With what $$$$! Rugby Australia don’t have much money.
You could add concert promoters to the list of those that should help fund stadiums too.
1 Like
Get their private school mates to chip in. 
Oh wait…
1 Like
Or better mobile coverage…. I find Telstra to be flaky at Hunter Stadium for some reason. Telstra is great when it works.
Thats for the sports to work out
No
Spoil sport.
As a Hobartian,
This mob against a stadium are the same mob who protest against most development in Tassie.
The Green leaning mayor of Hobart seems to have her nose out of joint because she wasn’t personally consulted on the idea of using MacPoint for a stadium.
The local federal member is on record saying he will actively campaign against the federal funds…can anyone else name a federal member who would not only knock back funds for his area, but campaign against it.
The state greens are grandstanders, and will do anything to get the easy sound bite on the ABC news.
Lambie needs to be vocal to remain relevant in the electorate, as she plans to run candidates at the next state election.
You have Richard Flanagan…The self appointed moral compass of Tasmania…presented as a fake green mouth peice.
And then you have Labour and Bec White…They have learnt the hard lesson, that a state labour position will not translate to the Labour Feds if they see votes in it. They have been side-lined by their own side. Bec is still leader because the only viable alternate got kicked out of the party with internal and external muckraking.
Lets just get on with it, build the bloody thing and let me reserve my seat for the first game of the new AFL side. We can fund the stadium, plus do health and education and all the government services, let’s just dare to dream!
5 Likes
Yep, exactly all of this. With all the anti-development people in Hobart currently, Jeremy may as well just start declaring Launceston as the capital. I’m not sure what the end game of those against is - they’ll get no stadium, no team and no noticeable benefits to anything and in years to come that will show as we have no tourism and no reason for people to come down here as our reputation as being open for business has been destroyed by the NIMBY’s.
1 Like
The funny thing is that if they were to get their way and stop the stadium then they’d come back in 10 years and have a meltdown cause there isn’t a good stadium for their sports teams…
6 Likes
I can’t help think this is more about political opportunism than being against the stadium as such.
Its the fact that some groups will complain about anything to get 5 minutes of fame on the ABC…generally green (or green leaning) minority groups who are well organised and funded, they are hardly grass roots organisations organising protests via facebook. They need a cause, and I suspect the stadium is the new pulp mill, fish farming, logging or franklin dam, to keep them relevant.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone, that the members that have walked away from the government are from Northern Tasmania.
I can’t help this is a simple case of the north being jealous of something in the south, like its been in Tasmania since, well, forever. There’s no outrage around the spending on York Park…funny that.
One thing our mainland friends generally don’t understand is that we as a state have critical mass, BUT we are not a critical mass in one location. Burnie, Devonport and Launceston demand the same services as the larger population of Hobart. This creates a situation of jealousy…Look at Hospitals and roads.
I suspect the Rockliff Government will take it to the people, with them (if they win) able to claim a mandate to go build. If they loose, we will have blown our chance at a team, FOREVER, and as @ando9185 rightly points out we will be considered closed for business, with the sovereign risk just too high for business to risk it here.
I mean what are Labour going to do? And the Greens too, rip up a legally binding contract and pay the AFL compensation for breach??
I reckon we have started to actually see labour start to slowly pivot now anyway…originally they were no stadium at any cost, now its lets see the deal, softening the messaging somewhat.
The winners here are the greens and they would know it, they can claim anything they want, if the liberals continue they can bash them with a ‘priorities’ argument, which resonates, if Labor totally pivots to a we want a team but no stadium, they can go with a ‘were the puppet masters of labour’ type argument…
Tasmania can’t afford not to go ahead with this now, the Premier has expended all his political capital on this…if he shifts at any point, he’s cooked.
This stadium is more than an AFL team, its generational type project for Tasmania, state defining like MONA…one we can’t let pass us by…or we will be dragged back to the good old days of Tasmanians fighting Tasmanians, getting nowhere in the process.
I am 42, I saw my friends leave to find work and never come back, I remember the days when Tasmania was laughed at by the mainland states, to a point now where we lead economic indicators regularly and get a ‘we can do anything’ type attitude.
I don’t want my daughter to have to leave our island state to follow her ambitions like my friends did, because Tasmania has stagnated again.
Yes, this project is that transformational to Tasmania, billion dollar projects are non-existent here, so yes, its that important…in more ways than just an AFL side…
4 Likes
Last time I looked Tasmania was part of the commonwealth, where the federal government funded projects across the nation, not just Sydney and Melbourne.
2 Likes
Because it’s an existing football ground being upgraded at a fraction of the cost. Hobart already has a foothold ground capable of hosting AFL matches. Throw similar money at Bellerive.
1 Like
I suspect that the AFL would have signed binding agreements with the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Government. There will be no way this project will be scrapped.
When was the last time federal money was spent in Melbourne?
1 Like
Thanks for the backround. As an outsider looking in from Queensland the whole thing seems to make zero sense.
As you’ve pointed out there is a north - south divide and I have heard this from other Tasmanians. But I still can’t get my head around that in any way - the state is so small!! How can there be such a divide when things are only a few hours drive away? It makes no sense to someone from a big state - where Cairns is 1,700km from Brisbane and Launcestion is barely 200km from Hobart. 200km is literally nothing. People in regional Qld, WA and NSW drive that distance for a haircut. I think it’s time Tasmania got over this north - south thing.
1 Like
I hear people complaining that Tas only got 1 mens T20 international and one womens ODI in the 23/24 summer of cricket
surely a nice new stadium would incentivise more cricket to come, especially with the Gabba dropping down the list due to the current state of it
Was there ever any talk of just upgrading Bloodstone Stadium to AFL standard?
That has been a valid position in the past. Daniel Andrews defeated a first term government on a promise to rip up the contracts for the East West Link and pay the developers $1bil compensation. The simple strategy is to blame the government that signed the deal without going to the people. He’s leaned into it in the 2 subsequent elections and won in landslides.
The critical difference is Mona had private funding. If the sporting bodies funded this, the main issue is gone.
The problem with Bellerive is it’s in a suburban area. A nightmare to get into and an even bigger nightmare to get out of and the residents hate it every time - had they proposed to upgrade that, these same people complaining now would have complained about that because of all the access issues. They are people just not wanting to be pleased.
As for the north south thing, while that is often the case I don’t think it’s actually as big this time. People up here either realise the significance of it all and that Hobart is the capital and support it or they’re joining in on the “better used elsewhere” argument which is a state wide thing and actually seems to be much more vocal from Hobart.
2 Likes
The Tasmanian JackJumpers have been getting good crowds in the NBL in their last two seasons. They have been getting over 4,200 at their games in their 4,800 seat stadium. (being “My State Bank Arena” in Hobart), which is quite impressive.
Although i don’t know much about the Tasmanian politics, but don’t most Aussies don’t most people complain when a new stadium is being built.
When the new SFS was rebuilt in Sydney, the blowout was astronomical, and alot of people complained about money not being well spent. Most people now have “forgotten” about the price, and have complained elsewhere.
2 Likes