Planning Commission’s John Ramsay rejects bias in Mac Point stadium assessment

The fall out over a draft assessment of the controversial Macquarie Point stadium continues. Read the latest in the ongoing saga.

Macquarie Point Multipurpose stadium south east gate. Picture: Mac Point Development Corporation

The Tasmanian Planning Commission has strongly rejected “any suggestion of bias” in its scathing draft report on the Macquarie Point stadium

The Greens seized on a letter from TPC executive commissioner John Ramsay to law firm MinterEllison this week, saying it again showed “how dishonest the Premier and his colleagues are being”.

A government spokeswoman said the matters in the letter had been addressed.

Mr Ramsay said a “simple reading” of the draft report showed the panel drew on both the Macquarie Point Development Corporation and economist Dr Nicholas Gruen and “formed its own view of the estimated costs and benefits of the project”.

“First, it is asserted in your letter, that Dr Gruen’s Report ‘includes untested and incorrect assumptions’,” he wrote.

“The Panel would be pleased if you could identify the untested and incorrect assumptions and the reasons therefor, so it might consider the validity of that assertion, and further consider whether there is any matter of relevance to its independent assessment.

“Second, it is now publicly asserted by your client, that Dr Gruen’s Report is infected by an apprehension of bias, and in relying on Dr Gruen’s report, the Panel likewise suffers that vice.

“As detailed above the Panel did not rely on Dr Gruen’s report as claimed.

“It conducted an independent assessment. Any suggestion of bias is rejected.”

Doctor Nicholas Gruen. Independent review of Macquarie Point Stadium Report by Doctor Nicholas Gruen committee hearing. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The draft report revealed the stadium would add $1.86bn to the state’s debt over a decade and could trigger a credit rating downgrade for the government.

Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley said the TPC panel were “independent and highly credentialed experts” and had spent a year assessing the stadium.

He said the attacks on the TPC and Dr Gruen were “unprecedented”.

“And it’s extraordinary that the Planning Commission has to repeatedly write to the government, effectively, to set them straight and slap them down,” Mr Bayley said.

“Jeremy Rockliff and his government have been completely exposed for manufacturing their own pretence for special fast-track legislation for the stadium.

“There is zero justification for this approach — it’s all about the Premier trying to avoid as much scrutiny and accountability for the stadium as possible.”

Deputy Leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Vica Bayley in Parliament. Picture: Linda Higginson

The government has announced that special legislation will soon be introduced to bypass the Project of State Significance process.

A government spokeswoman said the project was a once-in-a-generation project that could not be delayed.

“The Greens voted against the PoSS processes, just as they voted against the enabling legislation to develop Parliament Square,” she said.

Originally published as Planning Commission’s John Ramsay rejects bias in Mac Point stadium assessment