The world’s largest timber-roofed oval stadium will be built at Tasmania’s Macquarie Point, irrespective of who wins Tasmania’s election. That is according to Tasmanian Labor leader Dean Winter, who categorically ruled out any alternative stadium proposals yesterday, saying his party will stick with the Macquarie Point project should it win government.
During a candidate announcement, Winter said Labor was not exploring other options, including the previously floated ‘Stadium 2.0’ concept. “We want to deliver the project currently proposed through the Project of State Significance process, but also the legislation,” he said. “We’re not considering proposals other than those in front of Tasmanians.”
Winter said his support for the waterfront stadium had been consistent since taking over the leadership: “Since I became leader, I have been clear that we support building a stadium because we know that’s what delivers our AFL team. We support the Macquarie Point stadium as hard as possible because we understand what it delivers.”
Earlier this month, Wood Central reported that the 23,000-seat roofed stadium, which combines ETFE pillows and a 20mm timber laminate with a glulam timber system, could be dead in the water after Jeremy Rockliff lost a confidence vote on the floor of Tasmanian parliament.
It comes after Wood Central revealed that the Tasmanian government “wanted to go its own way” and fast-track the Macquarie Point Stadium using a ‘design and construct’ model rather than the private-public partnership procurement model favoured for the Brisbane Olympics. A key condition for the Tassie Devils AFL license, Eric Abetz – the state’s minister for business, industry and resources – said the fully-roofed venue is the ideal stadium location: “It is time to draw a line in the sand and provide certainty for our own AFL Team and the enabling infrastructure that is critical to making our team a success.”
- To learn more about Macquarie Point, click here for Wood Central’s special feature including the full plans for the stadium.
