Albanese vows to get Mac Point off ground

If Labor wins the federal election, Anthony Albanese says he will kick-start the Macquarie Point redevelopment.

A LABOR Government would ensure the “mess” that is Macquarie Point was rapidly transformed into a key Tasmanian destination.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, speaking in Hobart, said he hoped to be the nation’s infrastructure minister after the federal election - and he would put Macquarie Point at the top of his to-do list.

“If we’re successful and I am infrastructure minister, one of the first things I will be doing is sitting down with Premier [Will] Hodgman and saying ‘listen, mate, let’s get on with it’,” Mr Albanese said.

Flanked by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten at Mona, for Labor’s announcement of a $120 million investment in Tasmanian tourism, Mr Albanese said Macquarie Point should not have stalled for so long.

He compared the stunning Mona site, activated with the private funds of founder David Walsh, with the “mess that is Macquarie Point”.

Mr Albanese said Labor committed to the urban renewal project when last in government, through $50 million in funding.

“This was an initiative of the last Labor Government in 2012, when we put $50 million towards getting Macquarie Point going.

“It’s tragic that it’s 2019 and they have not got their act together to actually address that project.”

Mr Albanese said getting the urban renewal project off the ground would create jobs during the construction stage and later in the form of hospitality jobs.

He said Labor’s vision for the waterfront site was a “mix of commercial, residential, hospitality and tourism”.

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The proportion of land set aside for housing at Macquarie Point became a point of debate last week, after Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Helen Burnet called for more space to be dedicated to residential development to ease Hobart’s housing crisis.

Ald Burnet criticised the vision for Macquarie Point for drastically reducing the land area allocated for residential housing as part of the first stage of the redevelopment from 43,949sq m to 15,000sq m.

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While Mr Albanese did not elaborate on how much land should be set aside for housing, Labor’s state infrastructure spokesman David O’Byrne has criticised Ald Burnet’s suggestion the redevelopment should beef up its residential footprint.

Dark Mofo festival creative director Leigh Carmichael has also slammed suggestions the site should allocate more land for residential housing, arguing it would hinder the Mona vision for a cultural precinct at the site.

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