Transcript of media conference with Greens MHA for Clark, Vica Bayley, Parliament Lawns, Hobart, 24 May 2024.
Vica Bayley
Last night in Parliament we had confirmation that when it comes to the stadium, we’ve just got dud deal after dud deal. Everybody knows that the agreement that Premier Rockliff signed with the AFL is a dud deal and it has Tasmanian taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, including every single dollar of cost overrun that he will inevitably come with this stadium.
But last night it was confirmed that the Treasurer failed to negotiate a GST exemption for the $240 million of the Commonwealth contribution towards the Mac Point Precinct. This is a double whammy in relation to that money because we already know that that money isn’t necessarily earmarked for the stadium. There’s preconditions on that money from the federal government, that it be spent on wharf upgrades and housing. So we do not know how much of a contribution would actually be made for the stadium from that $240 million. But now we know that it comes at a cost to our GST over the longer term.
That means it’s a cost to healthcare, to housing to other critical infrastructure that Tasmanians desperately need. So this is a double whammy for Tasmanians. It’s a dud deal and this confirms that it’s a done deal. And it took our motion in Parliament to tyre lever this confirmation out of Treasurer Michael Ferguson. It’s a disappointing day. We would support a GST exemption for any Commonwealth contribution for infrastructure here in Tasmania. But basically this means that Tasmanian taxpayers will be on the hook for even more when it comes to this billion dollar stadium.
Journalist – Josh Duggan
Is this a failure by the federal government or the state government?
Vica Bayley
This is a failure of by both governments. Fundamentally it’s a failure by Treasurer Michael Ferguson to negotiate up front as part of the federal government’s contribution that it would be GST exempt. And yes, it’s a failure of the federal government to recognise that Tasmania is one of the poorest states and giving on one hand and taking on the other is not an acceptable way to do business. This is the federal government making it look like they’re giving a significant contribution to Macquarie Point and the infrastructure around Macquarie Point, yet taking it back on the other hand. That comes at a cost to infrastructure in relation to housing, health care and education.
Journalist – David Killick
Given this decision by the federal government – I know you’ve just touched on it – is it now inevitable at the cost of the stadium will come out of health out of the education budget?
Vica Bayley
We know that Jeremy Rockliff signed a dud deal when it came to the agreement with the AFL and we’re up for cost overruns. We now see there’s a dud deal when it comes to the federal government’s contribution and the GST. And what this raises is questions around what kind of deal the government is prepared to do in its desperation for this stadium with the private sector. That is the next unknown quantity here when it comes to funding this stadium.
It makes a mockery of Premier Rockliff’s commitment to cap expenditure at over $300 million, because the cost of this project just keeps going up and up. We’re up for the inevitable cost overruns and cost blowouts that come with these massive infrastructure projects. We’re up for the GST component, that we’re not going to receive when it comes to this federal government contribution. And undoubtedly, Tasmanians will get screwed by the private sector as well when it comes to what agreement Jeremy Rockliff signs with them to get this thing over the line.
Journalist – Elliott
What did you make of the way Michael Ferguson framed the announcement yesterday, playing the victim?
Vica Bayley
It was completely disingenuous of Treasurer Michael Ferguson to try to frame this as either the Greens’ fault in forcing this admission from the Federal Treasurer or indeed blaming the Federal Treasurer. What has happened here is that the treasurer failed to negotiate an exemption for this money up front. It took a question from the Labor opposition to actually get him to write to Treasurer Chalmers has to request this. It took the Premier calling an election for him to write again on the day that the Premier called an election to request again that the decision be renewed. Then it took the Greens successfully passing a motion through Parliament to actually get transparency around what’s happened here.
Treasurer Ferguson has known since December that this money would not be GST exempt. He just hasn’t been willing to admit it. And he keeps making Tasmanians believe that there’s some kind of chance that Treasurer Chalmers is going to change his mind. The failure here sits with Treasurer Ferguson: he failed to negotiate this upfront when he had the opportunity, when he was negotiating with the government about exactly how much they would tip into the Macquarie Point. Redevelopment Project.
Journalist – Josh Duggan
Do you think they were just so desperate to get the stadium built and that they were happy to kind of pay for it by letting the money go from GST share, If that makes sense?
Vica Bayley
Look, it is very clear that the Rockliff government is desperate when it comes to the progression or the perceived progression of the Macquarie Point stadium. But I think this points to a fundamental incompetence when it comes to the capacity of this government to negotiate in the interests of Tasmanians. It failed to negotiate the team that we deserve in our own right without agreeing to a billion dollar stadium. It failed to negotiate upfront exemptions from GST when it got the money out of the federal government for the Macquarie Point precinct. And it begs the question, what’s it willing to give away when it comes to the negotiations with the private sector to get this stadium up and built? We fear that this is just pointing to another dud deal for Tasmanians and we’ll continue to pay for this stadium long into the future.
Journalist – Josh Duggan
The federal Treasurer has said the Brisbane Olympic infrastructure gets it because it’s required to bring international sporting events to Australia as opposed to the stadium. Do you think that’s consistent or a good enough reason?
