Macquarie Point stadium: Jim Wilkinson, Russell Hanson ‘bust myths’ on AFL stadium and Labor

The ex-Tasmanian Football Board chairman has had enough of political point scoring on a stadium as he and another advocate dispel what they say are Labor ‘untruths’ about the project >>

FIRST LOOK: New designs of what Hobart's new AFL stadium at Macquarie Point could look like. Images supplied by AFL

Former Legislative Council president and past Tasmanian Football Board chairman Jim Wilkinson has had enough of the misinformation and political point scoring on a Macquarie Point stadium. He and Tasmanian AFL team advocate Russell Hanson speak out to respond to recent opinion pieces by Labor Leader Rebecca White and to dispel what they say are untruths about the project.

LABOR continue to distort the picture with the Tasmanian team and the new complex at Macquarie Point. Rebecca White writes in the Mercury 28 November and Janie Findlay Examiner 12 November.

Their combined rhetoric is a mixture of marginal seat politics and pure parochialism. A quick summary of their comments reveals:

Now is not the right time for a new stadium. Tasmanians do not want a new stadium, it’s a wrong priority

Why isn’t it the right time for a development, an investment in Tasmania producing 4,200 jobs and $300m Gross State Product during the three-year construction phase and ongoing 950 jobs per annum and $85m per annum increase in Gross State Product in the operational phase.

Labor leader Rebecca White has been a vocal opponent to the Macquarie Point stadium. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Projects like this are what drive growth in the economy and increased revenues for government to fund other areas such as health and social housing.

There is no business case

There will be and very shortly. We have recently heard about what the Perth stadium has done for their state.

The Adelaide Oval has been a massive boost in South Australia and the latest stadium in Townsville is reinvigorating the city and the controlling body in Townsville have offered to assist Tasmania to ensure that our project will be a success.

Tasmania already has two quality stadiums

Incorrect. The capacity of Bellerive Oval is 17,809 yet the taskforce forecast average attendance in our financial submissions to the AFL is 18,400.

This would represent peak crowds of around 23,000. The stadiums are AFL standard to play games but are not capable of hosting most of the Tasmanian team home games to the forecast attendance levels hence the business case will not be achieved and the team will not be sustainable and successful and retention of players will become a massive problem.

The AFL have worked constantly with Tasmania to not make the same mistake as with the Suns and the Giants.

The Tasmania team is designed to have a home base with appropriate facilities, as do all the other 18 clubs, to make the team hit the ground running and be competitive from the start.

The amount of work as to how the team will be structured is ground breaking.

Russell Hanson. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Do we want to do half a job? Do we want politics to destroy the team? Do we want to be a laughing-stock with comments from Labor such as; our current Premier and former Premier are “northerners”?

This is a clearly warped vision that decisions should be taken for a region with the team coming a distant second.

We don’t think we have seen one comment from Labor that “the team is the priority.”

It is comments such as this that make the AFL and Tasmania determined that unless the team is the priority it will fail.

The Premier and former Premier have risen above parochial and marginal seat politics and know that a Tasmanian team needs a new stadium to be sustainable and successful. They are to be applauded for their bold leadership on this matter.

The AFL Taskforce never recommended a new stadium in the business case.

Really. That is misleading. The Taskforce report was given to the government and the AFL and there were numerous statements re the stadium such as: “As stated, we have sought to model what a new, central CBD roofed stadium would do the economics of a Tasmanian-based AFL team. In short, it would likely motivate the AFL to issue a provisional licence”.

To the AFL’S credit they have used the taskforce report and the Carter Report and then entered an exhaustive analysis of what is required to achieve sustainability and success from the first bounce.

We, Tasmanians are what we are, unfortunately with marginal seat politics and divisive parochialism and putting them before the team is occurring and if we think that will achieve a licence we would be surprised.

That also includes four of the current six Tasmanian federal Liberal representatives coming out against the stadium and hence the team without even waiting for the business case.

It’s effectively saying we don’t mind Queensland getting joint federal and state funding for a Townsville stadium and the Olympics but we, as Tasmanians, don’t want Tasmania to receive funding. We embarrass ourselves.

Stephen Bourke, Angelo Fraraccio and Russell Hanson are advocates for the proposed stadium in Hobart to accommodate a new AFL team. Picture: Craig Warhurst

The Premier has also made it clear that no region will be worse off and in fact there will be more content in Launceston than is currently the case and the Minister has said there will be blockbuster games included. The AFL have been consistent in their rostering of Melbourne blockbuster teams to both Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney since they joined the AFL and this has included Collingwood and Essendon so there is no reason that this would not continue.

It would be Launceston receiving at least one blockbuster Victorian team each year as compared to nil as is the current case.

York Park will be upgraded as will Dial Park in Penguin to be capable of hosting pre-season, practice, AFLW and VFL games. The northern economy will continue to prosper from AFL games and in fact it will increase.

Attendances are better in the North

This is misleading and fails to recognise that Hawthorn has double the supporters of North Melbourne and their home games attendances in Melbourne are consistently 67 per cent higher than North Melbourne yet in Tasmania their attendances since 2012 are only 20 per cent higher than North Melbourne.

Hawthorn’s win ratio in Tasmania since 2012 is 81 per cent; North Melbourne 57 per cent.

They are all telling statistics and you could easily be critical and say attendances in the north are relatively poor but being realistic, it comes down to the reality a poorly supported and poorly performing team such as North Melbourne results in low attendances no matter where the games are played.

The team will be based in Hobart and there will be seven home games there and four in Launceston which is entirely consistent with what Hawthorn and North Melbourne currently do and over 21 years every attempt to increase the Hawthorn away home games to five have been rejected on the basis that the team should not play more than four home games away from its base.

That principle will apply in Tasmania for the AFL team as well.

Labor may say they support a Tasmanian team but it looks very much that the team is expendable given their position on the stadium.

Let’s face it, the time will never be right when people fan parochialism, pursue political agendas and advocate to pass up on absolutely positive opportunities for all Tasmanians. It is time for all Tasmanians to unite and make this happen.

Labor’s approach is either a deliberate, or at best a naive attempt, to put the AFL and the clubs off-side in Tasmania’s quest for a licence.

The potential for this approach is to bring down the dream once again of our own Tasmanian team.

Jim Wilkinson is former Legislative Council President and past Chairman of Tasmanian Football Board Russell Hanson has dedicated the past five years to getting a Tasmanian Team