Still standing: Canberra Stadium may be nearing the end of its life, but it will probably have to do for another decade. Photo: Raiders.
There was literally a stink about the adequacy of Canberra Stadium at Bruce last weekend.
A pump had failed, a sewage pit was full to the brim and the smell was ghastly.
But as a former prime minister once said, “Shit happens”.
However, the event did provide the opportunity for Raiders coach Ricky Stuart to launch into a familiar tirade about the desperate need for a new stadium.
The other code that calls Bruce home, the one they allegedly play in heaven, had a hell of a win at the Otago Highlanders’ House of Pain in Dunedin, which happens to have a roof.
That prompted another call for any new stadium in Canberra to have one and hang the cost.
Then ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, seeking more brand differentiation in an election year, raised the obvious point that there were a few other things that the ACT needed, and his party was reconsidering its position on the stadium and where it sits in the list of priorities.
The Raiders’ and Brumbies’ frustrations are understandable. The current feasibility study for a 30,000-seat facility at Bruce is the seventh and they have no faith that it will materialise.
They would still prefer a city location, but Chief Minister Andrew Barr has ruled that out. It just won’t fit on the proposed Civic pool site and other challenges make it prohibitive. That’s why you have a feasibility study.
The government has returned to Bruce where it sees synergies with the Australian Institute of Sport and believes a stadium will fit into plans for developing a wider Bruce precinct.
The Federal Government’s confirmation that the AIS will stay in Canberra and be revitalised provides certainty that this can happen under whatever deal the ACT can strike with the Commonwealth, including land for housing.
The ACT will be looking for whatever offsets it can find to help fund a new stadium, and the Commonwealth will pitch in for what will be an at least half-billion-dollar build and probably a more realistic $700-800 million price tag, and even more if you want the luxury of a roof.
The May Federal Budget might give some indications about where the AIS and the Bruce precinct are headed.
What people have to remember, though, is what Bruce and Canberra may look like in the coming decades.
Unfortunately, a new stadium will have to wait its turn behind the Canberra Theatre development, for which some cash from the Feds would also be appreciated, the Convention Centre and Entertainment Pavilion, and a new Northside Hospital.
That’s the back end of the coming decade.
Mr Barr and the PM may be mates, but a few hundred mill for a stadium just to help ACT Labor in an election year would stretch the friendship, although the Budget may set the scene.
What the stadium spruikers gloss over is asking taxpayers to fund a facility that is notoriously difficult to pay its way and stands idle for much of the year even if it finds a place on the concert circuit.
There is also no point in having a stadium that could price average footy fans, who can watch every game from the comfort of their lounge room, pub or club, out of the market.
After all this time, it is no surprise that the NRL, Rugby Australia or some beneficent private consortium have not seen the urgency of the situation and come to the party.
It’s a bit much to expect the government of a revenue-challenged jurisdiction that still expects first-rate health and education systems and is trying to build a public transport system that will serve a growing national capital for decades to come to put a new football stadium before everything else.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee might like to console the football franchises and fans, put the boot into Mr Barr and talk about how a city stadium is still on the table if they are elected, but does anybody really believe that a Liberal Government committed to getting the budget back to surplus will magic up the money for a stadium, in the city?
The Civic pool site won’t work, so where else are they looking? Carving out a chunk of Commonwealth Park?
Not proceeding with light rail stage 2B won’t mean a Liberal Government will suddenly be rolling in cash, and putting the Canberra Theatre development, for which there is a solid business case, or the needed new hospital on hold would not be a vote winner.
We would all love a new stadium, Mr Barr included, but as always, it comes down to priorities, the huge price tag, and the contribution the Commonwealth can make.
The Bruce plan may not be perfect, but it’s the best chance for a new stadium to actually be built within a decade while we have a federal government that is more disposed towards the national capital.
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