The push to build a $945m home for the first AFL team in Tasmania has hit a major hurdle, with the proposed stadium condemned by the state’s planning commission as a “monolithic” blot on Hobart’s landscape and cultural heritage.
The damning report comes as the state’s premier, Jeremy Rockliff, admitted on Wednesday that the cost of the development had blown out by almost 20%, to $1.13bn.
In its final report released this week, the Tasmanian Planning Commission concluded that the benefits of the stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart were outweighed by its social, environmental and financial costs.
Construction of the proposed 23,000-seat venue was scheduled to begin next year, with the Tasmanian Devils’ first game in the new arena due in 2029.
The AFL views the Hobart stadium as a non-negotiable condition for Tasmania’s entry into the competition from 2028, but the development has been criticised on multiple fronts.
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO), located just 170 metres from the site, commissioned two independent acoustic studies. Both warned that without significant mitigation, sound spill and vibration from the stadium could disrupt performances, recordings and filming activities well beyond the stadium’s 2029 opening.
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The TSO declined to comment on Wednesday but said in October 2024 that “there’s no precedent in the world that we know of for a concert hall having a 23,000-people stadium 170 metres from its stage”.
The Tasmanian RSL has focused on the impact the stadium’s 54-metre-high dome would have on sightlines of the Hobart cenotaph, Australia’s oldest war memorial.
Renderings from Cox Architecture show the stadium dome looming over the site, potentially altering the visual experience of Anzac Day dawn services.
The commission sided with the RSL, concluding that the adverse effects on the cenotaph, as well as heritage-listed buildings in Hunter Street, the Royal Engineers Building and the general character of Sullivans Cove, were unacceptable.
The report warned of “irrevocable and unacceptable adverse impacts” on the surrounding communities and businesses and questioned the stadium’s ability to activate the precinct outside major events.
“The panel does not consider that the stadium building will be iconic, as claimed by the [AFL],” the report concluded.
On the financial cost, the commission estimated the project would saddle Tasmania with a $1bn debt, rising to $1.8bn over a decade, far exceeding the state government’s pledged contribution of $375m.
With both political parties supporting the proposed stadium, its path through the lower house was assured. However, with the release of the commission’s damning report, major push-back is expected in the independent-dominated upper house.
Rockliff said the planning commission’s report “massively underestimated” the social and economic benefits of the stadium, the Tasmanian Devils AFL and AFLW teams and a “supercharged events industry”.
“Stadiums are complex, and this is the reason why across the nation special laws are used to approve them, instead of the traditional planning scheme,” he said in a statement.
“It is now time for MPs to have their say. As a growing state, reaching for aspiration and opportunity for young people, we must pursue ambitious projects like that at Macquarie Point.
“It will create jobs, boost our tourism and hospitality sector, secure world-class entertainment and keep our economy strong. It is time to get on with the job.”
Transport, noise and access issues
The state Labor leader, Josh Willie, said his party maintainted its support for the Tasmanian taskforce report, released in 2020, that outlined the business case for the team and the stadium being based in Hobart. But Willie said the planning commission’s report had raised “significant challenges” that needed to be addressed.
“We need to see a response from the government,” he said.
“We want to take our time to consider this report, and I think that’s what Tasmanians would expect from us.
“The premier has outlined a number of challenges himself today, whether it’s transport, whether it’s noise, whether it’s access. We’ve got concerns around the financing and engineering of this project. I want to see the premier lifting his game. He needs to take Tasmanians on a journey. Clearly, it has been mishandled to this point.”
The Greens’ sports spokesperson, Vica Bayley, said that after the commission’s damning findings, the premier should ditch the plan that would see Tasmanians taxed for the next 30 years to service the debt.
“The premier can’t keep pretending his deal with the AFL isn’t a dud,” Bayley said on Wednesday.
“On the back of this recommendation, he needs to renegotiate it. Tasmanians want AFL and AFLW teams, but not the stadium.
“Labor need to rip up the blank cheque they’ve given the Liberals to build this stadium. They must show they’ve listened to Tasmanians and the planning commission, and finally take a stand against this mega-project that is both a budget bomb and risk to Hobart’s unique characteristics.”
An AFL spokesperson on Wednesday said the Devils continued “to make great progress”.
“More than 210,000 members have signed up and pledged their support, signifying great momentum and backing for the club,” they said in a statement.
“A clear component of the licence bid from the Tasmanian taskforce was a new roofed stadium at Macquarie Point with a capacity of at least 23,000. The AFL’s continued position is that this is a condition for the grant of the 19th licence.”
