Media release – Dean Winter MP, Shadow Minister for Economic Development, 20 September 2023

Jeremy Rockliff’s incompetence doubles Tasmania’s stadium bill

Today it has been confirmed that the price Tasmanians will pay for Jeremy Rockliff’s stadium at Macquarie Point has effectively doubled due to the Premier’s incompetence.

As reported in The Advocate, there will be no GST exemption for the federal government contribution towards Macquarie Point.

No GST exemption means Tasmanian taxpayers will pay for all bar around $20 million for the stadium. The cost is likely to be well over $1 billion at a time where Tasmania’s net debt position is scheduled to hit record levels.

The time to negotiate a GST exemption for the $240 million Macquarie Point precinct was when the deal was being negotiated. The reason an exemption was not in the deal was because Jeremy Rockliff did not ask for one. It is that simple.

A serious government uses Cabinet to scrutinise deals like this. A serious government uses agencies like Treasury to get the right advice at the right time. However, the deals with the Australian Government and the AFL were never subject to a Cabinet process and nor was any Treasury advice received.

This entire deal has been a stuff up. Jeremy Rockliff could not risk taking his deal through a Cabinet process because Michael Ferguson and his supporters would never have agreed to it.

The letter to the Australian Government was only sent following a question from the Opposition in question time weeks after the deal had been agreed.

The process perfectly sums up this incompetent, shambolic minority Liberal Government.

A series of unfortunate events: The Tasmanian Liberal Government’s GST debacle

  • [Precursor] 23 July, 2019: Then Treasurer Peter Gutwein attacks Andrew Wilkie for not requesting a GST exemption for funding for upgrades to the Royal Hobart Hospital, saying: “This has meant that almost all of that funding has effectively been redistributed to other states through reductions in our GST allocations!”
  • 29 April, 2023: The Federal Government’s $240 million Macquarie Point contribution is confirmed
  • 1 May, 2023: Minister Ferguson is asked by the Mercury whether a request had been made to exempt the funding from GST calculations, he says the “necessary work has been done”
  • 9 May, 2023, morning: Labor asks Premier Rockliff if he had requested a GST exemption for the federal contribution towards Macquarie Point – knowing full well he hasn’t made an official request, Rockliff tries to avoid the question, but falsely claims “We have requested that the Macquarie Point funding be quarantined for the purposes of determining GST allocations.”
  • 9 May, 2023, evening: Realising they’ve made a big mistake, Rockliff and Ferguson scramble to make an official request for exemption
  • 23 May, 2023: Rockliff is asked twice in parliament what date he requested the exemption – again he avoids the question
  • 31 May, 2023: Senate estimates hear the Premier didn’t formally request the exemption until after Labor asked the question of him on May 9.
  • 11 September, 2023: Ferguson writes again to Chalmers in a joint letter with Jonathon Duniam, showing the matter was of concern to the state government
  • 21 September, 2023: The Advocate reports there will be no GST exemption, meaning Jeremy Rockliff’s incompetence has effectively doubled Tasmania’s stadium bill.