Rockliff says he won't attend AFL club launch during campaign

Mr Rockliff met with club chairman Grant O'Brien this week to discuss his concerns that having the launch during the election campaign would politicise the event.

In a letter to Mr O'Brien, which he publicly released, he said he would not attend either of the six community events that were part of the launch if they could not be delayed and would instead watch online.

"I will be encouraging all Liberal MPs and candidates to take a similar approach and, while it is out of my control, I would also expect that other political parties and candidates do the same," Mr Rockliff said.

"The launch of our Tasmanian team should be a moment of great unity and pride and not used as a political football.

"I remain of the view that the best thing for the Tasmanian Team is to delay the launch by one week."

Mr O'Brien said the launch would go ahead as planned.

"The decision to launch our club was made in September last year," he said.

"Our communities, in particular our supporters, volunteers, players and fans around Tasmania are very excited.

We will be going ahead on March 18 and encourage people to register, come along and help us celebrate."

Labor's Shane Broad said the reason Mr Rockliff had requested the launch be delayed was because he was afraid to face up to opinions about the Macquarie Point stadium.

"It's clear the real reason he's requested the delay is because he's being told by Tasmanians just how badly his stadium deal stinks," he said.

Launch events are planned in Queenstown, St Helens, Devonport, Launceston, Oatlands and Hobart.

Free tickets for the events will be available from March 4.