Tasmania in the AFL: The questions, concerns and election implications of the league’s 19th team

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has called an early election for the state, and Hobart’s new stadium will be a crucial election issue and may throw a Tassie side in doubt. MATTHEW FORREST answers all the questions about what it means.

About six months ago, Tasmania seemed destined to be the AFL’s 19th team in a league that would truly become national.

The state is a genuine breeding ground for elite talent, with many stars of the game, like Richmond legend Jack Riewoldt and top 2023 draftees Colby McKercher, Ryley Sanders coming from the Apple Isle.

However, recent conversations between the league and state officials, as well as an upcoming election in 2024, has thrown a spanner in the works for the Hobart-based team.

Tasmanian Football Club officials have said they are not concerned about the election potentially derailing the launch of the new team in 2028, with the club set to reveal its identity on March 18.

What is the Macquarie Point Stadium proposal?

The stadium on Hobart’s waterfront is directly linked to the proposed 19th AFL licence for a professional Tasmanian team. The AFL has requested that a brand-new roofed stadium that seats 23,000 patrons be built in Macquarie Point, in time for the new team’s introduction for the 2028 season. The projected cost of the total build is roughly $715 million, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirming the Federal Government would contribute $240 million to the build. The Tasmanian Government, under the current Liberal Party leadership, would contribute $375 million. The AFL is set to contribute $15 million, with the remaining $85 million to be raised through borrowings or leases.

When will Tasmania’s time actually come? Picture: Chris Kidd

Does a Tasmanian AFL team hinge on the Hobart Stadium being built?

Put simply, yes. AFL officials have made it clear to all political parties in Tasmania that failure to deliver a new roofed stadium that sits 23,000 people in Macquarie Point by 2028 would result in the retraction of the provisional licence for the 19th team. A statement, made by the AFL on Wednesday, said “the AFL’s position is that a clear requirement of the 19th licence is that the team is conditional on a new 23,000 seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point and that position was clearly reiterated by the AFL CEO when he appeared before the Tasmanian Parliamentary Committee last year.” New AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has said to both Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Labor leader Rebecca White that the league was not in a position to negotiate on the deal: No new stadium would mean no new team. In June last year Dillon said “if we don’t have that stadium, then the licence conditions aren’t reached, so we don’t have a team. We’re not in a position to renegotiate.”

Tasmania Premier Jeremy Rockliff and former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan in May last year. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

What are each parties’ stances on the proposed Tasmanian team?

Both Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Labor leader Rebecca White have been positive in their views on the proposed team and the 19th AFL licence that would be coming from the AFL. Rockliff has been a big believer in the prospect in the past few years, pushing state government to get behind the bid. When the AFL announced the state’s bid would be successful, Mr Rockliff was alongside then CEO Gillon McLachlan to confirm the announcement and said “the AFL will finally be complete and recognised as a truly national competition.” Ms White’s stance on the new team has been less clear in her bid for the premier seat during the electoral race, however this week confirmed the Tasmanian AFL dream “will not be put at risk under a Labor Government”. Her party’s concern stems mainly around the Macquarie Point Stadium deal, suggesting Mr Rockliff’s plans for the Hobart-based ground are substandard. Ms White says she wants to renegotiate the Liberal Party’s deal with the AFL in an attempt to reduce taxpayers’ dollars spent on the project.

An artist’s impression of Macquarie Point Stadium 2.0 from above. Picture: Stadia Precinct Consortia

Who else has an opinion for or against the stadium?

The economic impact will impact businesses and tourism in the vicinity of the stadium, as well as the greater Hobart area. The new 23,000 capacity stadium is expected to create about 4200 jobs and generate about $300 million in additional economic activity during construction, according to an independent study conducted by Tasmania’s Infrastructure department. It is also expected to create 950 jobs per year during stadium operations, as well as an additional $85 million in economic activity each year.

There are issues with the plans for the stadium, though. Currently there are two site options, with the initial and original Macquarie Point Stadium plan still without a design team and has been labelled a “stand-alone football ground limited by its confines” by Stadia Precinct Consortia boss Dean Coleman. The second design, which incorporates the multi-purpose stadium into a larger community precinct, would require 790,000 cubic metres of earth moved to be viable. Most of which would be used to reclaim land, as the stadium protrudes about 200m into the river. Macquarie Point has historically been an industrial zone in Hobart, with farms, abattoirs, lumber yards, goods storage, heavy industry and rubbish disposal sites all previously established there. Already 69,000 tonnes of contaminated soil (asbestos, spent fuel, coal tar, phosphorus, sulphur, arsenic, copper, lead and zinc) and 2.3 million litres of contaminated water (ammonia, cyanide and E. coli) has been removed from the site.

What will the election decide?

Ultimately, it is unclear what the outcome of the election may decide. A Liberal win, and Mr Rockliff keeping his seat would keep the Tasmanian team dream alive. However, a Labor win throws the plans into a bit of uncertainty. Ms White has suggested she will not put the 19th licence in jeopardy, however said on ABC Radio on Wednesday that “you can’t build a stadium on Mac Point for the price or in the time frame that the Premier has outlined”. Dillon has made it clear the AFL is in no position to renegotiate, despite Ms White stating she wants to scrap Mr Rockliff’s current deal.