Tasmania's premier has been unable to guarantee the state's new AFL stadium will be built within its current $1.13 billion budget.
Australian-based firm BESIX Watpac was on Thursday named the preferred tenderer for the 23,000-seat roofed waterfront venue at Macquarie Point in Hobart.
The company, which is part of a joint venture in final negotiations to build Brisbane's Olympic 63,000-seat stadium, beat a construction group headed by Italian firm WeBuild.
Concerns had been raised about the credentials of WeBuild after it came to light the company was facing charges over alleged workplace safety breaches in NSW.
Construction of the stadium was a condition of the Tasmania Devils being granted licences to enter the AFL and AFLW in 2028.
BESIX Watpac is expected to sign a contract by the end of December but the final cost is yet to be settled.
The $1.13 billion estimate was made before the war in the Middle East, which has driven up the cost of construction globally.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government would release an updated cost for the stadium, which was originally budgeted at $750 million, before the signing of the final contract.
"We’re working through a very rigorous process," he said.
"I'm not going to detail cost, that is (being) worked through. The procurement process is still live … and that will play out."
The project remained on track for completion at the end of 2030, in time for the start of the 2031 AFL season, Macquarie Point Development Corporation chief executive Anne Beach said.
BESIX Watpac was named the preferred builder after an intensive process, she said.
The stadium, which was approved in late 2025 by a tight vote in parliament, has proven deeply divisive with the state facing rising budget debt.
The government pledged to cap its spend at $875 million as part of an agreement with independent MPs, with any extra money to be found through value management or reductions in scope.
The federal government has ruled out chipping in more than its current contribution of $240 million, while the AFL is spending $15 million.
"Far from the clear commitments on a cost cap we saw last year, we've seen the Liberals trying to gradually get people used to the idea the stadium price will rise," Greens MP Vica Bayley said.
"This stadium was only approved on the basis of one key promise - that taxpayer costs would be capped.
"If that promise can't be kept then parliament must be allowed to decide whether it is prepared to accept any increased costs before pen is put to paper on the contract."
BESIX Watpac has built a 30,000-seat roofed stadium in New Zealand and Townsville's 25,000-seat Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
