Stadium estimate does not include car park, interchange or access road

The $775m estimate for the stadium does not include costs for the car park, bus interchange, access road or relocating a historic railway Goods Shed, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Detailed plans for Hobart’s new AFL stadium reveal an immediate $60m cost blowout. Picture – Supplied

The revised $775m estimate to construct the proposed Macquarie Point stadium does not include the cost of building the car park, bus interchange, access road, relocating a historic railway Goods Shed or the cost of attracting major events, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Budget Estimates committee hearings have been told the amount was not a final estimate.

The government has promised to cap its contribution to the project at $375m, the federal government has offered $240m for redeveloping the entire Macquarie Point precinct.

Private investment is also being sought to cover budget overruns.

Renders of Macquarie Point stadium. Picture: Cox Architecture.

Macquarie Point Development Corporation CEO Anne Beach said the final cost of the stadium was not yet known but she was confident it could be delivered on budget.

“It is not the final figure, and we’re not yet at final design, so we have quite a long way to go,” she told the committee.

“It’s important to note … what we’ve submitted here is for planning approval, it’s not for cost approval, and we’ve included the full spectrum of activity that would be delivered over time in this space.

“As we go through that refinement, we can pull back some of those assumptions.”

Anne Beach CEO Macquarie Point Development Corporation. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

She said some parts of the broader precinct were not included in the stadium budget.

“The car park is included in our planning application because it’s it will be supporting the stadium but it is a whole-of-precinct outcome.

“So that’s not included in the project because it’s not specific to the project. It’s a whole-of-precinct car park.

“It won’t be open to the public as such as more a facility to support the precinct outcomes.

Similarly, the road into the site and the bus drop-off points were not part of the stadium budget, she said.

“It’s not a bus mall, it’s a transition space,” she said.

“So the northern access road will have a terminal end, so it’ll have a sort of a turning space, and the bus drop off will be integrated into that.”

And she said event funding would come from another budget at another time.

Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said the estimated cost did not include $55m of lighting, public address systems, audiovisual equipment and food and beverage fit-outs

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he was proud to be delivering the stadium for Tasmanians.

“We’re investing $375m into enabling infrastructure, like we invest into schools, hospitals, roads, bridges,” he said.

“We can have both. We can invest in essential services, we can invest in frontline services, and we are, and will continue to invest.

“We will and can invest in enabling infrastructure as every other state of Australia has.”

Expect more grilling over Mac Point stadium budget: Greens

September 23, 5am: Government ministers should expect intense scrutiny on runaway costs at the Macquarie Point stadium — and the impact of its efficiency dividends on frontline services — during this week’s parliamentary budget estimates hearings, the Tasmanian Greens have warned.

Foreshadowing a focus that will also include the recently released State of the Environment report, Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley claimed the Hobart stadium’s budget had blown even before construction negotiations had begun, and said Tasmanian taxpayers would ultimate liability for any cost overruns under the deal with the AFL.

Legislative Council member for Hobart, Cassy O'Connor. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We’re very much looking forward to getting into the estimates committee hearings … and unpicking the deception around stadium funding,” Mr Bayley said, ahead of the four-day House of Assembly and Legislative Council committee hearings.

“The budget for this stadium has already blown out significantly, and it is now an $830 million stadium by the government’s own figures.

“The Liberals can say what they want about capping expenditure [on the stadium] but the reality is, this project has already blown out.

“And this is going to be a billion-dollar stadium that Tasmanians don’t want, don’t need, and will come at significant costs to essential services like health and education.”

Greens Legislative Council member for Hobart, Cassy O’Connor, said she was looking forward to pressing the Premier on the unfunded parts of the stadium project, saying the development was currently facing a $200 million shortfall after government and AFL contributions were accounted for.

Greens member for Clark, Helen Burnet. Picture: Chris Kidd

The former Greens leader said her party would be pushing the Tasmanian government to articulate how what it would be spending on like alternative priorities such as health, housing, education, and environmental protection.

“In the days since the release of the stadium Project of State Significance application, cost blowouts and shortfalls in the government’s funding strategy have been exposed and it is clear Tasmanian taxpayers will keep paying for this stadium for a generation or more,” Ms O’Connor said.

“The development application has confirmed significant impacts on places and values like the Cenotaph, historic heritage and traffic.

“Tasmanians will miss out on housing, healthcare and education investments and improvements because of this stadium.

“The Liberals have a casual regard for both public money and the truth, and their priorities are all wrong.”

Lower House member for Clark, Helen Burnet, said federal financial commitments to the Macquarie Point site were contingent on wharf upgrades and housing, which she claimed had not been funded in either the stadium development application analysis or the in state budget.

Ms Burnet said the stadium application had also highlighted the infrastructure challenges the project presented, with “dire” projections for Tasman Bridge traffic flows, and unrealistic assumptions about the take-up of public transport.

“The Liberals have no real plan to fix Metro’s abandoned services, let alone genuinely invest in mass-transit options like Rapid Bus or light rail,” she said.

“The state budget has sparse funding for public transport infrastructure and capacity, yet the stadium application assumes high uptake and efficiency of public transport.”

Budget a ‘work of fiction’: Labor

Labor says the state budget is a “work of fiction” and the worst in history but the government says it focuses on cost of living.

Ahead of scrutiny of the budget at estimates hearings starting on Monday, Labor’s treasury spokesman Josh Willie said the government had lost all credibility with the budget and predicted job cuts.

Labor treasury spokesman Josh Willie. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

“There are dodgy figures throughout this budget. For example they are going to spend less on health than they did last financial year,” he said.

“They are going to have to implement further cuts to meet their estimates or they will blow the budget even further.

“Tasmanians will already have to pay $1.4bn in interest on Jeremy Rockliff’s record debt over the next four years, with Tasmania’s finances set to be the worst in the nation.

“There will be $35,000 worth of debt for every Tasmanian household.”

However, government minister Jane Howlett defended the budget.

“What we’re doing in the Tasmanian budget is investing in health, housing, cost of living, and, of course, keeping our children safe, that’s what we’re focused on,” she said.

“Labor will have the opportunity at budget estimates to scrutinise the budget line for line, but we’re investing in the things that matter.”

Liberal member for Lyons Jane Howlett. State parliament returns for the first day after the election. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mr Willie said the budget black holes would lead to cuts in health and the breaking of a $120m election promise for a new northern heart centre.

He said the government also budgeted to spend $12m less on wages than in the previous year for the Department of Police, Fire and emergency Management “which can only be achieved with job cuts”.

“They’ve put Tasmania’s credit rating at risk which will send interest rates higher, increasing the burden on Tasmanians and sucking more resources from essential services and infrastructure projects,” Mr Willie said.

However, Ms Howlett said the state government had written to the federal government seeking support for the northern heart centre.

“We will continue to fighting for the federal government to put their funding into this project, just like we’ve done with the greater South East irrigation scheme.

“Our funding is secured, the irrigators’ funding is secured but we need the federal government to step up and bring their allocated funding forward so this project can get underway,” she said.

Originally published as Stadium estimate does not include car park, interchange or access road