As a community, are we bold enough to consider new proposals for a Civic Stadium?

Christine Stevens once again, governments build infrastructure like this and then lease it out. Sporting bodies then pay rent when they use the venues.

Matt Jorgensen Once again, that’s one way to do it. There are others.

Christine Stevens and it seems to work in the majority of cases worldwide. There are very few sporting teams that can afford to build their own stadiums and even the smaller suburban grounds in Sydney are owned by councils. If a team in Canberra were to build their own stadium they would probably go bankrupt in the process.

Matt Jorgensen If a sporting team or league can’t afford it’s own stadium, that might be a sign to government that subsidising them isn’t a good idea. Propping up stagnant or failing industries with unsustainable business models doesn’t really indicate a “bold vision for the future” from government.

Christine Stevens Cost benefit of $2.40 looks pretty good compared to the less than $1 for the Light Rail. By the way Pocock is an independent Senator it is Labor that sits on Treasury Benches.

Rob Chalmers A cost benefit of $2.40 looks good if it’s based on something at least resembling reality. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in Mr Pocock’s plan that shows whether or not it is. Which isn’t to say it may not be a good idea–not all value is expressed in $$$, just that there’s indication of where the number is based on.

Unfounded claims are easy to make. In another post I saw a claim that the Matildas’ participation in the World Cup has generated $7.6 billion for the Australian economy. It’s great that people are excited about the Matildas, but a claim like that, with only the tiniest, most fragile of connections to reality, is just nonsense on stilts, and really unhelpful.

Pocock is one of the more reputable politicians about. I’d imagine his staff have used the resources of the Parliamentry Library that gives frank and unbiased advice to Members Senators and committees of the Parliament. As for the reported $7.6 Billion economic generation figure for the Matildas I can’t say but to use that figure to discredit another does not seem fair. Without a new stadium Canberra will get 0% of the economic benefits of future events not even on the radar at present.

Rob Chalmers I like Pocock, and I like a lot of his ideas for Canberra enough that I happily voted for him. I’m not trying to use the claim about the Matildas (not a claim made by Mr Pocock) to discredit the other claim. Just pointing out that any number can be thrown out without offering data to back it up, and are unhelpful.

The $2.40 claim was in relation to a new convention centre, not a stadium.

I think it’s okay for cities to miss out on some economic benefits, real or imagined. No city can be all things to all people.

Christine Stevens Townsville with less than 200,000 people managed to get a new stadium. You would hope Canberra being the Capital City of the country with nearly 500,000 people and many more regionally would justify it. Canberra is supposed to Australia’s showcase to world. Canberrans on average have the highest incomes in Australia

Rob Chalmers If having a “world class” stadium is about being the national capital and the nation’s showcase to the world, then the federal government should foot the bill.

The stadium in Townsville was 56% funded by the Queensland state government, with a population and budget 10x that of the ACT, and 40% funded by the federal government.

Christine Stevens Qld has 9 stadiums and entertainment venues not just Townsville. Perhaps Barr could use some influence as Labor is in power Federally. Might be time to vote an independant or two in the lower house as we are ignored by the LNP and taken for granted by Labor.

Rob Chalmers According to reports, Barr has been busy getting more federal funding for Canberra now that there’s a federal Labor government.

An independent or two would be quite an electoral coup given that the ACT only has 3 representatives in the lower house. I wonder who, if anyone, the voters of those electorates would choose to oust, and who they’d replace them with?

All 3 Labor candidates won very handily in the election last year, with no independent candidate running in Fenner, and the independents in the other two electorates getting about 5% and 8% of the votes. They’ll really need to pick up their game to be competitive in the next election.

Christine Stevens I know the electoral situation. Not many gave Pocock much of a chance either and look at the rise of the Teals.

Rob Chalmers I think the performance of the Teals, and the Greens in Brisbane, at the last election was great. Although strictly speaking, Pocock’s not a Teal. I could be wrong, but I doubt much if any of the support for the Teal independents had anything to do with building new rugby stadia.

Christine Stevens No Pocock is not a Teal. The Teals are a response to dissatisfaction with governments taking the electorate for granted.

Rob Chalmers True enough, although from memory all the successful Teal candidates took seats from Liberal incumbents. It would be interesting to see them run in ACT electorates where Labor and Greens candidates are popular, and all 3 seats are held by Labor with wide margins. My guess is that they won’t win, but if we knew the outcomes for certain, there’d be no point in having elections, right?

Even so, since the main issues for Teals are the environment/climate change and social equity and equality, I don’t think they’re going to run hard on a pro-stadium platform. Even though he’s not technically a Teal, I think Pocock’s interest in a new stadium for the ACT stems almost entirely from his previous life as a footballer.

Robert Azzopardi what we need is decent health care instead of having to send our sick from our hospitals with the words “we cant do anything for you” and sending them home in pain, in the same state, untreated, whilst ambulance officers look on in horror knowing how sick the patient they carried in is… a patient so ill they are concerned for their welfare… a patients that has to be taken back out of the hospital in a wheelchair, because they are too sick to walk. This is what the money should be spent on, not some venue that gives a few residents a few hours of fun each year… but hey you do you until one of yours gets as sick as some of our family members are…

Lynn Stape yes we do need that as well.