Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff's hopes for a stadium and an AFL team have been dealt a blow, with the state's RSL sub-branches announcing their unanimous opposition to the proposed location, bordering Hobart's cenotaph.
Mr Rockliff announced Macquarie Point as the preferred site for the stadium in September.
A business case for the $715 million facility is currently before the federal government, which is being asked to chip in $240 million.
RSL Tasmania chief executive John Hardy sent a letter to the premier this week outlining the objections of sub-branches to the proposed stadium.
"Premier, Sir, I must inform you as the CEO of RSL Tasmania State Branch that I have been instructed by the president, board directors, and sub-branches that we are opposed to the stadium at Macquarie Point due to the environmental and cultural impact on our world-class cenotaph," the letter reads.
"We believe that the Tasmanians that erected this obelisk as an outpouring of unmeasurable grief after their loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice, would stand beside us shoulder to shoulder.
"RSL Tasmania is supportive of the AFL, and of a stadium or stadiums in Tasmania, but not at such a site of such cultural impact."
Mr Hardy told the ABC the organisation's 49 sub-branches were unanimous in opposing the stadium.
"We are concerned that the cenotaph will be, frankly, overshadowed by the stadium," he said.
"If we look at examples around the world, the stadium we could expect … [would] be eight to 10 storeys high."
Mr Hardy said the RSL had consulted with the government and sub-branches in an "apolitical way" over the past three months "to ensure that we only ever concerned ourselves with the cenotaph and the environmental impact of the proposed stadium".
Opposition grows to $715 million stadium spend
The RSL's opposition to the plan adds to Mr Rockliff's political headache over the issue, with his federal Tasmanian Liberal colleagues questioning the stadium spend.
And even inside Mr Rockliff's state party, backbencher Lara Alexander has described federal Liberal calls for an AFL team without the stadium as "interesting".
Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie, whose electorate the stadium would sit in, is also opposed to the project.
In a statement, Mr Wilkie said he had forwarded the RSL's letter on to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying Macquarie Point was "too valuable a site to fill up with a footy field".
"The effect on Hobart's world-class cenotaph would be a shocking betrayal of our veterans," he said.
Rockliff says he will 'work through concerns' with RSL
This week, parliament resumed for the year and Mr Rockliff was grilled about the issue in Question Time.
The Tasmanian Labor Party says other funding priorities such as health and education should come first and the state should be allowed to have its own AFL team without committing to a $715 million stadium.
Labor leader Rebecca White told parliament her party "stands shoulder to shoulder with the RSL".
"Last September, you also told this house that you would engage with RSL Tasmania to ensure any concerns that exist are properly and fully taken into consideration. Clearly, you have failed to deliver on either of those commitments," Ms White said to the premier.
"You didn't listen then. And you're not listening now.
Have you just decided that a stadium is more of a priority for you than treating our veterans with the respect that they are owed?"
Mr Rockliff responded that the government would "sit down in a very respectful way and work through any concerns that the RSL may well have and see how their concerns can be accommodated".
"We recognise, of course, that the Regatta Point site and the Macquarie Point site holds a great significance to our veterans, their families and, of course, the wider Tasmanian community."
"We'll continue to engage with the RSL Tasmania to ensure that their feelings, their thoughts, their concerns, their ideas are taken into consideration."
AFL Tasmania boss Damian Gill said the AFL and state government would strongly consider any impact of a potential stadium on the cenotaph.
"I know that in any development, the cenotaph and the role that plays and what it stands for will be held in the highest esteem and regard," he said.
The stadium became part of the state's AFL team bid a year ago when then-premier Peter Gutwein unveiled it in his State of the State address, but the concept has morphed since then.
Originally earmarked as a "floating" stadium at the Hobart regatta grounds, the planned location has since moved further inland to Macquarie Point, with the entire project being branded an "urban renewal project" for the area.
