Daniel Hulme wants AFL High Performance Centre assessments made public
The Clarence Council has supported a councillor’s move to put in a RTI request for details about the assessment for the AFL’s High Performance Centre at Kingston. What he wants to know.
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A Clarence councillor, says he is “highly suspicious” of the government’s decision to have the Tasmania Football Club’s High Performance Centre at Kingston and wants the assessments for the project made public.
Daniel Hulme successfully moved a motion at a recent Clarence Council meeting that an application be made under Right to Information for all information related to the assessments of both the Kingston and Rosny sites for the training and administration facility.
He said he concurred with comments by Mayor Brendan Blomeley when Kingston was chosen that the “process had no proper structure, and had been incredibly poorly handled by senior bureaucrats”.
“I can’t see any reason why the Tasmanian Government would keep those documents secret – unless of course the decision wasn’t a technical one but it was actually a political decision,” Mr Hulme said.
“I’m highly suspicious about this project.
“Let’s get the documents out there.
“Let’s give independent experts an ability to scrutinise them.
“Let’s give the public an ability to scrutinise them and make their judgement as to whether this was a sound decision that was based on technical information and financial information or, as I suspect, a political decision.”
Mr Hulme said Rosny was spoken about as the “preferred site for many, many months before the final decision on Kingston was made”.
He said if the documents were released under RTI they should be made public.
“Given the economic and social benefits that potentially flow from the establishment of the Tasmania Football Club’s AFL/AFLW High Performance Centre, there is significant public interest in the decision as to its location.
“There is broad agreement from proponents and opponents of both sites that the Tasmanian Government’s decision on the location of the High Performance Centre has lacked transparency and due process.
“The reports on the site assessments have been released to councillors and council officers, but Clarence City Council councillors and officers have only been given access to the documents in respect of the Rosny assessments and only on the condition that they sign a section 28 confidentiality agreement.”
Mr Hulme said he believed with the expenditure of taxpayers’ funds, the public “had a right to be able to scrutinise the decision and the information on which it was based, including the ability to compare the assessments of both sites”.
Sports Minister Nick Duigan recently announced the government would contribute $105m to the centre, an increase from the $60m previously promised.
Tenders for the project are expected to open by the end of 2025.
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