Tasmanian parliament finally approves $1.13bn Hobart stadium plan

A contentious $1.13bn AFL stadium has been given the official tick of approval by Tasmania’s parliament to pave the way for the Devils to enter the AFL and AFLW.The 23,000-seat roofed venue at Macquarie Point was voted through the island state’s upper house of parliament at 11pm on Thursday following two days of debate.On Wednesday, key independent MPs declared they would support the project, ending years of speculation about how the vote would play out.Construction of a stadium at the site is a condition of the Devils’ licence to join the national competitions in 2028.The state’s premier, Jeremy Rockliff, who inked the contract with the AFL, has championed the venue as once-in-a-generation project that can be an economic driver.The vote of upper house independent Bec Thomas was critical in winning approval for the stadium. Photograph: Chris Kidd/AAP“The Tasmanian Devils and aspiration for young people has brought it to this point where we’re going to get the job done,” he said in the lead-up to the debate.The vote was 9-5, with four independents, three Liberal and two Labor MPs voting in favour.Critics have said the stadium is not the right priority amid ballooning budget debt, while a peak planning body recommended it not go ahead because its costs outweigh its benefits.The government has agreed to cap its spend at $875m as part of a deal for the support of key upper house independent, Bec Thomas.Thomas was briefly in tears during the debate, saying community opposition was valid.“I am genuinely sorry to those who desperately did not want me to support this,” she said.“I really hope that you can come to understand the reasons for my decision and you can see the work I have put in to try to make the best of a bad situation.”The government also agreed to boost local sporting funding and increase oversight of the project as part of the deal with Thomas.Another independent, Dean Harriss, also considered a crucial vote, gave his support after getting commitments from the government that it was “fair dinkum” about budget repair.The deeply divisive stadium has drawn protests on both sides of the fence, with the federal Tasmanian senator, Jacqui Lambie, quipping the stadium deal should be shoved up the premier’s bum.An estimated 15,000 people turned out to a pro-stadium rally on Sunday, while the Devils have pushed on with building a club during the political turmoil.Upper house Greens MP Cassy O’Connor, who voted against the stadium, said Australia’s smallest and poorest state had been shafted by the AFL.“It is so highly regrettable, bordering on tragic, that something we’ve all longed for, a Tasmanian AFL team, has become so divisive,” she said.Rockliff said the stadium design could be tweaked to keep it within the $875m budget.The stadium’s cost has already blown out from an initial $715m estimate. Rockliff once pledged the state would not contribute “one red cent more” than $375m.Additional state funding for the stadium would require the approval of both houses of parliament.The AFL is contributing $15m to the build, while the federal government is chipping in $240m for the site.Roland Browne, a spokesman for anti-stadium group Our Place - Hobart, flagged further protests but conceded there was no avenue for legal challenges.