The price tag for the Macquarie Point stadium project has gone up by nearly $100 million, according to new information provided to the Tasmanian Planning Commission by the Rockliff Government.

Buried in a technical report newly submitted to the Planning Commission, the government has admitted the cost for the stadium’s underground carpark will be $97 million.

Added to the previous estimate of $945M, it brings the projected cost now to $1.042B in up front capital expenditure. With debt repayments over a period approaching 20 years, the total will be around $2B.

The car park costing is much higher than even the best guess made by the Commission in their Draft Integrated Assessment Report on the stadium earlier this year.

The Hobart stadium’s overall cost has already seen multiple budget blowouts and is almost three times Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s promise of a capped state contribution of $375M “and not a red cent more:” made in February 2024.

“The project’s design isn’t even finished and its budget is already out of control,” commented Greens’ MHA for Clark Helen Burnet.

“$100 million to build a car park is bad enough on its own. But it wouldn’t be the Rockliff Government if stadium news didn’t come with a shameless attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of Tasmanians.”

In the information provided to the Planning Commission the Tasmanian Government has argued the cost of the carpark is not their responsibility because it will be covered entirely by commercial arrangements.

“How ridiculous … perhaps this argument would have been a bit more believable if it hadn’t already been tried previously,” said Burnet.

“Once upon a time the Liberals said that food and beverage facilities, audio-visual equipment, kitchens and other parts of the stadium shouldn’t be considered as part of the project’s cost because they would be funded by commercial agreements. But that plan has been abandoned, and it is taxpayers now footing the bill for the lot. The same is likely to happen for the stadium’s ridiculously expensive underground carpark.”

The Government was unable to answer basic questions about whether it plans on selling or leasing the facility, and for how much, when questioned by the Planning Commission about it last week.

“As the stadium price tag skyrockets past a billion dollars, Tasmanians continue to demand Liberal and Labor politicians drop this project and focus on investment in health and housing instead,” said Burnet.

“While the major parties have their heads in the sand, the Greens are listening to Tasmanians’ concerns about the ill-conceived project. We will keep doing everything we can to stop the Hobart stadium going ahead.”

Access Road

There is also a misleading claim in the Technical Note about the proposed northern access road.

$75.6M was allocated in the failed 2025-26 State Budget for the road. The document claims that this “development was initiated prior to the proposal to build a stadium at Macquarie Point.”

This is factually false as the previous site plan for Macquarie Point, before it had a stadium dumped on it, showed no such road.

The Planning Commission hearings continue.

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians. 

New initiatives on the way include:

  • a weekly podcast covering current affairs
  • a revamped website
  • a monthly cartoon competition
  • a user-friendly app for both Android and Apple devices
  • a weekly roundup of key stories