{"id":17824,"date":"2025-07-24T05:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T05:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/17824\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T05:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T05:55:12","slug":"fast-track-laws-for-afl-stadium-appear-punted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/17824\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast-track laws for AFL stadium appear punted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans to fast-track the approval process for a new $945 million stadium in Tasmania appear dead in the water because of delays caused by the state’s snap election.<\/p>\n

Both the incumbent Liberals and Labor opposition are courting crossbench support after falling short of the 18-seats required for majority at Saturday’s election.<\/p>\n

Four independents who hold the balance of power have said they won’t be rushed on negotiations, with the final make-up of parliament likely not settled until August 2.<\/p>\n

The poll, which was called in June when Premier Jeremy Rockliff lost a vote of no-confidence, delayed legislation designed to fast-track the stadium’s approval.<\/p>\n

\"(PHOTOMONTAGE)<\/p>\n

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has indicated the fast-track legislation won’t be pursued. (Rob Blakers, Ethan James\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Building a 23,000-seat roofed venue at Macquarie Point in Hobart is a condition of the Devils’ AFL side entering the league in 2028.<\/p>\n

Tasmania faces financial penalties if the project doesn’t meet construction timelines and if the stadium isn’t ready for the club’s second season in 2029.<\/p>\n

The incumbent Liberal government wanted to bring forward legislation to fast-track its approval, overriding the existing project of state significance (POSS) assessment process.<\/p>\n

The POSS process, which has held public hearings in recent weeks, has continued and will provide a final report on September 17.<\/p>\n

Mr Rockliff has indicated the fast-track legislation won’t be pursued, given parliament may not return until September.<\/p>\n

“We put the enabling legislation forward because of particular timeframes,” he told ABC radio on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“But expectations are the timelines are now roughly the same in terms of enabling legislation and the POSS process.”<\/p>\n

\"TASMANIAN<\/p>\n

“It’s clear there is no advantage of the direct legislation,” Labor leader Dean Winter says. (Ethan James\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Labor leader Dean Winter, whose party supports the stadium and said it would vote for the fast-track legislation, said he now wanted to see the project go through the POSS process.<\/p>\n

“It’s clear there is no advantage, in terms of timeline, of the direct legislation,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n

“The POSS has more certainty and is more likely to be supported in the Legislative Council.”<\/p>\n

The stadium must pass a parliamentary vote under the POSS process to be approved.<\/p>\n

The stadium is supported by the Liberals – who have so far won 14 of 35 lower-house seats after the election – as well as Labor, who have claimed 10.<\/p>\n

But it faces a trickier passage through the Legislative Council where the major parties don’t hold the numbers.<\/p>\n

Counting to determine the final two undecided election seats continues, with preference distribution expected to begin on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Rockliff and Mr Winter, who must obtain the support of the Greens to govern, are negotiating with a crossbench which is mostly opposed to the stadium.<\/p>\n

The Greens, who hold five seats, are against, as are independents Kristie Johnston, Craig Garland and Peter George.<\/p>\n

Independent David O’Byrne backs the stadium.<\/p>\n

Mr Rockliff and Mr Winter have said the stadium is not up for negotiation.<\/p>\n

Mr Winter reiterated Mr Rockliff would get “first crack” at governing, but Labor didn’t want Tasmania forced back to another election if the Liberals couldn’t.<\/p>\n

“In the event he can’t secure 18 votes on the floor of the house there is going to need to be people working across the parliament together,” Mr Winter said.<\/p>\n

\"TASMANIAN<\/p>\n

Independent MP David O’Byrne says he is open to a Libefal or Labor government in Tasmania. (Ethan James\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Mr O’Byrne said the raw numbers on the floor would dictate how easy it would be for either major party to form government.<\/p>\n

He also said he was open to a Liberal or Labor government.<\/p>\n

Ms Johnston, Mr Garland and Mr George said formal negotiations won’t begin until after the final election results have been decided, saying neither major party has a mandate to govern.<\/p>\n

“For that reason, like other cross bench members, we will be speaking to both major parties \u00a0about confidence and supply,” the trio said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans to fast-track the approval process for a new $945 million stadium in Tasmania appear dead in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,4269,19006,19007,4270,19008,19010,19009,85,2801],"class_list":{"0":"post-17824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-dean-winter","14":"tag-enabling-legislation","15":"tag-fast-track-legislation","16":"tag-jeremy-rockliff","17":"tag-labor-opposition","18":"tag-poss","19":"tag-snap-election","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-tasmania"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}