The proposed AFL expansion into Tasmania as the competition's 19th team continutes to remain in the balance.
While the AFL announced Tasmania's planned arrival into the competition for the 2028 season late last year, ending one of Australia's longest-running expansion debates.
Tasmania has been the proposed site of an AFL club since as early as the 1980s in some instances, with the successful bid coming with the promise of a new stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart.
The new stadium was the only factor that forced the bid for Tasmania's AFL team over the line, but it has lurched from one issue to the next in Tasmanian parliament.
The promise to build the stadium was immediately met by resignations from the Liberal party in the state, with the majority government now relying on the support of a crossbencher in MP John Tucker to avoid an election needing to be called.
The government though have drawn the ire of Tucker by ploughing ahead with plans to build a centre of excellence - reported to cost around $70 million - despite the fact the stadium has still not passed parliament after it was made a project of state significance, meaning it requires parliament approval before being built according to The ABC.
"I will not be tolerating the premier coming out and putting the cart before the horse and saying that we've already got a team, we've already got a stadium," Tucker said per the publication.
"That is a decision that will be made by state parliamentary colleagues going forward."
If Tucker fails to support the government, then a Tasmanian election could be called, with the opposition's point of view unlikely to be supportive of the enormous cash required for the new stadium in Hobart.
