A yet-to-be completed stadium in New Zealand being used as a model for the Hobart AFL stadium has been plagued with cost blowouts, construction delays and public opposition to the project.
With the completion date of 2026 counting down, progress has been slow at the Te Kaha Canterbury Multi-Use Arena site in Christchurch, with groundwork underway but little else on the site, despite it being 10 years since the arena was first conceived.
The Te Kaha facility is cited in the Tasmanian government's business case that was delivered to the federal government on Thursday, as part of the island state's bid to secure the licence for a 19th AFL team.
The AFL has indicated it would consider granting Tasmania a team licence, conditional on the construction of a new stadium at the preferred location of Macquarie Point, in the Hobart CBD.
The business case states the stadium will cost $715 million — with Tasmania contributing $375 million, the AFL $15 million and $240 million being sought from the Commonwealth. The rest will come from borrowings against land sales, or lease for commercial uses, the government says.
The business case spruiks that "a new, roofed stadium at Macquarie Point would be far more than just a football ground" and would host "world-class sporting, entertainment events, business and conventions, but also creates a diverse, integrated precinct activated 365 days of the year that belongs to all Tasmanians and attracts visitors worldwide".
The case points to Christchurch's Te Kaha as a stadium that "will have a seating capacity of 30,000 for sports events increasing to 36,000 in concert format".
"The arena design includes a roof so that the stadium can host events all year round and attract trade shows and expos in addition to sporting activities," it says.
New Zealand journalist Steve Walton said the Christchurch venue was first announced about a decade ago, but was put on the backburner due to the 2011 earthquake.
"The public felt the stadium wasn't the most immediate thing. You needed to fix up houses and solve the more immediate issues first," said Walton, who reports for Stuff.
"We had one camp who were very much just, 'we deserve this, we've been waiting for so long, let's push on with it', and you had this other camp that were just, 'it's way too expensive, it's not what we need to be spending money on right now'.
He said small business owners, tourism industry operators and sports fans came out in support of the Christchurch stadium development.
In the against camp are "regular people who really had concerns about the cost", Walton said.
Tasmania's Premier Jeremy Rockliff has championed the Hobart stadium, taking to social media to "correct mistruths" about the project, adding he was "sick" of the detractors — some of which come from his own party.
A Tasmanian Labor-commissioned poll found 67 per cent of Tasmanians oppose the Macquarie Point plan.
With the Te Kaha completion date of 2026 looming, Walton said there appeared to be little progress at Te Kaha.
"If you drive past the site, which is our central city, it's still three empty blocks, and you sort of can't see the construction yet," he said.
But the main thing Tasmanians should be wary of, he said, was a cost blowout.
"We certainly found through the design phase the cost went up," he said.
In 2022, Christchurch City Council said it needed to add a "further $150 million to the project, bringing the total to $683 million" to increase seating capacity, a decision it said was supported by "77 per cent of 30,000" residents.
"The public was asked 'do we push on with it or do we scrap it'," Walton said.
"Then again [the amount of survey respondents] was only 30,000 people … and we are in a city of 400,000.
"That might be something [for Tasmanians] to be wary of. Is the $715 million cost the final cost for Tasmania?"
'A very good investment worth fighting for'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday said his government would examine the detail in the business case, but added he was mindful the Commonwealth had already poured money into Macquarie Point.
"We, in the past, have put of course $50 million into Macquarie Point, way back in 2012, and since then there's been very little progress on that site," he said.
"I think this needs to be viewed, though, as how will any project transform urban development in that beautiful part of Hobart.
"We see urban development and city's policy as being very important, and that's the context in which we will examine any proposal."
Mr Rockliff reiterated the stadium at Macquarie Point would be an "urban renewal project" requiring "both state and federal government funding".
"What we have is a business case which is compelling, which stacks up in terms of the jobs created, economic benefit, and this is far more than one stadium and an AFL team," he said.
"I know that it's been controversial, of course, and there have been many opinions generated around that, but things that are a bit tough, will eventually be, looking back, a very good investment worth fighting for."
The completion date for the proposed stadium at Macquarie Point is late 2028 or early 2029.
