No stadium, no team. It is a line the new Tasmania Football Club has tried to stay behind, but political turmoil has put not just the stadium, but the team in serious doubt as Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff faces a parliamentary shove out the door.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has helped drive plans to construct a new $945 million Macquarie Point stadium, but a no-confidence motion could trigger another election, derail the stadium build and potentially sink the AFL’s newest club.
Opposition Leader Dean Winter cited the debt-ridden state budget handed down last week as justification for moving the motion but reiterated Labor’s support for both the stadium and the Devils.
In a letter he sent to AFL CEO Andrew Dillon on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Winter made it clear Labor backed the Devils and the 23,000-seat roofed stadium on a prime piece of Hobart’s vacant waterfront land.
Tasmania’s net debt is expected to reach an eye-watering $10.8bn in four years’ time.
Dr Woodruff slammed Mr Rockliff for saying the government would spend “not a red cent more” than $375m on the stadium and unsuccessfully sought to add an amendment to Labor’s motion that would have compelled the house to recognise that the Premier’s “budget mismanagement” was “compounded by his plan to fund a new stadium at Macquarie Point”.
Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell said the Liberals should take the no-confidence motion as a “warning shot” and “walk away from the stadium”.
A stadium at Macquarie Point is a prerequisite of the agreement struck between the state government and the AFL for Tasmania to finally secure a place in the national competition.
References
- https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/jeremy-rockliff-fears-no-confidence-motion-could-kill-macquarie-point-stadium-tasmania-afl-team/news-story/d542fccfca546b64dbd33fd6f378f2d5
- https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/key-questions-that-will-decide-the-future-of-the-tasmania-devils-in-the-afl-answered/news-story/5229f3b9fed92c97a44592fce60a9893
- https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/tasmanian-football-great-matthew-richardson-voices-fears-for-afl-team-amid-noconfidence-vote-against-jeremy-rockliff/news-story/bad58e38a76027492c45e274e4eb87ca
- https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/afl/tasmania-devils-concerned-over-novote-motion-to-premier-jeremy-rockliff/news-story/7f7a117ec9fd1e2263e251b0375cd102
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