Macquarie Point stadium dominates Tasmanian election campaign on day one as parties disagree over AFL deal

The Macquarie Point stadium dominated the first day of the Tasmanian election campaign. (Supplied: AFL)

Tasmania’s bid for its own AFL team has been intertwined with a stadium at Macquarie Point ever since Gil McLachlan turned up in Hobart in 2022 and pointed at the grey, mostly-vacant land.

The deal was then formalised in writing last year when the AFL stipulated if there was no stadium, there would be no team.

But now, it’s become a key sticking point on the first day of the state election campaign, as both the Liberals and Labor try to shape the narrative over the deal — and whether it can be changed.

The price tag is at the centre of the debate.

The Tasmanian government set the total cost at $715 million in 2022, with a state contribution of $375 million, and the rest to come from the federal government, borrowings, and the AFL.

Since then, various stadia projects in Australia have experienced major cost blowouts.

But Premier Jeremy Rockliff is sure of his figures.

And in an attempt to prove this, he announced on Thursday that the state’s contribution would be capped at $375 million, and “not one red cent more”.

“What this clearly says is that we’ve drawn a line in the sand,” Mr Rockliff said.

The original cost estimates included $85 million from “borrowings” through commercial leases.

Mr Rockliff said the stadium would continue to rely on private investment to become viable.

“We are now open to the private sector to come in and invest in the precinct,” he said.

“We always said that will need to be an equity injection through the private sector.”

The contract with the AFL states that the Tasmanian government is “solely responsible” for cost overruns.

The federal government has already capped its contribution.

But Mr Rockliff said his price cap did not breach this part of the AFL deal.

“There’s no need to renegotiate the arrangements,” he said.

Labor wants AFL back at the negotiating table

Labor, on the other hand, has promised to bring the AFL back to the negotiating table.

Another aspect of the AFL deal is that the stadium must be ready by the 2028 season, or the Tasmanian club will start facing financial penalties.

Labor leader Rebecca White said both the cost estimate for Macquarie Point, and the 2028 deadline, needed to be revisited.

“It’s evident to everybody that you can’t build a stadium at Macquarie Point for that price, and in the timeline that the premier has said he can,” Ms White said.

She argued the premier’s price cap policy was an admission that the stadium would not come in under budget – and she questioned whether private investors would be lining up.

“Where are all the private investors coming from?” she said.

“The premier is dreaming if he thinks he’s going to pluck private investors out of thin air to prop up his pet project at Macquarie Point.”

It was unclear which aspects of the deal Labor would try to renegotiate.

The AFL did not respond directly to questions about whether the price cap was a breach of the deal, or if it would be willing to negotiate with a future Labor government.

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said the club was proceeding as planned.

“The AFL’s position is that a clear requirement of the 19th licence is that the team is conditional on a new 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point,” he said.

“We look forward to the unveiling of the club’s name and colours in March.”

Stadium has some political problems 

Economist Saul Eslake believed the cap showed the premier had some issues to address.

“I think that’s a recognition from a political point of view that the stadium has some problems,” he said.

“I certainly think the AFL has extracted an extraordinarily high price from Tasmania, to have a team in the AFL.”

It did not mean the stadium was cancelled, however.

Mr Eslake said that private investment was always going to be important for the project.

“If the government can attract private sector investment, or investment from super funds into this … I think there is a business case for entities like that to have some interest in it,” he said.

The group behind an alternative stadium proposal – on reclaimed land on the nearby Regatta Grounds – believes it has already secured private sector investment.

Proponent Dean Coleman has long been critical of the government’s $715 million price tag, arguing that a stadium would cost about $20,000 per square metre.

This would take the government’s proposal to $1.2 billion.

Mr Coleman said his group had private interest in its stadium proposal.

“We have written confirmation from three tier one financial corporations (including Australia’s largest investment bank) that want the opportunity to partner with the state government,” he wrote in a letter to the premier on Thursday.

“Unlike the stadium 1.0 proposal we can cap the cost at $750 million because our other components including the car park, hotel and apartment complex contribute significantly to the cost of the stadium.”

The government’s stadium is being assessed by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.

At the conclusion of that process, it will require the approval of both houses of parliament – in the next term of government.

The Macquarie Point Development Corporation is appointing a quantity surveyor, which should provide an updated cost estimate for the stadium later this year.

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