Hobart AFL Stadium an ‘absolute travesty’, says key architect as MP threatens early election over project transparency

A planned Hobart AFL stadium is too big for the proposed site and may need to encroach on the city’s wharves or Cenotaph hill, architects’ report finds.

An architect’s impression, showing the scale of Hobart's proposed new AFL stadium. Image: Bence Mulcahy Architects

A planned Hobart AFL stadium is too big for its proposed site and may need to encroach on the city’s wharves or Cenotaph hill, an architectural firm’s report finds.

An analysis by Bence Mul­cahy Architects, released on Wednesday, includes a dramatic image showing the 23,000-seat stadium “overshadowing” historic convict-built and iconic waterfront buildings.

Architect Robert Morris-Nunn, who designed several key waterfront ­hotels, said the visual impact of the $715m stadium was “an absolute travesty”.

“Sullivans Cove is the epicentre of Hobart’s historic precinct and everything that is designed within it has to follow strict guidelines, especially with regards to building height and overall form,” said Professor Morris-Nunn, designer of the MACq 01 and Henry Jones Art hotels.

“It’s an absolute complete travesty when the massive bulk of the new stadium is able to intrude so grossly into a very sensitive area that everyone else is working hard to respect.”

The Bence Mulcahy architect’s report, commissioned by stadium opponents including novelist Richard Flanagan, concludes there is “no meaningful space left” on the prime Macquarie Point site for other promised uses. These include an Aboriginal reconciliation park and Antarctic science precinct.

“(Premier) Jeremy Rockliff promised the Sydney Opera House but instead he’s going to build the Berlin Wall,” Flanagan said.

Release of the startling image – to be used in an anti-stadium billboard advertising campaign – comes as balance-of-power MP John Tucker threatens to trigger an early state election unless the government releases Treasury advice on the project.

“If they don’t provide that information, well there’s going to be a confidence problem in the government and we’ll be off to an election,” Mr Tucker told local radio. “The Premier is well aware of that.”

The government says it has been transparent but some documents are cabinet-in-confidence.

Mr Tucker said he backed a Labor move to have independent adjudication on which documents were genuinely cabinet-in-confidence and which could be released.

Mr Rockliff – who has committed the state to the stadium project in a deal to secure Tasmania an AFL team – argues it will be a boon for construction and ongoing tourism and business in Hobart.

He is supported by the business and tourism sectors but faces opposition within the electorate, with polls suggesting most Tasmanians would prefer the money be spent on health, housing and cost-of-living relief.

The issue has split the Liberal government and was a key factor in Mr Tucker and fellow MP Lara Alexander quitting the party, plunging Mr Rockliff into minority government.

Government whip Dean Young said the architect images were “scare tactics”.

“Images released today are a fantasy and depict yet another grubby attempt by anti-stadium, anti-AFL team campaign to mislead Tasmanians about the urban renewal project at Macquarie Point,” Mr Dean said. “This paint job is nothing more than a joke.”