Crucial MacPoint AFL stadium vote soon

Article posted by Coliseum, November 7^th, 2025

Image: Macquarie Point Development Corporation

The fate of a new Australian Football League (AFL) stadium in Hobart now hinges on a crucial vote in the upper house of Tasmania’s parliament in December.

ABC News said that while the Liberal government and Labor opposition support the proposed A$1.13 billion Macquarie Point project, they need three extra upper house independents to get it over the line.

The AFL says the construction of a roofed, 23,000-seat stadium remains a requirement for entry of the Tasmanian Devils into the competition in 2028.

The Macquarie Point Multipurpose Stadium is a significant infrastructure development project that is planned as a key part of the urban renewal of Mac Point.

The 23,000-capacity, roofed venue is scheduled to begin construction in 2026 and open in 2029 as the home ground of Tasmania Football Club.

Tasmania Football Club, nicknamed the ‘Devils’, is a professional Australian Rules football club set to compete in the AFL from the 2028 season and the AFL Women’s league from an unspecified date. The club will be based in Tasmania with matches to be played across the State.

When it starts play in 2028, Tasmania Football Club will play its home games at the existing 20,000-capacity Bellerive Oval in Hobart and at the 21,000-capacity York Park in Launceston, Tasmania, while the Macquarie Point Stadium is built.

COX Architecture was last year named as the Lead Design Consultant for the Macquarie Point stadium.

There is opposition to the project, however, and an assessment from the Tasmanian Planning Commission recommended that it should not proceed.

In September, Tasmania’s Planning Commission recommended against the new stadium saying the proposal was “too big for the site and the benefits it will bring are significantly outweighed by the disbenefits it creates”.

A group of Tasmanian politicians opposed to the proposed Macquarie Point stadium recently travelled to Melbourne to meet with executives at AFL House and express their opposition to the new venue.

However, Vica Bayley and Cassy O’Connor from the Tasmanian Greens, along with independents Peter George and Kristie Johnston, failed to convince the AFL to abandon the contentious scheme.

The AFL has stipulated a 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point is a requirement for a Tasmania Devils team to enter the competition in 2028.

Bayley said after the meeting, “We have a budget crisis, we’ve got spiralling debt, we’ve got a whole raft of issues and we also have two existing stadiums where AFL is already played.

“We put the perspective very clearly, as reflected in the taskforce report, that the team should be stood up, it should play in the national competition. But it should play in the existing stadiums at Bellerive and in Launceston.”

However, the AFL refused the group’s request to renegotiate the terms of its deal with the Tasmanian government, which was signed in 2023. The AFL said it was now looking forward to the vote in parliament.

The AFL said in a statement, “The AFL’s continued position is a clear component of the licence bid from the Tasmanian taskforce was a new roofed stadium at Macquarie Point with a capacity of at least 23,000.

“It is a condition for the grant of the 19^th licence and that position has not changed.

“The AFL look forward to the vote on the stadium in the coming weeks and the state continuing to build on the momentum and progress already made by the Tasmania Devils and their 214,000 members.”

Prior to the meeting, Premier Jeremy Rockliff reiterated his view that the stadium will be a “strategic investment” for the state.

He said, “It brings an AFL team, the Tassie Devils. But also it brings all the private investment needed surrounding the enabling infrastructure of a stadium to ensure the economy can grow.

“We’ve got employment opportunities, and the visitor economy will invest in and around the stadium, including hospitality venues and of course hotels as well.

“It is a strategic investment for the future of Tasmania and signalling to the rest of Australia that this is a place that we can invest in.”

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