Amid strong debate that Tasmania will be buried in debt, the federal government has committed $240 million to the stadium and the AFL $15 million.
“I’m very confident that we will be able to meet the $875 million. We will manage the project to ensure that happens,” Rockliff said on Thursday.
Need a new stadium: AFL chief Andrew Dillon launched the Tasmania Devils in March 2024.Credit: AFL Photos
With stadium approval now locked in, Devils chief executive Brendon Gale and the AFL can push ahead with coaching, administrative and player signings ahead of the club’s launch in little more than two years. The Devils will play home games at existing Tasmanian grounds before the Macquarie Point stadium is built.
Opponents of the stadium, including the Our Place group, have flagged further protests, but conceded there was no avenue for legal challenges once the stadium is passed.
“While parliament can permit the stadium to be built, it cannot legislate reality to be different. And at some point, reality will doom this unaffordable stadium. The problems will grow to engulf all Tasmanians,” said spokesman Roland Browne.
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“None of our political leaders can say they were not warned. And as these problems grow, so too will the endless financial consequences.
“Because the problems will worsen, the campaign against the stadium will continue.”
Browne said it was incumbent on the AFL to “manage the division that its stadium has caused in Tasmania”.
“It [the AFL] was the one that imposed the requirement for a stadium for a 19th team,” he said.
“It’s really pushed Tasmania into this situation and hasn’t given an inch.
“I expect they’re going to wash their hands of it and say it’s Tasmania’s problem, which I think is a tragedy.”
with AAP
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