Concerns and hopes aired at public debate over Hobart's proposed Macquarie Point stadium
A 70-person crowd filled ABC Hobart's foyer on Wednesday afternoon, made up of those for, against, and undecided over the planned multi-purpose facility.
Tasmania's AFL team being allowed to play in the national competition hinges on a new roofed stadium being built.
It's a key condition of the government's deal with the AFL.
The panel — made up of Tasmania's Business Minister Eric Abetz, the Tasmania Devils AFL team general manager Kath McCann, prominent architect Mat Hinds, and Independent MLC for Elwick Bec Thomas — fielded wide-ranging questions from the public.
Among them, the possibility of renegotiating the terms of the AFL's deal to either move the stadium's location, or scrap it all together.
"But the deal is there for all to see, that is what we are pursuing."
Mr Hinds, an architect with Taylor and Hinds who gave evidence to the parliament's Public Accounts Committee on the stadium's impacts, said the current site was "far too small" for the size of the development.
"The building itself is drawn to fit, but what we're not seeing is all of the energy of that building and its servicing requirements," Mr Hinds said.
"It's 10 metres higher than the Tasman Bridge.
One point of ongoing contention raised by the audience was the cost to build the stadium — a figure estimated by Tasmanian Planning Commission to be about $1 billion.
Earlier this month, the Tasmanian government confirmed it would no longer seek private investment to help fund the stadium, opting instead to fund the construction through existing funding and extra borrowings.
The government plans to sell off the broader Macquarie Point precinct to pay for the loan, which is expected to be in the hundreds of millions.
While acknowledging the stadium and team came at a "big cost", Ms McCann told the crowd the team and the stadium could not be separated, and the economic benefits would bear out.
"When this comes to town, the indirect benefit of new businesses popping up in this state will be enormous," she said.
"I know it feels like the AFL have starved us, but they are setting this club up for success.
Another sticking point raised by the audience was the approval pathway to make the stadium a reality.
The state government has promised to introduce special legislation to allow the stadium to be built, after saying it no longer had faith in the Project of State Significance (POSS) process, which is currently being undertaken by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
The special enabling legislation hasn't been released, but it is expected to be voted on in June.
Ms Thomas, one of the independent Legislative Council members whose vote will decide if the legislation passes, said cost was "front of mind" in her pending decision.
"If I'm making a decision with my heart, Tasmania deserves a team," she said.
"However … we have to make decisions with our heads.
Lily Mills, a student at the Tasmania Academy of Leadership and Sport, said it would help keep younger people in the state.
"Without the stadium or without the team, how else could the state offer the same standard of opportunities that the Tasmania Football Club has created and will continue to create," Ms Mills said.
Earlier in the day, politicians and the tourism sector also made their views known.
Peak-bodies representing the tourism, events and hospitality sector — the Tasmanian Hospitality Association (THA), Tourism Industry Council Tasmania (TICT), Business Events Tasmania Board and Destination Southern Tasmania — said the "the once in a generation opportunity was too important to lose".
In a joint statement, they urged Tasmanian policymakers to "back the stadium for its critical economic and social value and to create a vibrant entertainment precinct at Macquarie Point".
All six Tasmanian Greens MPs gathered at York Park in Launceston to announce they had written to AFL boss Andrew Dillon on Wednesday asking for the stadium to be dropped as a condition of the licence.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff labelled the stadium "a heartless and unfair" condition and called on Premier Jeremy Rockliff to ask the AFL to renegotiate the terms of the deal.
"The train's left the station, the Tasmanian people and our team are onboard, and we're not going to have a stadium with us," Dr Woodruff said.
Meanwhile, independent MPs Miriam Beswick and Rebekah Pentland called on the state and federal governments, along with the AFL, to "find a better way forward".
"The three key players need to sit down and find a way forward that exposes taxpayers to less risk," Ms Beswick and Ms Pentland said in a joint statement.
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