a review has been floated for that… But all of this could be a moot point, because the plan still has to pass both houses of parliament, and if enough anti-stadium MPs are voted in, the whole concept - and the Tassie dream of having a state team - could be over…

Onto our Recommendations

Watching: it’s not directly related to Tassie, but it’s an Aussie comedy/drama about a cash-strapped AFL club and how much it brings to the town. It’s called The Merger and you can find it on Binge, Amazon Prime or Apple TV…

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