In three weeks members of Tasmania’s upper house will decide the fate of the Macquarie Point stadium and the state’s AFL team.<\/p>\n
A majority “yes” vote from the Legislative Council’s 15 members will green-light the $1.13-billion build and accelerate Tasmania’s entry into the AFL and AFLW competitions.<\/p>\n
A vote of “no” will consign the stadium \u2014 and the Devils team \u2014 to the dustbin of Tasmanian history.<\/p>\n
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With Labor’s support, the stadium order will pass Tasmania’s lower house. (Supplied: MPC)<\/p>\n
Those votes will be cast against the backdrop of a state drenched in debt and following an interim budget that revealed Tasmania’s dire economic position is forecast to worsen.<\/p>\n
Hobart’s planned AFL stadium ‘too big’, report finds<\/a><\/p>\n The proposed Macquarie Point AFL stadium in Hobart should not proceed, a long-awaited assessment from the Tasmanian Planning Commission recommends.<\/p>\n The vote also comes months after the Tasmanian Planning Commission recommended against the project proceeding on economic, planning and heritage grounds.<\/p>\n As the vote approaches, pro- and anti-stadium campaigns are being staged in a bid to nudge undecided Legislative Council members into a particular camp.<\/p>\n Rival community groups are self-funding “yes” and “no” corflutes that can be seen adorning the front fences of Tasmanian homes in increasing numbers.<\/p>\n The same groups have organised rallies within a week of each other as parliamentary motions are being moved.<\/p>\n All are moves designed to appeal directly to the decision makers of the upper house, but most members know where they stand.<\/p>\n The stadium’s cost has increased to $1.13 billion. (Supplied: Tasmanian government)<\/p>\n Key independents reveal hands<\/p>\n Combined, Liberal and Labor MLCs will vote the project through, The Greens’ Cassy O’Connor will oppose, and the rest of the independent members are split.<\/p>\n Key independent MPs express concern over Hobart stadium<\/a><\/p>\n Two independent MLCs whose votes are crucial for the proposed Macquarie Point stadium have outlined their concerns about the project in budget reply speeches to parliament.<\/p>\n Somewhere in the middle are Bec Thomas and Dean Harriss, a pair of southern independent members who have kept their cards closest to their chests.<\/p>\n Their two votes look likely to decide the whole thing.<\/p>\n Ms Thomas, on paper, should be a slam dunk vote for the government. She represents the middle-to-working class Hobart electorate of Elwick where she grew up, and where footy is king.<\/p>\n She is regularly spotted at JackJumpers basketball games and Elwick race meets and proudly supports the famous Glenorchy football club.<\/p>\n A graphic of the “key design features” of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium, taken from Enabling Legislation Report Consultation Draft. (Supplied: Tasmanian government)<\/p>\n Ms Thomas even declares on her personal website that she is “for a stadium”.<\/p>\n But three weeks out from casting her vote she is not sold.<\/p>\n Her frustrations are with the very government that has see-sawed between courting her vote and taking it for granted.<\/p>\n She is concerned with the findings of the planning commission and that the order scheduled to begin debate on December 3 hands too much decision-making power to a State Growth bureaucrat.<\/p>\n Despite her vote being so crucial to the outcome, Ms Thomas believes her protests have fallen largely on deaf ears and that her questions have gone unanswered.<\/p>\n Bec Thomas was scathing of the government in her budget reply speech. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n Her chagrin reached boiling point last week.<\/p>\n After insisting her support for a stadium \u2014 and the Devils \u2014 was in part contingent on adequate funding for grassroots sport, she was shocked to discover a $12.5-million funding commitment for a community basketball facility she had championed was not included in the state’s interim budget.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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