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ABC News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Delayed decision on Macquarie Point stadium reopens door for planning commission process
A revival of the planning process under which the Macquarie Point stadium was previously being assessed could be on the cards, as the state's planning commission prepares to hand down its final report on the contentious project. Hobart's proposed AFL stadium was initially being assessed by the Tasmanian Planning Commission under the Project of State Significance (PoSS) process, which would have required both houses of Tasmania's parliament to give it the green light. But the Liberal government, wary of delays, drafted special enabling legislation earlier this year in a bid to circumvent that process and hasten the stadium's approval. Now, in a turn of events, the fast-track legislation could take a back seat to the original, slower PoSS process. The timing of last week's snap state election meant a vote this month on the stadium by the upper and lower houses will not happen. Independent MLC Bec Thomas said the delayed vote was a blessing in disguise. "I think and I hope the PoSS process will be able to be finalised before the government even has the opportunity to be tabling enabling legislation," Ms Thomas said. "Regardless of whichever path, whoever forms government, my hope is we will have the information gathered through the PoSS process [available to us]. The planning commission is due to hand down its final report on September 17, potentially in the same week the new parliament would sit for the first time, and likely before a new government has the chance to re-table any special enabling legislation. That report will contain a potential recommendation or non-recommendation that the project proceed, and its contents will highly likely influence all parliamentarians voting on the project. The timing of the report and the resumption of parliament may see the Liberals, who could be returned to govern in minority, forced to re-embrace the planning process they had attempted to reject only weeks ago. During the election campaign, about 30 stakeholders were allowed to present evidence to the planning commission panel assessing the stadium. The fortnight-long commission hearings allowed the Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC) and other stadium stakeholders, and a group opposing the stadium, to state their case directly to the planning commission panel. Those hearings also allowed several outstanding issues with the project to be remedied, with some stakeholders believing the two-week process strengthened the case for the build. On Friday, the Macquarie Point team submitted 38 pages of "proposed conditions" that the project would be subject to if granted planning approval. Those conditions were devised in response to issues raised by the planning commission in a blistering draft report issued in March, and to evidence presented at the recent hearings. They are similar to the ones attached to the government's special legislation, but are considered more stringent. Importantly, it also lists the Hobart City Council, Environmental Protection Agency, TasWater, and the director of Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service as "relevant regulators" rather than a government minister, which was a key criticism of the special legislation. Labor has said it will continue to back the stadium and the special legislation, rather than entertain a pivot back to the PoSS process. There is a chance the party could still govern — with the support of the Greens and independent MPs — despite winning just 10 of 35 seats at Saturday's election. "We're not planning on making any changes to the current process" a spokesperson told the ABC. In any event, it is unlikely that the special legislation would be scrapped entirely. A possible scenario is that new legislation may be tabled that combines elements of the special legislation, findings from the planning commission, and proposed conditions crafted as part of the PoSS process by the MPDC. The legislation would pass the lower house with the support of the Liberal and Labor parties, and independent MP David O'Byrne. Upper house independents will then decide the stadium's fate, now armed with the full findings of the Tasmanian Planning Commission. "For the enabling legislation, I don't see the case for that stacking up anymore," Huon MLC Dean Harris told ABC's Mornings. "To be able to have informed decisions, that [PoSS] report would be good to have."
