Gillon McLachlan told to "do the right thing by Tasmania"

A statement was released on Wednesday morning by Senator Jonathon Duniam, including Greens senators, the Jacqui Lambie Network and independent Andrew Wilkie, that called for the condition to be dropped ahead of Mr McLachlan's visit to Tasmania on Thursday.

"Tasmania is one of the founding football states and has a long history of making rich contributions to the national game," the statement read.

"That is why we deserve a team of our own without having to make taxpayers pay for a stadium - something no other state has had to do to get a team.

"We are putting politics aside to make this plea: give Tasmania a licence, let us have our dream.

"Do the right thing by Tasmania, Gill."

The stadium carried an initial price tag of $750 million, although a cost-benefit analysis by State Growth has indicated the actual cost to be more than $1 billion.

The state government has committed $375 million to the project, the AFL has committed to $15 million and the federal government has been asked to chip in $240 million.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Wednesday said a Tasmanian AFL team would only be viable through the construction of the new stadium.

"The ball is now in the Prime Minister's court," he said.

"Either he gives us our fair share of the funding we need to make this a reality, or Tasmania misses the opportunity for the stadium we need and the team we deserve."

Labor's Dean Winter said the state did not need a new stadium to host AFL games.

"York Park and Bellerive oval have been hosting AFL football for 20 years now," he said.

"We don't need an expensive new stadium in Hobart, we just need to reinvest in the infrastructure we've got now.

"It is absolutely unfair that Tasmania is expected to spend well over a billion dollars for an AFL team when New South Wales and Queensland got new teams for effectively nothing."

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