{"id":852805,"date":"2026-08-12T17:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852805\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:26:19","slug":"parliament-blocks-greens-push-to-release-macquarie-point-stadium-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852805\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament blocks Greens\u2019 push to release Macquarie Point stadium costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Greens motion to order the state government to release an updated cost estimate for the Macquarie Point stadium has been defeated 25-7 in the House of Assembly tonight.<\/p>\n

Premier Jeremy Rockliff posted on social media after the vote, saying \u201cthe Greens\u2019 attempt to sabotage the Mac Point Stadium process was just soundly defeated in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon sense has prevailed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley told parliament the government had ignored a motion passed in May calling for an updated cost estimate by August 11.<\/p>\n

\"\"Greens deputy leader Vica Bayley accused the government of writing a blank cheque. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one genuinely believes the stadium cost is going to be $1.13 billion, including the government\u2019s own treasurer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bayley said Treasurer Eric Abetz had effectively admitted costs would rise during a Public Accounts Committee hearing last week.<\/p>\n

\"\"Two companies are currently bidding for the stadium construction contract. Image \/ MPDC<\/p>\n

\u201cHe as good as walked away from the government\u2019s $875 million cost cap,\u201d Bayley said.<\/p>\n

Bayley accused the government of writing a blank cheque and hiding the true cost from Tasmanians.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single dollar of taxpayer money is important and the question on so many people\u2019s lips is \u2018how can we afford a third AFL stadium when government services are already failing to keep up\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Treasurer hit back, arguing the motion would compromise the tender process and effectively hand sensitive commercial information to the two companies bidding for the construction contract.<\/p>\n

\"\"Treasurer Eric Abetz argued releasing figures would compromise the tender process. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are only two organisations that want the figures more than the Greens and do you know what those two organisations are? The two tenderers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would love to have the figures, they are urging Mr Bayley on and the Greens in their motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would love to have the details, because you know what they would do \u2013 they would adjust their tender and their discussions with the team evaluating on the basis of that information.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cited a letter from Macquarie Point Development Corporation board chair Kim Evans warning that \u201creleasing a revised estimate before completion of the evaluation process is likely to compromise procurement integrity and be inconsistent with procurement principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"MPDC board chair Kim Evans warned releasing figures could compromise procurement integrity. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Labor did not support the Greens motion despite backing the earlier call in May.<\/p>\n

Labor MP Dean Winter said his party supported transparency but would not undermine an active tender process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I don\u2019t support is undermining an active tender process where the outcome could actually be that they will cost the state more, which is the compelling argument made by the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Labor MP Dean Winter said his party supported transparency but not undermining the tender. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

However, Winter raised serious concerns about the tender process itself, questioning whether construction giant Webuild should still be involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do have grave concerns about whether Webuild has actually adhered to the EOI process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Webuild has been found through findings of the Kimber inquiry is very serious, the court cases that they are involved in are very serious and there are serious questions about whether they should be still included in this tender process from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winter said he had asked the head of the MPDC on two separate occasions to explain how Webuild had not breached the expression of interest process and had \u201cnot been convinced by the arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"MPDC board chair Kim Evans warned releasing figures could compromise procurement integrity. Image \/ MPDC<\/p>\n

He said the MPDC was looking to sign the construction agreement in December, leaving \u201cplenty of time for the government to complete the tender process and release the cost estimate before they sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent Kristie Johnston was scathing of Labor\u2019s position, saying the party had shifted from supporting a call for transparency in May to opposing an order requiring it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were more than happy just to kind of perform the art of scrutiny rather than actually requiring scrutiny,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"MPDC board chair Kim Evans warned releasing figures could compromise procurement integrity. Image \/ MPDC<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re back to again the position of Labor of a blank cheque with no scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston said it was \u201cincredibly naive\u201d to suggest the two tenderers did not already understand the cost pressures facing the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course they would be aware of what the construction industry is doing in terms of response to the war in the Middle East and how that is putting inflationary pressure on costs right across the construction industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Parliament divided shortly after 6:20pm to vote on the motion
\n\"\"Tabatha Badger, Vica Bayley, Helen Burnet, Peter George, Kristie Johnston, Cecily Rosol and Rosalie Woodruff were the only MPs to back the motion<\/p>\n

Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said every dollar over $875 million would come at the expense of health, education and other essential services already facing cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know every dollar over $875 million is a dollar that will not be going into health services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The stadium project budget officially remains at $1.13 billion, with the government committed to an $875 million cap on the Tasmanian taxpayer contribution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Greens motion to order the state government to release an updated cost estimate for the Macquarie Point…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-852805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852805","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=852805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}