Labor kicks goal for Hobart’s AFL stadium; failure to build ‘catastrophic’, says Josh Willie

Tasmania’s new Labor leader is now a key backer of the contentious AFL stadium, warning its demise would be ‘catastrophic’ for investment and a sporting ‘disaster’.

Hobart's proposed AFL stadium at Macquarie Point. Picture: Macquarie Point Development Corporation

Tasmania’s new Labor leader is strongly backing Hobart’s AFL stadium ahead of a vital parliamentary vote, warning its defeat would have a “catastrophic” impact on investment in the state.

Josh Willie, who stadium opponents had hoped would swing his party against the $1bn project, instead told The Australian its loss would be a sporting and economic “disaster”.

“I know it’s a controversial project – that’s partly down to the way the government’s handled it,” Mr Willie said. “There has been poor governance.

“It didn’t go to cabinet. It was a captain’s call for Premier Rockliff to sign the deal (with the AFL requiring a new stadium in return for the league’s 19th licence). It didn’t go to Treasury for advice.

“But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and … if we don’t realise this opportunity I think it will signal to people on the mainland and elsewhere who want to do business with Tasmania that our state government can’t meet its commitments.”

Mr Willie said that would be “catastrophic” for investment in the state, which would also lose the men’s and women’s Devils teams.

“And I don’t think that opportunity will come back again for many generations,” he said.

Labor leader Josh Willie is now leading advocacy for Hobart’s AFL stadium, dashing hopes by project opponents that the party might shift its stance ahead of a key vote.

Mr Willie’s support for the stadium, proposed for a prime site at Macquarie Point, adjacent to Hobart’s waterfront, is a blow for project opponents. They had hoped the elevation to the Labor leadership of a left-faction MP would turn the party against the project, which has divided the community.

The Planning Commission’s Final Integrated Assessment Report on the 23,000-seat roofed stadium is due by September 17, and will guide a parliamentary vote on the planning permit.

Labor’s support will ensure the permit is approved by the lower house, but it faces a less certain outcome in the independent-dominated upper house.

Mr Willie would not say how Labor would vote if the commission’s final report found the stadium – which critics say will overshadow historic Hunter St and the Cenotaph – was too problematic for the site. “That’s a hypothetical,” he said. “(But) we support the stadium because of the jobs and economic opportunity … also (because) it will realise the AFL teams that Tasmania has fought for for generations.”

An upper house MP for eight years before switching to the Assembly in 2024, Mr Willie warned Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff and his minority government against repeating past “brinkmanship” on the stadium. “My former colleagues in the upper house are very process-driven people (so) a respectful discussion that acknowledges the challenges, but also the benefits, is the best chance it has,” Mr Willie said.

However, he was dismissive of a push to renegotiate the AFL deal in the event of a negative planning report, rather than risk the stadium’s rejection by parliament. “I am actually quite confident that the … process will be more favourable than people think,” he said. “The evidence that’s been presented through that process has been very good.”

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Michael Bailey: ‘Things can always be renegotiated.’ Picture: Linda Higginson

However, the state’s peak business group is urging a bipartisan approach be made to the AFL to renegotiate the deal in the event a negative planning report made parliamentary approval unlikely.

“From our point of view, things can always be renegotiated,” Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Michael Bailey told The Australian.

“The team is bigger than just the stadium; the Tasmanian team is something Tasmanians deserve and that the AFL deserves.”

Mr Bailey said it was particularly important the state ensure the team – not the AFL – benefited from money-making areas of the stadium, such as food and beverage. “(Otherwise) we’re signing our team up to … have to rely on sponsorship and probably high levels of government support ongoing,” he said. “The model I would like to see, and which would be more suitable, is the model that Geelong have for Kardinia Park, where they get revenue streams out of the ground.”