The Premier Jeremy Rockliff needs to come clean with Tasmanians and explain who will pay for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in the inevitable cost blowout of the proposed stadium at Macquarie Point.
Tasmanians are already expected to fork out $375 million upfront for the stadium, with another $85 million in additional borrowings.
We also know, according the state government’s own business case, that we will be up for at least $20 million each year in interest repayments, that the stadium will cost the Tasmanian economy over $300 million in the first 20 years of its life and it will only generate $300,000 a year in payroll tax, meaning that it won’t pay for any essential services.
And that’s before taking into account a cost blowout, which the Department of State Growth said that under a “typical arrangement” Tasmania will be responsible for and which will likely be in the hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the state is in record debt and interest rates are rising.
And yet, in a radio interview today, Jeremy Rockliff refused to even address the issue of a cost blowout, saying he “doesn’t want” that to happen and “hopes it doesn’t”, while claiming there will be consultation that clearly should have already happened.
Any Tasmanian waiting for cost-of-living relief will tell you that hope is not a solution and everyone associated with this sort of project knows that a cost blowout is inevitable.
Just last night, we had the panel on Channel 9’s Footy Classified raising serious doubts about the cost of the stadium. Eddie McGuire left no doubt about potential costs, saying “you can’t build a shed for $715 million to play football on,” and unless it’s thatched, a roofed stadium will cost at least $1.5 billion.
The Optus stadium in Perth was originally budgeted at less than $1 billion but ended up costing $1.8 billion – around double the original cost – while the cost of the Olympic stadium in Brisbane has almost trebled since it was first announced.
Jeremy Rockliff should be honest and upfront about the stadium cost blowouts and why he is leaving the Tasmanian taxpayer holding the ball.
Tasmania deserves an AFL team and Tasmanian Labor supports that but Jeremy Rockliff needs to be honest with all Tasmanians about the true cost of his dud stadium project.
Josh Willie MLC
Shadow Minister for Sport