Club presidents back AFL’s tough stance on roofed stadium in Hobart following hung parliament

Tasmanian voters have delivered a hung parliament which may force Premier Jeremy Rockliff to renegotiate the state’s deal with the AFL over a stadium, but club presidents back the league’s firm stance over the deal.

AFL clubs’ presidents are emphatically backing the league’s refusal to renegotiate over the Macquarie Point stadium as Tasmania’s Liberal Party creeps closer to a minority government.

Jeremy Rockliff was unable to form a majority government at Saturday’s state election in a setback for the 19th team but his Liberal Party will now spend coming weeks courting key independents.

They include successful candidates from Jacquie Lambie’s new party, with the Federal politician softening her hard-line approach slightly on Monday.

She had said entering the election the new stadium was “a slap in the face” for the state but on Monday made clear her candidates would seek “transparency” over the stadium contract.

The independent Tasmanian Planning Commission is conducting an integrated assessment of the multipurpose stadium, with the AFL’s club funding and development agreement stating planning and approval for the stadium must be locked in by June 2025.

It gives the state over a year to plan and cost the stadium even as Lambie’s candidates attempt to change the contract.

The AFL is adamant demanding a 23,000-set roofed stadium gives the club its best chance to thrive rather than survive.

The planning commission is reviewing only the initial Macquarie Point stadium proposal, not the second proposal with 450 apartments and 5000 underground carparks.

Designs of what Hobart’s new AFL stadium at Macquarie Point could look like. Images supplied by AFL

North Melbourne chairman Sonja Hood said on Monday of any renegotiation: “Good luck”.

Other presidents canvassed on Monday said a 19th team playing at Bellerive Oval would have player retention issues and become a “money pit”.

“We signed off on the licence. If clubs are going to give up draft picks the team needs to be guaranteed to proceed. It can only succeed with a good stadium,” said one.

Lambie could have up to three party members enter parliament and said on Monday she would mentor them as they tried to provide stability for the new government.

“I still cannot come up with a decent reason why it is a priority to have a new stadium with a roof …. We want to see transparency,” she said of the new stadium.

“My people are frothing at the mouth to go and have a look at that contract, see what has been sewn in, see if we withdraw out of that do we have to pay the AFL anything?

“How tight is that contract and is there a better way of doing this where there is less spend?

“We have (ambulances) ramping out there, an education system in crisis and we need roofs over people’s heads.”

The planning commission is reviewing only the initial Macquarie Point stadium proposal, not the second proposal with 450 apartments and 5000 underground carparks.

The stadium has been assessed as a project of state significance, so any approval for its budget would need to be passed by both houses of Tasmanian parliament.