Having a premiere Tasmanian stadium has been a Tasmanian dream for quite some time.

Where do AAP stand on the issue?

Tasmania already has a state of the art facility in Launceston at the UTAS stadium, upgrading this to a covered stadium would have cost approximately $275 million (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-09/jacqui-lambie-york-park-launceston-tent-like-roof/105155136).

Assuming there is no blowout to the Hobart stadium, the cost will be $1.18 billion plus $414million in interest payments over 20 years. All up the break up of this cost is $5100 for every Tasmanian taxpayer and $15 for every ‘mainlander’ taxpayer. This has a community payback of 0.44, which clearly means the project should not go ahead because it runs at a deficit to the community.

Alternatively the UTAS stadium upgrade in Launceston, if it were to be upgraded following a 50% federal and 50% state funding would cost mainlanders $8.5 each and the Tasmanian taxpayers $577 each. This is a fraction of the cost. What’s more it could be fully allocated for using public funding without the need for debt so no wastage of $414million of future public funds on interest payments.

Why Launceston makes sense? It’s closer to more community, it’s correct to say Hobart is our largest city, but Launceston has a direct airport with connections to the mainland, it has feeder cities of Burnie and Devonport and many other smaller towns that would benefit from the close proximity of the stadium and housing the Tasmanian Devils there. It allows more regional footballers from these feeders towns to participate in the Tasmanian Devils and the Hobart team players can relocate to Launceston or commute. It puts the 3 of 4 major cities in Tasmania within 1 hours proximity to the stadium compared to Hobart which only puts 1 of 4 major cities in Tasmania in 1 hours proximity to the stadium.

For these reasons AAP support the idea that the Launceston stadium should be upgraded rather than the Hobart stadium being built. It’s a community focused solution that already delivers results.

Lets look at these costs again just from the Tasmania taxpayer perspective:

Stadium build/upgrade costs:

Hobart new stadium: approximately $5100 per Tasmanian taxpayer

Launceston upgrade: approximately $577 per Tasmanian taxpayer