The government survived, stadium survived, but only just — Labor had the tools to win: Stansfield

Liberal insider concedes Labor could’ve won the election on one key election issue. What he believes Rebecca White needed to do to be in government.

Tasmanian State Election 2024, Brad Stansfield in the tally room, Hotel Grand Chancellor. Picture: Chris Kidd

The Tasmanian Liberals’ election strategy director has admitted Labor would have claimed government on Saturday night had it made its opposition to Hobart’s proposed stadium a central feature of its campaign.

Font PR director and former chief of staff to Will Hodgman, Brad Stansfield, who was contracted by the Liberal Party to run its campaign, described the stadium issue as a drag on the conservative vote across the state, and particularly at ballot boxes located outside the state’s capital city.

Brad Stansfield former chief of staff to Will Hodgman. Will Hodgman former Tasmanian premier official portrait by artist Effie Pryer unveiling at Parliament House Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“If the Labor Party had taken a clear, strong position against it from the start, and Rebecca White had stood at Macquarie Point every single day and said I hate this thing … Labor would be in government today,” Mr Stansfield said on political podcast, the FontCast.

“The evidence was that our campaign went well when we weren’t talking about the stadium, and when we were talking about it, it went bad.

“We went backwards in the last week directly as a result of the AFL team on the Monday night.

“Our vote went backwards in the last week because what that launch did was bring to the fore that issue, and as a result many more people went to the ballot box thinking about that issue rather than what we wanted to talk about.

“The anecdotal evidence from our candidates in the field was that the stadium was the number one issue on the door north of Bagdad.”

A concept image of Hobart's proposed stadium at Macquarie Point — the design is yet to be finalised. (Supplied: AFL) Tasmania AFL Tasmania Devils AFL stadium

Mr Stansfield predicted that with the Liberals widely expected to form a minority government with the help of members including of the Jacqui Lambie Network, the controversial stadium project would proceed.

“The government has survived, the stadium has survived,” he said.

“And the government has saved the team. Any other result and the team was dead, there was no doubt about that.”

The Labor Party was contacted for comment.