Latest news with #RockliffGovernment
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Would rip the heart out of the state': ‘Brutal reality' of Tasmania's $1 billion AFL saga
The blowtorch has turned on the AFL over its handling of the Tasmanian stadium saga, with fears the expansion team's entry into the league may be delayed or cancelled for good. The future of the AFL's 19th team is in serious doubt after a no-confidence motion against Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff was passed amid debate over the new stadium proposed to be built in Hobart. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. Thursday's no-confidence motion means Tasmanians are set to return to the polls, with an election date yet to be determined. The move comes after ongoing allegations the Rockliff Government has mismanaged the Apple Isle's budget and bungled key infrastructure projects, including the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium — the venue the Devils hope to call home when they enter the AFL in 2028. Rockliff has been one of the emerging football club's strongest supporters — even in a climate where there has been widespread anger towards the planned $1 billion stadium. Tasmania's parliament was due to vote within the next six weeks on special legislation designed to grant planning approval, but an election could derail the stadium plans. Debate has erupted this week over whether the new stadium needs a roof or whether Hobart needs a new stadium on top of the existing Bellerive Oval. Others have highlighted the fact AFL games have been held this year in Darwin, Ballarat and Alice Springs at venues that don't exactly boast the modern day infrastructure the Tasmanian franchise is being asked to deliver. Premiership winning Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe, a proud Tasmanian, has warned that pulling the rug out from the Tasmanians and cruelling hopes of an AFL team would permanently scar the state. 'It will rip the heart out of the state if it doesn't go forward,' Howe told Triple M's Rush Hour with JB & Billy on Thursday. 'The carrot has been there dangling for decades, and then all of a sudden, it's within reaching distance and everyone's become attached to it. 'Everyone's talking about it, there's a genuine excitement about it. If it doesn't get done, I fear for what the state might look like.' 'Tasmania needs the AFL more than the AFL needs Tasmania' It has long been expected Tasmania and then a Northern Territory team will complete the AFL as a 20-team competition, but the league's expansion is in serious doubt now. The stadium saga has exposed an uncomfortable truth for Tassie fans — the Devils have been given a much higher bar for entry into the AFL than the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns, who joined the league in the early 2010s. Seven's AFL reporter Mitch Cleary wrote on X: 'The brutal reality is that the AFL was desperate to introduce the Giants and Suns to grow the game into NSW/QLD so they were always going to have a lower bar for entry. 'Tasmania needs the AFL more than the AFL needs Tasmania. So the deal was always going to be tougher to secure.' For what it's worth, this season GWS has an average home crowd of 11,715, while the average attendance for Gold Coast Suns home games is 13,625 — with MCG and SCG matches bolstering the league's attendance figures. Aussie Rules has a rich history in Tasmania, with countless legendary players including Jack Riewoldt and Matthew Richardson growing up in the island state before getting drafted to the AFL. Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan spent his entire playing career in Tasmania before going on to become the first AFL premiership winning coach who hasn't played V/AFL football. Launceston's UTAS Stadium hosted two elimination finals during the Covid-affected 2021 season. The political uncertainty in Tasmania means the Devils' future is in doubt and the timeline of the team's entry into the AFL The new 23,000-seat stadium, was supposed to be built in time for the 2029 AFL season, with the hope it would host cricket matches and other entertainment events. 'The stadium, everything, has been thrown into chaos,' Cleary said on Seven. Nick Riewoldt added: ''90 percent of the (Tasmanian) people I speak to or hear from, want the stadium. I think Tasmanian's are united in their desire for a stadium and a team. 'This (the no-confidence motion) is a really risky move. Either we come through with a clear mandate, which will push it through, or the whole thing blows up. It's on a knife's edge.' 'Incredibly frustrating, I hope Dean Winter has got a plan.' Labor opposition leader Dean Winter said he supported the AFL team and the stadium, but the state had other priorities as well. 'We support the Tasmanian Devils and the AFL team that Tasmanians have dreamed of forever,' Winter said. 'But I've got to say that I've got a lot of very high priorities around health and education. 'Yes, we absolutely support getting this team, but Tasmanians, when I talk to them, they talk about cost of living, they talk about education, they talk about the future for our young people. 'I'm not prepared to stand idly by and let this Liberal government led by Jeremy Rockliff ruin this state.' Liberal senator Jonathon Duniam has told ABC News he is 'angry' with no-confidence vote in Rockliff and the decision to head back to the polls. 'Thirty-five members of the Tasmanian government in their collective wisdom to not find a way to not send Tasmanians back to an election just baffles me,' he said on Friday morning. 'No stadium, no team' Devils CEO Brendon Gale has said the 'no stadium, no team' condition for Tasmania's AFL entry remains crucial, stressing Hobart and Launceston's major venues are still 'not fit' to 'underpin a team in the big league on a sustainable basis'. When asked on Fox Footy's AFL 360 if the 'no team, no stadium' policy to introduce Tassie was 'too ambitious' and that 'too many stumbling blocks' had been placed in front of the key stakeholders. Gale said: 'No, I just think it's been a difficult concept to explain (why we can't play at existing venues). 'Firstly, there's no good time to build a stadium around the world. They're always big and they're expensive, and there's always a whole range of other priorities … Whether it's Adelaide or Perth Stadium, they're difficult to get through and get popular support. 'I guess that's compounded by the fact that people in Tasmania think: 'Well, we've got two perfectly good stadiums in Hobart and Launceston, why can't we just have those?' And they're reasonable stadiums and they've been fit for purpose. But they're not fit for the purpose of providing sustainable commercial business model to underpin a team in the big league on a sustainable basis.'
