SPIN, SPIN, SPIN AND MORE SPIN

 

THE MERCURY ... LABOR has drawn criticism from the Premier for being “very negative” about a new Hobart stadium, after the opposition highlighted the project’s cost-benefit of 50 cents per dollar.

A redacted version of the Macquarie Point stadium cost benefit analysis has been published on the Department of State Growth website, along with the project’s business case.

The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) estimated by report authors MI Global Partners was 50 cents per dollar spent.

However the report noted stadiums rarely achieved a positive benefit cost ratio - thus the Hobart project was comparable to others.

Opposition leader Rebecca White said the cost benefit analysis proved once and for all the stadium at Macquarie Point was “a dud”.

Tasmanian Labor Leader, Rebecca White. Picture: Linda Higginson

“The stadium will in fact cost the state money. Not only is the stadium equivalent to spending $1bn, not just with the capital costs and the maintenance costs and but also the financing of debt costs. It’s the wrong priority for our state at a time we’ve got a health, housing and a cost of living crisis,” Ms White said.

“The interest payments on the debt alone are about $20m a year. That’s the same as employing 200 nurses to staff our health system.

“Taxpayers of Australia and Tasmania shouldn’t be investing in a project like this where the return on the investment is negative.”

Premier Jeremy Rockliff speaks to the media at Parliament Square in Hobart on Thursday, November 24, 2022.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Labor should justify why it did not support the 4200 jobs and other economic benefits the stadium would provide.

“What the Labor party are doing is cherry picking a figure that suits their very negative, anti-jobs argument. The figures I’m seeing in the business case are very clear. $2.2bn in economic activity generated. 4200 jobs in construction, $300m in economic return, if you like, in the economy during construction and the opportunity to bring events to Tasmania.

“This project is an enabling project. It’s far more than just a stadium. It’s turning a wasteland at Macquarie Point into a whole urban renewable project.”

The state government business case released in December revised the cost of the stadium - now linked to Tasmania’s chances of getting an AFL team - from $750m to $715m.

The Tasmanian government’s commitment remains at $375m with the AFL to commit $15m, and $85m to be funded through private ­equity or borrowings against land sale or lease for commercial uses.

The federal government has been asked to commit $240m and is considering the business case.

The business case said the venue “could break even or generate a small profit annually based on 44 events and other assumptions”.