No room for negotiation around Mac Pt stadium, AFL boss says

Tasmania would not meet the conditions of its AFL team deal if the Macquarie Point stadium isn’t built exactly as specified in the contract, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Tasmania will not be given an AFL team licence unless it builds a roofed stadium at Macquarie Point — and there is no room for negotiation, the AFL says.

Incoming AFL boss Andrew Dillon appeared before the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the proposed Arts, Entertainment and Sports Precinct in Hobart on Friday.

He said there was no room for negotiation around the agreed conditions of the licence, such as the site or the size of the stadium or the construction of a roof.

“It’s a stadium, 23,000 seats, roofed, at Macquarie Point. That’s the approval that’s been given by the AFL Commission and the AFL clubs,” he said.

Andrew Dillon. Pic: Michael Klein

“If we don’t have that stadium, then the licence conditions aren’t reached, so we don’t have a team.

“We’re not in a position to renegotiate.

“The work’s been done over a number of years, the site’s been identified and that was a critical part of the approval and the business case in the first instance, going to the Commission and then getting the sign off from the 18 AFL clubs.

“And it’s the site that was identified as the best site for a successful team for Tasmania.”

Mr Dillon said there has been an unusual level of transparency around the deal.

“The fact the majority of the funding agreement between the AFL and the state has been made available pretty much unredacted is a level of transparency I haven’t seen in my time at the AFL,” he said.

He said it wasn’t unusual for there to be community opposition — but was confident that would be addressed.

“This isn’t some that that’s a surprise to us … we understand that any change brings concerns.

“We have to work through those concerns.”

And he told the committee it was his understanding that all of the $240m that the federal government has pledged towards development at the site would be spent on the stadium.