Canberra Liberals promise new waterfront stadium

The Canberra Liberals party has announced plans to deliver a new 30,000-capacity waterfront stadium if it is elected to government next month.

Party leader Elizabeth Lee said the Canberra Liberals would begin construction on the stadium in the first term of its government. The venue would seek to bring “enormous social, cultural and economic benefit” to the Australian Capital Territory.

Lee said that the current Labor-Greens government has “no interest” in building a new stadium, claiming that Chief Minister Andrew Barr has “strung Canberrans along for over a decade with broken promises and multiple feasibility studies”.

In June last year, the ACT government outlined plans for a 30,000-seat stadium in Canberra, with a study to be carried out to determine whether a new facility should be built or the existing GIO Stadium (pictured) should be renovated.

GIO Stadium has a capacity of 25,000 and sits within the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) precinct, serving as the home of the NRL’s Canberra Raiders and Super Rugby’s ACT Brumbies. The stadium is located in the suburb of Bruce.

The proposals outlined by the ACT government had seemingly brought an end to plans for a new city-centre stadium, with Barr stating at the time that such a proposal had been “thoroughly explored” but was deemed unviable due to constraints relating to the Civic pool site. The Canberra Liberals have now promised to deliver a city-centre venue if elected next month.

Lee said: “A world-class stadium located at the Acton Waterfront, in close proximity to restaurants, bars and hotels will revitalise not only the city centre but all of Canberra. A new city stadium, delivered by the Canberra Liberals, will provide our local elite sporting teams such as the Raiders, Brumbies and Canberra United with a modern facility and will be a venue that attracts international sporting events, State of Origin and world-class music and entertainment.”

She added: “There is a reason why cities all across Australia and the world build stadiums in the city centre. The enormous benefits that come with an infrastructure project of this kind in the city has been proven time and time again.

“The Canberra Liberals have always been committed to building infrastructure projects that have the most economic, cultural and social benefit for Canberrans. A new stadium located in the city will signal to the rest of Australia and the world that Canberra is open for business; and open to host world-class events. The chosen site for the stadium at the Acton Waterfront does not require other buildings to be knocked down or excessive associated works as those put forward by Andrew Barr at other sites across Canberra.”