Legislation passes the upper house allowing Tipalea Partners to build its Stony Rise Village development in Devonport
While the CEO of a company developing a $40m shopping centre rejoices, the Greens have accused the Liberal government of a ‘dodgy’ deal. Here’s why.
Tasmania
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An “exhausted and mentally drained” Scott Spanton is thankful that both houses of Tasmanian parliament has passed legislation allowing his company, Tipalea Partners, to develop a $40m shopping centre.
Meanwhile, the Greens have accused the Liberals of being “dodgy” after alleging in parliament that Mr Spanton is a donor to the party currently in government.
The Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) rejected the $40m Stony Rise Village shopping centre in Devonport in September after the local council approved it in January 2023.
In response, the state government introduced legislation to reverse that decision and allow the development to go ahead.
Now that legislation has passed both houses, Mr Spanton says he is “over the moon.”
“The bipartisan support through both the lower house and the upper house, and the support of the independents, was incredible to see,” he said.
“We started out very disappointed with the bitter result from the TPC.
“The Premier came out and said that was a decision they didn’t agree with and that they would do everything in their power to review it.
“If he hadn’t come out and raised that, I don’t think we’d be here today.”
Mr Spanton said he hoped to begin construction on the shopping centre mid-next year and open it before Christmas 2026.
On Thursday in the House of Assembly, Tasmanian Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff asked Premier Jeremy Rockliff about his party’s links to Mr Spanton and Tipalea Partners.
“During debate in the other place on your Stony Rise approval bill last night, it was confirmed the company has donated to the Liberal Party – it was freely admitted to MLCs by the CEO himself,” Dr Woodruff said.
“When were you made aware of any donations from the Stony Rise developer to your party? “Did any donations from Tipalea influence your government’s decision to rush through unprecedented approval legislation to benefit your donor?”
The Mercury asked Mr Spanton and the Tasmanian branch of the Liberal Party to confirm the validity of Dr Woodruff’s comments, but neither responded.
Mr Rockliff said he rejected the Greens’ premise.
“We will fight for issues and bring issues to this parliament based on their merit,” he said.
“The depth of concern in the local community about this project not going ahead – one which would have employed many hundreds of tradies and provided services to the community – was like no other I have ever felt before.
“This is why I stood up at the Liberal Party state council and said, ‘It is not good enough. It does not pass the pub test. We will fix it.’
“A number of months ago, before you started bumping your gums a week ago, We fixed these issues.”
Mr Rockliff also told parliament that political donations were a matter for the Liberal Party of Tasmania.
Originally published as Legislation passes the upper house allowing Tipalea Partners to build its Stony Rise Village development in Devonport
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