Vica Bayley
That’s really clear as I understand it. In the GST calculations and rules is that international sporting events, and federal contributions to a state to promote and facilitate international sporting events, are exempt from GST exemptions. They are events that are in the interests of the entire nation. And as a result, the federal government bears more of the cost responsibility for delivering that infrastructure. That’s what comes, that’s one of the benefits of being a state that hosts international sporting events.
There’s no such exemption when it comes to domestic sporting infrastructure. This stadium was never in its own right deserving of a GST exemption. And that’s why it was incumbent upon Michael Ferguson as part of negotiating this money and as part of standing next to the Prime Minister when he announced this money, negotiating up front a GST exemption. It is discretionary. You know, the the federal Treasurer can instruct the Commonwealth Grants Commission to deal with this differently and offer an exemption for Tasmania. But it’s clear that Premier Rockliff and Treasurer Ferguson failed to do that in this instance.
Tasmanian Times
Is this the federal government effectively putting another nail in the Macquarie Point option so that the Paul Lennon alternative at Regatta Point becomes more viable?
Vica Bayley
I’m not going to prescribe some kind of motivation here to the federal Treasurer or the federal government. We know there’s big politics at play behind stadiums. I think the point that we’re making is this is a fundamental failure of the Tasmanian Government to make sure that the contribution of the federal government is exempt from GST.
They had their chance back in the latter half of 2023, when they were having conversations about this investment, to make sure that it is exempt from GST. They actually had the chance to make sure that it was all directed at the stadium and therefore would indeed mean that Tasmanians don’t have to pay as much for the stadium. They failed on both accounts. We know that this money is going to be spent on wharf upgrades and housing, amongst other things. We know it’s not going to be GST exempt, which means we know that Tasmanian taxpayers are going to pay more for this stadium. We are the ones that are responsible for all of the cost overruns, all of the costs blowouts and the failure of this government to negotiate properly with the federal government.
Journalist – Elliott
Given the statements made by federal ministers and the Prime Minister in the past, was this announcement yesterday actually a surprise?
Vica Bayley
Well, no, this isn’t a surprise. I mean, it was revealed in Senate estimates that the Treasurer had informed Tasmanian Treasury that the $240 million wouldn’t be GST exempt. This has been something that has been a matter of public record for numerous months now. What we’ve been seeing from the Tasmanian Treasurer is essentially some kind of cover up and excuse-making exercise, a buck passing exercise to try to make someone look like someone else is responsible for this.
We’ve known for six months or so that this is the situation. We’ve been speculating that this would be the outcome for even longer than that. It was now confirmed last night because of a Greens’ motion in Parliament. It’s deeply disappointing, but it just points to the fact that we’re getting dud deal after dud deal from the Rockliff government when it comes to the stadium. Tasmanians know that they’re going to be on the hook for additional hundreds of millions of dollars when it comes to this stadium.
Vica Bayley.
Media release – Josh Willie MP, Shadow Treasurer, 24 May 2024
Ferguson fails to rewrite history on GST exemption
Michael Ferguson’s see-through attempts to rewrite history regarding his mismanagement of the stadium funding deal aren’t fooling anyone.
In a bizarre, late-session tirade last night, Mr Ferguson was desperately trying to shift the blame for his own failings.
It was established in May last year that Tasmania’s Treasurer didn’t formally request a GST exemption until the afternoon of May 9 – after Labor asked about it in parliament that morning, and after Jeremy Rockliff had signed the deal with the AFL.
If Michael Ferguson wanted a different outcome, he should have negotiated it before the Premier signed a deal, rather than crying foul after the fact.
Michael Ferguson, Treasurer, 24 May 2024
Tricky Labor is caught out again
Federal Labor MHR Brian Mitchell is either misinformed or deliberately deceiving Tasmanians in a desperate attempt to deflect from his Government’s appalling decision.
Mr Mitchell claimed that the Tasmanian Government received a response to our request for a GST exemption for the Macquarie Point Urban Precinct project in October last year.
He is wrong. This is a Labor lie.
What he may be referring to was not a letter from the Australian Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, responding to the two letters I had previously sent – but an email at officials level consulting on the draft Terms of Reference for the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s (CGC) 2024 Update of GST relativities.
The CGC’s annual assessment analyses revenue and expenditure by states in the previous three financial years. The Federal funding for Macquarie Point does not begin to flow until 2025-26, and is therefore not relevant to the 2024 Update.
This is a distraction.
Mr Mitchell said today that the GST distribution was “very, very complex” – he’s right and he clearly doesn’t understand how it works, and is embarrassingly referring to the wrong year’s Terms of Reference!
Mr Mitchell can tell Tasmanians “there’s nothing to see here folks” all he likes – but it’s plain to see that Tasmanians have been dudded – the Federal Labor government is dudding the very Tasmanian’s Mr Mitchell should be representing.
The simple fact is that Dr Chalmers can choose to make this right at any time before the 2027 Update – he just has to send us a simple letter saying so. There is no “deadline” to be missed except perhaps the 2027 update.
What will it take for Federal Labor MPs and Senators to get on the same page as the Liberals, JLN, Green and indpendent MPs and Senators?
MICHAEL FERGUSON: Feds Confirm No GST Exemption for Macquarie Point Funding.
Les McJunkins
June 2, 2024 at 22:37
There certainly are a lot of duds connected to the stadium dream/wish/fantasy!