Bec Thomas reveals how she’ll vote in Mac Point stadium debate
The chances of the government’s stadium proposal passing the Legislative Council have been given a boost, with a key independent declaring her support. LATEST >>
The chances of the government’s stadium proposal passing the Legislative Council have been given a boost, with a key independent declaring her support.
Appearing on ABC Radio this morning, Member for Elwick Bec Thomas said she had offered the government her support for the project on the condition they implement a series of safeguards around design, costs and commitment to local sport.
“I will be voting yes. My intention is that my support for this project, I have given my support to this project to the government, conditional on their agreement to a range of safeguards,” she said.
Ms Thomas said the agreement included a cap on state government funding of $875m.
“I have long said with all my heart from the outset that I want to be able to support this.
“I want Tasmania to have the opportunities that other states have.
“We deserve to have the infrastructure that other states have. We deserve to have our own AFL team, and that’s long overdue.
“But I’ve heard the community concern about the cost of this proposed Stadium at Macquarie Point.”
Premier ‘nervous’ as stadium vote goes down to the wire
Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he is “apprehensive and nervous” ahead of a critical vote in the Legislative Council on the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project.
Members of the state’s upper house will consider an order to build the $1.13bn stadium on Wednesday and Thursday.
The final vote is considered too close to call, with key independents not yet indicating which way they will vote.
Mr Rockliff told reporters the fate of the stadium – and the state’s AFL team – was now in the hands of Legislative Councillors.
“It’s a big week for this project, and I must say, I am a little apprehensive and nervous about the outcome this week,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of work going into this, and, of course, a lot of passion, and we want to do what we can to bring this home for the many, many Tasmanians – 15,000 of them on Parliament House lawns on Sunday – expressing their view and their desire to take Tasmania forward.
“And so the upper house will do what the Upper House does, and there’s a lot of detail and dedication they will go through and scrutinise the order, and you know, that’s up to them. “This can be a very unifying project, and my view is, should this project proceed, it will unify Tasmania, because it’s been through a lot of scrutiny over the course of the last three years, but every person that has either supported or not supported this project has helped to get to where we are now, and that is a better project.
“And so I look forward to the outcome in the Legislative Council.”
The construction of the stadium is one of the conditions imposed by the AFL for the establishment of a Tasmanian team in the national competition.
The Premier has been holding talks with members of the Legislative Council in recent days to answer their concerns about the stadium.
MLC Ruth Forrest said she’d had her first meeting with the Premier since the election on Monday and a briefing from the Macquarie Point Development Corporation.
She says she is still to make up her mind.
“Not, not finally, no, I’ll work through it all and but it’s really gratifying to hear people and have people contact me today … saying whatever decision you reach, we back you, which is really nice.”
She said the outcome of the eventual vote was hard to predict and would likely not happen until well into Thursday.
“I really don’t want to pre-empt the views of my colleagues. I think everyone’s still working hard on it,” she said.
“I just wish we could pay this much attention and this much focus and spend this much money on delivering our health services, getting our educational outcomes elevated to where they should be, and to dealing with and providing the housing that people need.”
Originally published as Bec Thomas reveals how she’ll vote in Mac Point stadium debate
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