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tasmanians decide today if they can fix their political mess. Here's what you need to know
The 19 July Tasmanian election is the state's fourth in seven years, and comes just 16 months after the last poll, making it the shortest gap between elections in an Australian state or territory since 1957. Here's what you need to know. The parliament passed a no confidence motion in the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, over the spiralling state of the budget and the bungled management of new Spirit of Tasmania ferries. It wasn't named in the motion moved by the Labor leader Dean Winter, but the Greens and some independents also cited Rockliff's divisive plan to fund a new AFL stadium on the Hobart waterfront. Winter declared he would not entertain the possibility of a confidence deal with the Greens while the Liberals decided they did maintain confidence in Rockliff and wouldn't replace him. With no one able or willing to lead the state, the governor, Barbara Baker, agreed to a snap election that no one was prepared for and nearly everyone said shouldn't be happening. A relatively low energy winter campaign followed, with few big spending commitments and only a couple of substantial new policies. The few available polls agree on one thing: the state is headed for another parliament in which no party has a majority of seats. The Liberals are seeking a fifth straight term in power, and go into the election with 14 out of 35 lower house seats. If the polls are correct, they may again have the largest share of the vote. A YouGov poll of 931 voters released late on Friday had the Liberals on a primary vote of 31% and Labor on 30%. An aggregate of recent polls compiled by psephologist Kevin Bonham put the Liberals on 34.1% and Labor 30.7%. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Translating this into an accurate estimate of seats under Tasmania's Hare-Clark system is challenging. The state has five multi-member seats – Bass, Braddon, Clark, Franklin and Lyons – and elects seven MPs in each of them. It could take days, if not weeks, to determine who wins the sixth and seventh seat in some electorates. The general expectation based is that the Liberals could claim between 12 and 14 seats, and Labor between its current total of 10 and 12. The only certainty is that whoever leads the next government will need to work more effectively with minor party and independent MPs than in the recent past to make parliament work. YouGov suggested non-major parties candidates could win 39% of the vote – a record if it happens – with the Greens under leader Rosalie Woodruff on 16% and independents 20%. Neither major party have explained in detail how they would address what some Liberal supporters described as the worst budget they have seen, with structural issues unaddressed and debt projected to rise to $13bn by 2027-28. Rockliff's big pledge was to drop a plan to consider privatising some public agencies and instead promise a new one: TasInsure. He says it would offer coverage for home and contents, small businesses and events, and save people hundreds of dollars a year. He did not explain how it would operate, or how the government would underwrite the potentially massive cost of a major disaster. Labor focused on the significant failures of the state's health system. Winter promised to resign as premier if did not create 10 'TassieDoc' publicly funded GP clinics in two years. Sceptics wondered where the GPs would come from. The Greens and several prominent independent candidates ran on their opposition to the highly contentious plan to build a roofed football stadium at Macquarie Point at a cost that could balloon beyond $1bn. The stadium has the backing of both major parties, and the AFL maintains it must be built if the Tasmania Devils, a long-promised new club, is to enter the national competition in 2028. Polls suggest most Tasmanians oppose the stadium, but overwhelmingly want a team – a scenario that the crossbench largely backs, but is not on offer. The Greens and some independents, including Kristie Johnston in Clark and Peter George in Franklin, oppose the state's salmon farming industry and native forestry logging. The major parties have been more or less united in rejecting this and backing 'traditional industries'. The election campaign has seen the resurrection of former federal MPs as state candidates. Liberals Bridget Archer and Gavin Pearce – once sharp opponents within the party – and Labor's Brian Mitchell are considered decent chances to get elected, possibly at the expense of sitting MPs from their own parties. Most political watchers believe Peter George, an ex-journalist turned anti-salmon farming campaigner and federal candidate who is backed by campaign funders Climate 200, will join the crossbench. It is unlikely the result will be clear on Saturday. There have been a record number of pre-poll votes and six out of 15 voting centres will not start counting these until Sunday. Postal votes will not be counted until the second half of next week. Working out who might form government is made more challenging by the major parties' attitude to the Greens, who go into the election with five seats and are expected to roughly hold their position in holding the balance of power. Winter has stressed he would not do a deal with, or offer concessions to, the Greens as he was at odds with them on logging, salmon farming, mining and energy. Rockliff has gone further, pledging to not deal with the Greens or lead a government that relied on them for confidence. Neither major party released an environment or climate change policy. The last parliament had six other crossbenchers and many are expected to be returned. Winter has said he would be willing to work with 'sensible independents that will work with a Labor government agenda'. Rockliff has described some independents – David O'Byrne, a former Labor leader who supports the stadium, and ex-Jacqui Lambie Network MP Rebekah Pentland – as constructive, but argued others were 'destructive left-wing radicals' who were 'even more dangerous than the Greens'. Most of the expected crossbench leans progressive. Despite the Liberals' slight ascendancy in the polls, and the paper-thin difference between the major parties on some high-profile issues, observers believe Labor may be better positioned to form government if the seat count is close. The YouGov poll found a majority of Tasmanians would favour this, with 55% preferring Winter over Rockliff if there was no clear winner and they were forced to choose. But YouGov's director of public data, Paul Smith, said there was little enthusiasm for either potential premier. Both had negative satisfaction ratings. Smith said it suggested voters would 'somewhat reluctantly' prefer a Labor premier. 'I think there was a mood for change, but Labor has not caught that wind,' he said. The underlying message may be that there will be no place for triumphalism whatever the result, and that the goal must be making parliament work for the state. And, in Smith's words, this should be the 'last state election where the major parties continue to believe that Tasmanians will give them a majority government'. 'The data that tells us what people think – and the electoral system – keeps saying otherwise,' he said. 'How many times does the non-major party vote have to increase for people to get the message?'
