YORK PARK: BE ALERT, BE ALRMED, BE VERY VERY ALARMED

The ink has dried on an agreement the City of Launceston and the state government say means the North is "no worse off" when York Park, currently branded as UTAS Stadium, is signed over to Stadiums Tasmania.

A draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) was endorsed by councillors late 2023 and officially signed by Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood and Minister for Stadia and Events Nic Street on February 4.


The non-legally binding document detailed the number of AFL and AFLW games the council expected to take place at the venue the new peak body takes ownership of the stadium.

Cr Garwood said although Stadiums Tasmania was required by legislation to host sport and other events at the stadium, the MoU showed the government and council meant business.

"The Stadiums Tasmania Act 2022 specifies that Stadiums Tasmania must continue to attract and deliver international and national sporting, entertainment and events content," he said.

"We're hopeful this MoU will give additional assurance to our community that the council and state government are committed to growing content at UTAS Stadium under a new management model, long into the future."

Minister for Stadia and Events Nic Street said the council and government worked closely on the agreement, and it would ensure the stadium would remain "the premier venue in the North".

"One of the things that the council wanted to lock in was content," Mr Street said.

"We were as keen as they were on locking in content for the North of the state.

"We were more than comfortable to develop this MoU to make sure that there was an understanding about a minimum level of content for UTAS Stadium going forward, which we were really keen to sign because we want to demonstrate our commitment to supporting the North."


Mr Street said the AFL - which has the final say on the number of games UTAS Stadium - was "well aware" of the discussions between the council and the state government about the MoU.

The mayor said the commitment by the state government, and the future transfer of the stadium to Stadiums Tasmania, would lead to a better outcome for Launceston ratepayers.

Cr Garwood said Launceston would still reap the economic rewards of high-profile events, but the costs of managing the stadium would be borne by all those who used it and just Launceston residents.

"It's going to remain a community asset," he said.

"The $30 million that's injected to the local economy is still going to inject directly into the local economy.

"Along Invermay Road, for example, the Bizy Bee and those businesses are still going to reap the benefits that are associated with events at the stadium.

"If anything that's going to increase as Stadiums Tasmania will be able to make deals and use the relationships they're able to build through their specific skill sets that we just haven't accessed at a local level at the moment."

END

COMMENT: Here we go again the tail is wagging the dog and all the signs indicate that it is meant to be confusing. Indeed, there is ever indication that what is going on away from the public gase is a Machiavellian stunt albeit involving players who do not really understand how they are being manipulated

Machiavellianism is sneaky, cunning, and lacking in any kind of moral code. In the 1500s the Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, wrote the political treatise that encourages “the end justifies the means” behavior, especially among politicians.

Here the end game is trick Launcestonians into divesting themselves, by remote control, of all they invested in York Park – that is financially, socially and culturally. Who wind what? That is open to speculation but as surely as GOD made little apples there is no doubt about who loses!

This initiative to GIFT York Park to a self-accountable statutory authority in every sense of the word, it is alarming. Now with Council considering an 'management driven, strategic intitiative that too is alarming. Moreover, that this MOU is being sighed well away from the 'public gaze' that too smacks of the cunning that Machiavellianism perpetrates.

In Launceston there is a cohort of 'representatives' who seem to be happy enough with a quiet life and their stipend – relatively generous as they are. It is alarming that that this 'gifting initiative' has got this far without a meaningful consultation process and that the city's NEW COUNCILLORS have been by-and-large blind sided.

What is so very concerning is that it appears as if Council's Management has in this case and other blended and blanded their role with 'governance's' role.

Currently it noticeable with too few exceptions, that deloved decision making turns out to be a bungle. Everywhere, if you look, one can see incompetence rampant, and incompetence triumphant. Sadly, one has to accepted the universality of incompetence.

It is also concerning that while staff increases and shuffles may produce a temporary improvement, in the end, the promotion process eventually produces its effect on the newcomers and they too, rise to their levels of incompetence and become oblivious to their failings.

Sadly, the appeal processes are, by design, financially debilitating with lawyers picnicking at the expense of people trying to protect their interests and as the saying goes... "laughing all the way to the bank"!

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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