Proposed AFL stadium cost blows out to near $1 billion

[Pelican Press 0]

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Proposed AFL stadium cost blows out to near $1 billion

The cost for a new waterfront stadium in Tasmania, a condition of the state’s licence for an AFL team, has further blown out to almost $1 billion.

The island state’s Liberal government on Tuesday released fast-track legislation designed to speed up approvals for the contentious project.

A 23,000-seat roofed venue at Macquarie Point in Hobart is a contractual condition of the Tasmania Devils’ entry into the AFL in 2028.

Its slated cost is now $945 million, up from the previous estimate of $755 million and the original figure of $715 million.

Business and Industry Minister Eric Abetz said the increase was to “better cater for a wide range of planned uses”, including cricket.

“It also accounts for detailed items such as audio-visual, communications, kitchen, and food and beverage fit-outs,” he said.

Mr Abetz was confident a solution could be found to ensure cricket could be played at the venue, after Cricket Australia raised concerns about the proposed hatched roof design.

The governing sports body says daylight cricket can’t be played under the current design because of shadows cast on the field.

Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania indicated in early May no suitable mitigations had yet been found.

Decisions on what materials to use for the roof were still being made, Macquarie Point Development Corporation chief executive Anne Beach said.

“We’ve looked at other venues and looked at how they’ve managed (shadows),” she said, adding a “test rig” would be set up to help alleviate concerns.

The state government has pledged $375 million to the stadium, the federal government $240 million and the AFL $15 million.

The remainder, some $300 million, will be funded through state borrowings.

Supported by the Liberals and Labor opposition, the fast-track legislation will pass parliament’s lower house at a vote expected in coming months.

But a green light in the upper house is trickier – the government doesn’t hold the numbers and needs several independent MPs to vote in favour.

A number of independents are either anti-stadium or have raised concerns about the project and the government’s fast-track bid.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff has reiterated Tasmania won’t have an AFL team unless the stadium is built.

A recent planning report found the venue would be “overbearing” and it would leave Tasmania with an extra $1.86 billion of debt after a decade of operation.

Concerns raised in the report had been addressed in the legislation and permit plans, Mr Abetz said.

Tasmania faces financial penalties if the stadium isn’t 50 per cent built by October 2027 and ready for the 2029 season.

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