Overview
- The government circulated a draft approval order to MPs outlining conditions such as a design quality panel, heritage safeguards, and an operational plan due 18 months before opening, with the final order expected on October 22.
- The order cannot be amended by parliament, though the government can tweak it before tabling, and it details traffic and event management measures including potential rideshare geoblocking, extended lighting curfews, and plans for events of up to 38,000 patrons.
- Debate is scheduled for the lower house on November 13 and the upper house on December 3–4, with Labor backing ensuring lower-house passage and the government needing three of eight independents in the upper house.
- The government formally rejected the Tasmanian Planning Commission’s advice against proceeding, arguing unquantified intergenerational benefits and the AFL’s requirement for a roofed Hobart venue outweigh the panel’s concerns.
- The TPC found the stadium too large for the site with unacceptable heritage impacts and poor economics, estimating $1 billion in new debt rising to $1.8 billion over 10 years and a cost–benefit ratio below 0.5, while critics and some independents cite affordability risks and at least one MLC, Mike Gaffney, has declared opposition; the project faces AFL financial penalties if not operating by the start of the 2029 men’s season.