November 18, 2025

The controversial and unaffordable stadium

Controversy over building a third stadium in Tasmania has dominated the headlines in the smallest state for over two years. Despite the majority of Tasmanians opposing it - around 70 per cent – the premier is pushing ahead, ignoring multiple reports from economists and others who’ve all advised against it. Claims about economic ‘benefits’ are either inflated or based on flawed, inaccurate or wildly optimistic evidence. Environmental and heritage issues are significant and negative – and planning issues are flawed.

 

Community anxiety is palpable and as the date nears for the final decision being made by Members of the Legislative Council that will decide whether the stadium gets the green light, that anxiety and anger is palpable. and growing.

 

The money that’s been wasted on this project already is nothing short of criminal. So is the time and energy that should have been the focus of the government in addressing the crisis in our public services - hospitals, schools, housing and health.

 

Several of my letters about the issue sent to the newspapers failed to be printed. Arguably our media is not the unbiased and balanced ournalism we expect. A recent unpublished letter is included in this blog post. It was written before MPs in the Lower House were obliged to vote on the stadium proceeding earlier this month. That both Liberals and Labor allowed it to pass and dismissed dissenting voices from the Greens and most Independents is an example of how corrupted Tasmanian politics has become, and how elected representatives from the major parties fail to truly represent the communities that elected them into office. They are betraying the public's trust.

 

As for the poem. I wrote it earlier this year but the words remain an accurate reflection of the stadium debacle. It’s also a poem that’s included in the FAWNW’s recently published anthology Strange and Marvellous Things’ (see previous blog post).

 

Stadium folly

 

is it time to hesitate

before choosing to participate

in the online debate that's become

more fractious and heated by the day

 

did Rocky ever stop to think about

the harm he was about to evoke

when he signed a deal we can't revoke

and which has mired us in a mess

that’s causing anxiety and distress

and that has split the state in two

 

I'm no stranger to the vitriol

that's out there in the comments

after all I've been here before

and I recognise the signs

paid trolls with made up names and aliases

who are unafraid to criticise

'build it and they will come'

they cry, their confidence is resolute

and their belief, absolute

 

they are deaf to dissenting voices

of reason who oppose this travesty

this expensive monument to sporting vanity

to another stadium we neither need

or want

or can afford

 

*************************

Dear Editor

It’s said politics is a dirty business, but when it comes to the stadium Tasmanian politics has rarely been this grubby. Despite economic and planning experts concluding cost blow-outs, fanciful economic benefits, and inflated claims about attracting major events will be the result, Liberal and Labor continue to publicly support the stadium. One wonders if, privately, all the major party MPs genuinely do. At least two of them appear to have experienced a Road to Damascus moment over their stadium support. Once upon a time Bass MPs Bridget Archer and Janie Finlay were vocal in their criticism of the stadium. And once upon a time Archer was prepared to cross the floor for her principled stance on certain issues - ones that also aligned with the opinion and expectations of her electorate - when she represented Bass in the Morrison federal Liberal government. She gained considerable personal support as a result. Labor’s Janie Finlay also reflected the majority opinion of those in her electorate in initially criticising the need for a third stadium, until Dean Winter became leader and Labor’s position on the stadium did an about turn. So it seems did Finlay’s. Now Labor was all for the stadium its MPs had to be also, despite any personal reservations they might have. They had to be deaf to the many reasons why their constituents called for it to be rejected. For a piece of infrastructure that has proved to be so controversial, socially divisive, and that poses serious economic risks for Tasmania, all MPs should be able to vote freely. Their responsibility and duty is to those they represent, not the dictates of their Party or its leader.


(sent to the editors of Tasmania’s three newspapers: The Examiner, The Advocate, and The Mercury on 9th November 2025)


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