Media release – Luke Edmunds MLC, Shadow Minister for Sport & Events, 27 March 2025
Is the Government shifting the goal posts on stadium delivery timeline?
The Tasmanian AFL deal outlines that the Macquarie Point stadium must achieve practical completion by 31 December 2028, and it must have a roof.
Yesterday, Macquarie Point Development Corporation appeared to indicate that the Government was working towards a December 2030 completion timeline.
Completing the stadium by then would expose Tasmania to the long list of penalties built into the contract and means the Devils won’t take the field at Macquarie Point until the 2031 season.
And when Premier Rockliff spoke to the media he said there was an expectation for him to be open to different design options including a full or partial roof.
Peter Gutwein has already said that “Blind Freddy” could see that Jeremy Rockliff won’t meet the requirements outlined in the deal.
Is the Premier still committed to delivering a stadium by 2028? Or is he shifting the goalposts and accepting the penalty clauses because he knows he can’t get it done?
by Chris Rowbottom, ABC, 26 March 2025
Macquarie Point stadium roof in doubt as cricket authorities petition Tasmanian government for redesign
Macquarie Point stadium architects will need to either re-design the stadium’s roof or eliminate it completely to appease cricket authorities who say the sport cannot be played at the proposed Hobart arena in its current form.
In a letter to the Tasmanian government, obtained by the ABC, Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia raised “significant concerns” about the effects of shadows cast by the roof’s supporting structure over the centre wicket, and their ability to stage fixtures at the venue.
“We are of the view the current roof design will mean the stadium is unlikely to be conducive to hosting test matches and could also be challenged in hosting One Day (50 over) and T20 (20 over) fixtures,” the letter reads.
“This is not an outcome that either CA (Cricket Australia) or CT (Cricket Tasmania) wants, and CT will be strongly challenged by its members to advocate for an alternate solution.
“For this reason, we would like to discuss with you what opportunity there is to consider a stadium design option that does not have a roof, or that has an operable roof.”
Read the full story here: Macquarie Point stadium roof in doubt as cricket authorities petition Tasmanian government for redesign – ABC News
Media release – Luke Edmunds MLC, Shadow Minister for Sport & Events, 26 March 2025
Cricket concerns cast more doubt over Rockliff’s ability to deliver
How on earth did the Government manage to design a stadium that cricket apparently can’t be played in?
Cricket is a key component of the stadium’s business case, and the incompetence of leaving the sport out of plans beggars belief.
The Tasmanian Devils are kicking goal after goal off the field, helping drive great excitement among the community for their entry to the competition.
But everything to do with the project that involves the minority Liberal government seems to be struck by complications and risks falling behind.
Labor supports a stadium because it will generate desperately needed jobs and secure the AFL and AFLW teams our state deserves. We want to see it built.
This project is too important for Jeremy Rockliff to stuff up, and he needs to start providing some certainty that he can get it out of the ground.
The last thing Tasmania needs is for this project to go the same way as the Spirits, where we are left with two brand new teams, but no stadium for them to play in.
Comments at media conference – Vica Bayley, Greens MHA for Clark, 26 March 2025
— untitled —
Revelations today that Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmanian have written to the government articulating their concerns about the stadium is just another nail in the coffin, or should be a nail in the coffin for this stadium. It identifies that this is design work on the run, that this is a project that is not fully formed, and it just highlights how problematic this development is.
If one of the key sporting codes that underpins the business case for this development is now raising questions about whether they can even play their sport under this roof, it just highlights how shambolic and underwhelming the application and this proposal is the premier still
The Premier’s problem is he signed a deal with the AFL that has signed Tasmanians up to paying for a billion dollar stadium, including a roof. And the AFL appears not for budging on any of this.
If the state, if the Premier, has had confidence and was acting in the interests of Tasmanians, he would have already been to the AFL to tell them that Tasmanians don’t want, don’t need, and can’t afford this stadium, and would have renegotiated an alternative arrangement. When it comes to our teams, we have two stadiums in this state where we have long played AFL football the Tasmanians, the budget is in a woeful situation, and it is abundantly clear that the money that we would be spending on this stadium is far better directed at the health, education and housing services that Tasmanians deserve and need.
The Premier is culpable here, ultimately, in signing up to a dud deal with the AFL that locks him into a roof. Now we have one of the key sporting codes that underpins an already woeful business case for this development, highlighting that they probably can’t play under it in the first place
Premier Rockliff would be far better off cutting his losses and making sure that the billion dollars that we’ll be investing in this stadium going forward are directed at the things that Tasmanians need and demand, things like housing. We’ve got an ever-growing housing wait list. Things like education. We’ve got some of the worst results in the country. And of course, things like health care, where we have an undeniable crisis.
The government’s making a virtue out of ignoring the expert reports that it commissions, whether it be Saul Eslake or Dr Gruen. They spend taxpayers’ money on commissioning these reports and then consign them to the dustbin the very next day.
It is clear that this project is already mismanaged. This is a project that is going to cost over a billion dollars. Nobody believes the Premier’s commitments that it will be $700 million and Tasmania’s contribution can be capped, and it all sheets home to a dud deal that Premier Rockliff signed with the AFL.
I’ve given up believing the Macquarie point Development Corporation. It is clearly an arm of government just doing the bidding of government. Premier Rockliff has demonstrated that he’s willing to say and do anything to hoodwink the Tasmanian people into believing that this stadium is a good thing for this state. And I think the Macquarie Point Development Corporation is doing a similar thing.
It is really clear that this site is not only a bad site for a stadium, it’s clear that the cost of the stadium is going to be well over a billion dollars, and something that Tasmanians can’t afford. And it’s already also really clear that Tasmanians don’t want or need this stadium.
