Premier hails ‘historic day’ as $1.13bn Macquarie Point stadium project moves ahead
After years of heated debate, Tasmania’s parliament has finally given the green light to a controversial $1.13bn stadium that will determine the state’s sporting future.
The talking is over and construction is about to begin on Hobart’s Macquarie Point stadium.
The Legislative Council voted 9-5 in favour of the State Policies and Projects (Macquarie Point Precinct) Order 2025 about 11pm on Thursday night.
The emphatic result clears the way for the $1.13bn roofed stadium to be built on the near-waterfront brownfield site – the key condition imposed by the AFL for a Tasmanian team’s entry into the national competition.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Friday expressed his delight.
“Today is a historic day, following a marathon session in the Legislative Council over the course of the last few days, the democratic process has taken its place,” he said.
“I said the stadium would be approved by both houses of parliament, and it has.
“Today, we can move forward with this project, we can move forward and unify Tasmania, people from all walks of life and all ages have supported this project.
“This is a momentous occasion, it’s been some time coming and I couldn’t be prouder of all the work and all the effort that has gone into this project.
“We now must move forward. The parliament has spoken.
“Let’s move forward in a united way, not only uniting around the Tasmanian Devils AFL and AFLW but also the stadium project, which is so much more than the code of football.
“It is about cricket, it is about other codes, it is about entertainment, it is about concerts, it is about creating a precinct in this urban renewal project in an industrial wasteland that will come alive.”
The Macquarie Point Stadium will have a 24,500 capacity in sports mode, 31,500 for major concert events and a 1500-person function room.
Mr Rockliff has capped state government spending on the stadium at $875m. Under the terms of the AFL deal, it must be completed by the start of the 2029 football season.
“I want to make it very clear, we’re not increasing taxes or levies or charges to pay for the stadium,” Mr Rockliff said.
“We’ll be balancing our budget as we normally do, and framing our budget as we normally do, we’ve got a very measured and purposeful objective when it comes to going to a surplus, which we’re committed to.”
Macquarie Point Development Corporation CEO Anne Beach said the project would move ahead swiftly.
“Tomorrow we’ll be releasing two requests for tenders, they’ll be to commence the bulk excavation to clear the way for the stadium on this site and also to start the process of packing down the Goods Shed, which will be relocated to the north of the site,” she said.
“Then in January, we’ll be starting the process to appoint our major contractor who will have the exciting job of bringing this dream to a reality.”
Managing the budget would be one of the key priorities, but there would be no corner-cutting, Ms Beach said.
“We could deliver something on time and on budget, but if it’s not good enough and it’s not the quality that our community expects, it will be a failure,” she told reporters.
“So we have to keep really careful on costs, we have to monitor time, but we need to make sure that the product is also what people expect to see and what we’ve said will deliver as well.”
Hospitality Tasmania CEO Steve Old told reporters the stadium would be a big boost for his members.
“For our industry, it’s been something that’s gone for three and a half years, and this is going to be the kick that our industry needs,” he said.
“For us, it’s a massive win. It’s a real relief. We just want to see it built.”
And Master Builders Tasmania CEO Jenna Cairney said her members would also be big winners.
“I can tell you that right now, this is a definitive moment for the Tasmanian economy and for the building and construction industry,” she said.
“This certainty will light the fuse of investment across the state.”
The terms of the order passed by parliament mean that many of the conditions of the stadium’s construction relating to planning, heritage and the like, will be overseen by the Hobart City Council.
Deputy Lord Mayor Zelina Sherlock said that the council would fulfil its role despite having earlier resolved to oppose the stadium.
“We have to respect that outcome, and as a result of that, we will try to the best of our ability to ensure that those compliance, regulatory and enforcement frameworks that are within the order of the stadium will be complied with,” she said.
“The council’s expectations are that proper process will be followed, and by proper process, we mean all of those aspects related to planning, to heritage, and, of course, respecting the community as well along that process that they’re entitled to be involved in as well.”
Labor’s two votes in the Upper House were crucial to getting the stadium across the line.
Opposition leader Josh Willie said the outcome would deliver the team Tasmanians had been seeking for decades.
“Now the order has passed parliament, it’s up to Premier Rockliff to build the stadium, and Labor will be holding him to account for his delivery.
“The Premier has taken Tasmanians on a long, challenging and unnecessarily divisive journey to get to this point, and I hope the divisions he’s opened up are able to heal.”
Greens MLC Cassy O’Connor said the fight against the stadium would go on.
”We are standing with the majority of the Tasmanian people who know that this stadium represents a clear political choice to pour more than a billion dollars of public resources into a black hole down at Macquarie Point or invest in health, housing, education, climate action,” she said.
“I think that my independent colleagues in the upper house have done the wrong thing.
“They have voted to consign generations of Tasmanians to stadium austerity, to cuts to job losses, to higher taxes, stadium austerity that will be the legacy of the Liberals, Labor and those four independent MLCs who voted to pass this order, despite the overwhelming body of evidence against it, despite the advice of independent experts.”
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