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Tears as AFL's Tasmania team falls apart over state government plot
The Tasmania Devils are fighting for their survival with political chaos rocking the entire state on Wednesday. The AFL's 19th franchise has gone public to make a plea to state government figures after Tasmanian Labor on Tuesday filed a no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff. The extraordinary development means Tasmanians could be heading back to the polls if another election is called. The move comes after ongoing allegations the Rockliff Government has mismanaged the Apple Isle's budget and bungled key infrastructure projects, including the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium — the venue the Devils hope to call home when they enter the AFL in 2028. Rockliff has been one of the emerging football club's strongest supporters — even in a climate where there has been widespread anger towards the planned $1b stadium. Kath McCann, the Devils' general manager of marketing, corporate affairs and social impact, on Wednesday broke down in tears at a press conference. 'This club is powered by future generations,' she said after stepping away from microphones to compose herself. 'I've got 50 students out here in my sight line, they power us every single day and they will keep doing that. 'We're going to play on. We want to see this team become a reality because our young people deserve it.' The football club has also released a media statement confessing the political turbulence threatened the club's survival. 'The political uncertainty that is currently unfolding in the Tasmanian Parliament is of great concern to Tasmania Football Club,' the football club said. 'Like the rest of the community, we are unsure what will happen today and what the impacts of any actions taken might be. What we do know is that uncertainty presents a serious risk for jobs, investment and growth, and for the future of Tasmania Football Club. 'Tasmania Football Club remains steadfast on building a Club for all Tasmanians. We are also steadfast on staying out of politics. We ask that our political leaders understand the implications of their actions and decisions on the future of our state for all Tasmanians, a future which we know Tasmania Football Club can play a significant part.' McCann said the optics for Tasmania pulling the pin were 'really bad'. 'What this looks like is uncertainty, what this looks like is a risk to invest, what this looks like is a state that isn't unified,' she said. 'I think we're better than that and our leaders need to think about the consequences of their actions.' Leading Tasmanian sport journalist Brent Costelloe on Tuesday night told Channel 9 it is a 'giant mess'. The ABC's Chris Rowbottom has also written on X, describing the precarious position the club finds itself in. 'Tasmania's AFL license hangs by the barest of threads,' Rowbottom posted. 'There's an acceptance that an early election spells the end of any stadium, including alternate proposals, and the Devils.' He earlier reported there was a widely held view the 'Devils will be dead' if a state election is called. The AFL has always held a policy that a Tasmanian team entering the AFL was dependant on a new stadium being built in Hobart. The Macquarie Point project has been highly divisive right from the start and that was before estimated costs first began to blow out from an initial value of $755 million. It was revealed last month the total cost of the project has blown out to at least $945 million. The Tasmanian state government has pledged $375 million towards the roofed, harbour-front stadium, while the federal government has committed to $240 million. The AFL body's $15 million contribution has also been made public, leaving more than over $300m remaining to be funded through state borrowings. Leading figures in the state, including recently re-elected independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, have criticised the AFL for its demands for a new stadium in the state capital. Lambie said in January the project 'is not viable'. 'The state government needs to go and tell the AFL where to stick it right now and tell them it's not going to play the game,' she said. She called for the government to 'tell AFL Australia that quite frankly the deal is a dud, and that's it'. Leading football reporter Sam Edmund on Wednesday told SEN: 'Jeremy Rockliff looks doomed as Tasmania premier. Doesn't have the numbers to withstand the current vote of no confidence. 'The stadium — and therefore the Devils licence - now on very thin ice. There's a world where both major parties take a pro-stadium approach to another election, but given it's so hard to get a majority down there they'll have to cut deals with independents & Greens and the first thing to negotiate will almost certainly be the stadium that most of them despise. 'That's the source of the uncertainty given stadium is yet to go to a vote.' Economist Nicholas Gruen has warned the proposed stadium leaves 'Tasmanians at risk of paying too much for too little,' generating just 44 cents of benefit for each dollar of cost. Tuesday's no-confidence bombshell came just under 15 months since Tasmania's last election. The Liberals secured 14 of the 35 lower house seats in the 2024 state vote, giving Mr Rockliff a tenuous minority government. Labor last month resisted calls from the Greens to back a no-confidence motion against Mr Rockliff. But opposition leader Dean Winter dramatically changed his tune on Tuesday during his budget-reply address and now all bets are off.