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Gambling and hotel giant Federal Group flags opposition to Hobart's proposed Macquarie Point stadium
Tasmanian hospitality giant Federal Group says Macquarie Point is not the right location for the proposed AFL stadium. The group owns two hotels in the precinct and the Wrest Point casino in the nearby Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay. Speaking to ABC Radio Hobart, executive general manager of corporate and regulatory affairs Daniel Hanna said the group had some "real concerns" about the proposed location. "We know just about every visitor to Tasmania will find themselves on the Hobart waterfront, and that iconic view from places like Mures across towards the Henry Jones [hotel], really captures that maritime heritage feel that we know visitors love. "That will be changed forever with a stadium, which is going to be on a significant scale. While location was Mr Hanna's main issue, he said the group also had concerns about the stadium's approval process and the funding. The state government last month decided to pull it out of the project of state significance (POSS) process and instead use enabling legislation in parliament to bypass the planning system. According to an EMRS poll, commissioned by Federal Group, that decision is not popular. The statewide poll of 878 Tasmanians, which was conducted in mid April, found the majority opposed the government's decision to withdraw it from the POSS process. While two-thirds opposed the government spending more than $375 million on the project and 62 per cent said the opposition and independents should block the enabling legislation if that spending cap was going to be breached. Mr Hanna said the stadium should be considered under the existing planning rules. "Every private sector developer, including ourselves, has to follow the existing planning rules," he said. "We can't decide if we don't like them to go through another process and I think that's what we'd be encouraging the Tasmanian government to do here. "And clearly, from our polling, most Tasmanians agree with that premise as well." That poll had seven questions, including whether Tasmanians supported the Macquarie Point stadium. Those results were not released, however, they formed part of the group's submission to the Tasmanian Planning Commission and will be made public at a later date. "My recollection is there is pretty low levels of support for the stadium as it's proposed at Macquarie Point," Mr Hanna said. In a Facebook post on the weekend, former deputy premier Michael Ferguson hit back at Federal Group, claiming it was ironic to hear it talking about abiding by "existing laws and processes" when it comes to the stadium. "I'm glad the company is raising issues of due process and fairness — even if its motives are unclear," Mr Ferguson wrote. "But if Federal is serious about the public interest, it should stop undermining the government's nation-leading poker machine reforms. "These reforms are simple: players choose their loss limits in advance. It's about putting the power into the hands of the player — for the first time." Mr Ferguson has long been a fierce advocate for the introduction of a cashless gaming card. However, the scheme was put on ice soon after he was forced to the backbench by the opposition and crossbench over the Spirit of Tasmania debacle. "Other states are moving ahead. Tasmania was first to announce it, but we've lost our lead — for now. "Still, I'm confident we'll get there. "And when we do, I'll be proud to have continually stood with strength and grace against the powerful vested interests to deliver reform that protects a person's right to gamble, but will stop them losing everything. "One day, even those who profit from legalised misery will come around to this: due process."
