Reconciliation Tasmania is concerned the government's decision to choose Macquarie Point as its preferred stadium location could shunt aside a proposed Aboriginal reconciliation and truth-telling park.
But the original designer of the idea – the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) – has backed the move, seeing it as an opportunity to redesign the park concept.
MONA was commissioned to develop concept designs which were released in 2016 and featured a 650-metre by 75-metre art park with a fire and light installation, designed as a largely empty space for contemplation.
Last year, a government-commissioned report from law academic Tim McCormack and former governor Kate Warner "strongly" recommended an Aboriginal-owned, run and managed art and cultural centre at Macquarie Point.
It was to be funded by the state government.
Reconciliation Tasmania chief executive Mark Redmond said the organisation had not been consulted over the government's latest decision, and it was unclear how the park would fit with a 23,000-seat stadium on the same land.
"I appreciate the work MONA did with the original designs. It's an open space, a reflective space, a place where families and communities can gather. It's about what that space means," he said.
"I don't think a stadium fits in with that.
"It would not sit well. The Macquarie Point area has got a lot of deep meaning to Aboriginal people."
In 2020-21, the Macquarie Point Development Corporation spent $218,350 on new concept designs for the park and on carrying out community engagement.
By that stage, the reconciliation park had changed significantly since MONA's original vision, and residential aspects had been incorporated into the plans.
The reconciliation park would run up the centre of the development.
MONA 'still concerned'
MONA became disillusioned with the reconciliation park project in recent years and withdrew from any involvement in its development.
Creative director Leigh Carmichael said the incorporation of upmarket residential development had been the final straw.
"We were kept in the loop and briefed for the first couple of years [after 2016]. I know that we expressed concerns about the direction it was heading in," he said.
"We still are concerned.
"We always said that apartments – and places for the wealthy – would be in conflict with the intent of the park.
"Ideally, all of the surrounding buildings and uses would have been some kind of cultural offering, museums, contemporary art, Antarctic facilities.
"But the park got shrunk in size. We felt putting apartments around the edge was not going to be compatible."
MONA saw Premier Jeremy Rockliff's announcement last week of Macquarie Point as the preferred stadium location as an opportunity for a reset.
Mr Carmichael said it was possible for the stadium and reconciliation park to coexist.
"We think the stadium is an opportunity, potentially, to get the truth and reconciliation park back on track, if that area becomes a cultural precinct for sport and arts," he said.
"If designed well, they would work in tandem together."
Mr Carmichael said the Aboriginal community had already been "shunted aside" by the apartments proposal, but the stadium did not "make it worse".
"It gives an opportunity to get this idea back on the table, to be clear on what First Nations people want to see," he said.
The Macquarie Point land covers 9.3 hectares, according to the master plan.
Academic wants Aboriginal voices heard
Others believe the AFL is being allowed to dictate terms to Tasmanians and exert influence over a site that had been earmarked for a reconciliation park.
Prominent Tasmanian Aboriginal historian Greg Lehman said the Aboriginal community's wishes had to be at the forefront of the government's mind in developing plans for Macquarie Point.
"The challenging thing is that all of the consultation and decision-making is happening with the AFL, and not in Tasmania with the Tasmanian people," he said.
"It's the AFL that holds the power and is the key to all the multimillion-dollar deals that are involved in all of this.
"The other irony is that, at the moment, the AFL is up to its ears with controversy regarding Aboriginal players and their families, particularly Hawthorn, which carries the Tasmanian brand due to their sponsorship deal."
Dr Lehman said the Macquarie Point master plan was no longer worth the paper it was printed on, and a stadium in the middle was "a million miles away" from the original reconciliation vision.
The state government announced it would add a further $54 million to its funding offer to the AFL, extending it to 12 years, with a total contribution of $204 million as part of the bid for a team licence.
The $750 million stadium is seen as essential in the bid – half from the state government, and the other half from a combination of federal government and private funds.
Mr Rockliff said the stadium could coexist with the reconciliation park and the Antarctic and Science precinct.
"We do not believe the precinct will detract from the reconciliation park, in fact, it will create even greater awareness and appreciation of the park," he said.
"The exact location of the park and how it will complement the precinct will be determined during the ongoing feasibility work, which will include consultation with the aboriginal community as it progresses."
