No surprise in Hobart stadium survey results

The latest Labor polling on support for a new $750m multipurpose stadium in Hobart should come as no surprise to anyone in the community. The Labor Party released the data at a press conference on Friday as it continued attacks on the government over the move.

Polling showed that 52 per cent of those surveyed strongly opposed the plan, 15 per cent just opposed it, 16 per cent were neutral and another 16 per cent supported the stadium.

Rounded up it showed 67 per cent of people surveyed were against a new stadium in Hobart.

That number is on par with reaction in other cities in Australia where a stadium has been mooted.

Townsville, Perth and Adelaide also had large votes against their respective stadium projects before they were built. In a recent story in the Mercury Port Adelaide president and Channel 7 Sunrise host David Koch relayed the issues they had in Adelaide.

He said when that development was first put forward it led to uproar from the community. So much so that people marched in the street to try and stop construction of the stadium. That sentiment shifted radically once the Adelaide Oval revamp was completed.

“Now everyone acknowledges it is one of the best pieces of government infrastructure in decades,” Koch said. “No one complains, they love it.” The same can be said for reactions in Townsville and Perth where locals love their new stadiums.

The other thing that’s not a surprise with the polling is that people in Northern Tasmania are against the move, the old North/ South division continues to dog the state, no one from the north wants money spent in the south and vice versa.

Combine that with the Green-left voters living in and around the CBD, who would prefer the money spent on health and housing, and people on the Eastern Shore concerned about the fate of Blundstone Arena the vote was never going to go any other way, it probably could have been a lot worse.