Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Tasmania is currently facing a housing and rental crisis. There are over 4,000 people on the public housing waiting list, and Hobart is the most unaffordable city to rent in in the entire country. It is a moral and political failing of the highest order.

What is the Tasmanian government's response to this? Build a football stadium! Apparently we can't afford to put a roof over the heads of Tasmanians who are sleeping rough on the streets, but—you'd better believe it—there's 750 million bucks sitting in public budgets that will put a roof over the corporate section in a brand-new stadium that Tasmania doesn't need.

Message to the AFL: Tasmania will not bow to the blackmail of Gil McLachlan. We are a heartland footy state and we deserve our own AFL men's and women's teams, without having to build a stonking big stadium that we don't actually need. Invest in social and affordable housing, do not invest in building a stadium we don't need at significant cost, using money that would be better invested in the things that Tasmanians do need— a functioning health system and putting rooves over the heads of Tasmanians who desperately need them.