A new AFL stadium would be fabulous if Tasmania could afford it, but people needing help must be the priority, Jacqui Lambie says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The feisty crossbench senator from Burnie also has her doubts about support levels for the Macquarie Point project that is backed by Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff and said to be a vital precondition of Tasmania getting an AFL team.
Senator Lambie has strongly opposed the idea, and recently suggested Mr Rockliff should stick the stadium "up his bum".
She gleefully tweaked her terminology in a new pre-election interview with The Advocate, when it was mentioned she had suggested something physically impossible relating to the stadium.
"Stick it up your clacker," she said.
"That bloody stadium."
She said it was hardly being talked about in the community, despite the media and Liberal Party focus.
"Nobody, most people out there, 90 per cent of them, are not talking about the damn stadium," Senator Lambie said.
"Every now and then I'll get a car go past me (and somebody) goes 'Build the bloody stadium, right?'
"And I've been out there for what, two weeks now ... and I've heard that said twice and I've had thousands of cars going past me."
Senator Lambie said most Tasmanians were doing it tough, at a time when there were concerns and questions about state finances.
"What do the books look like?" she said.
"How much money do we actually have?
"Can that money be better spent?
"What is wrong with York Park ... there's plenty of room to move up there at York Park."
Senator Lambie said she wished Tasmania had the sort of money where it could "go big" on a stadium project.
"That would be fabulous," she said.
" ... you know, there are other priorities where people need help and we've really got to find a medium here somewhere."
The government has consistently said Tasmania will not get a team without the stadium, which was demanded by the AFL.
Liberal MHA Dean Young recently said Senator Lambie and divisions between her Jacqui Lambie Network candidates were putting the "AFL dream" at risk.
DID JACQUI LAMBIE MONSTER A CANDIDATE OVER THE STADIUM? See the full stadium interview in the video.
Sean Ford
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
