After two largely critical reports on the government’s Hobart stadium project, premier Jeremy Rockliff has confirmed he will ditch the project of state significance planning process. Instead, the premier will introduce special legislation for the parliament to approve the stadium, a move that has been met with outrage from stadium opponents.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Walking onto Macquarie Point to announce what seemed to be inevitable following weeks of criticism of the proposed stadium, the Premier now shedding the planning process and suiting up for specific legislation.
00:15Well I believe it's best for Tasmania. I would not be doing this if I didn't think that this is best for Tasmania.
00:24Legislating the stadium would mean the Project of State significance process comes to an end, but it is still taking public submissions and could potentially hold a hearing.
00:33The process has so far highlighted a wide range of issues with the stadium, including its impact on state debt, the squeeze for pedestrians and traffic and handling sensitive on-site material.
00:45There are issues that we need to do with, and of course with the enabling legislation will be conditions attached as well, which will include a number of areas in terms of traffic management, in terms of water and sewerage.
01:00Along with the immediate impact on major transport corridors.
01:04There's always disruption when this works, but it's about the outcomes, not about the disruption through the process.
01:08The Premier hopes to have the legislation passed the lower house in late June, and the upper house in early July, with construction to start before Christmas.
01:17He can already rely on the support of Labor, but needs at least two upper house independents.
01:23I don't think this is something we want to scrape home by one vote, I think it's something that we can actually bring people's feedback to, address the concerns.
01:30And those concerns are likely to intensify, with the Premier putting the onus on MPs rather than the Planning Commission.
01:38We're not urban planners, we're not transport experts, we can't deal with sediment and flood risk.
01:45It is a disgrace that Jeremy Rockcliffe is going to ram through this legislation.
01:51The Premier is putting every independent in the upper house in an invidious position.
01:55To make a decision based on incomplete evidence, not informed by the independent planning process, is an incredibly disrespectful thing to do.
02:05One decision made, but many more hurdles still to overcome.