Cairns rectangular stadium dream: Demand for federal election commitments
A demand for straight answers has been issued as Cairns rectangular stadium campaigners try to avoid another federal election cycle with all babble and no bucks.
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A DEMAND for straight answers has been issued as Cairns rectangular stadium campaigners try to avoid another federal election cycle with all babble and no bucks.
The city risks being elbowed out of a regional race for a new sporting arena with only noncommittal assurances coming from the major parties.
Meanwhile, competitors are coming from all corners.
Toowoomba’s business and political leaders are pressing forward with their own united bid for a 15,000-seat stadium after the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs announced plans to bring an NRL match to the city within two years.
The city’s mayor Paul Antonio last week said he had been in talks for the NRL and the Bulldogs, adding the game boosted the need for a stadium.
“We need to have a long-term dream of a major stadium, I wouldn’t know where that stadium ought to be, but Toowoomba deserves a 15,000-seat stadium,” he said.
Darwin has plans drawn up for a 25,000-seat stadium with the hope of securing some Olympics 2032 action.
That $300m proposal has been backed by the PricewaterhouseCoopers CEO Tom Seymour, who said such big vision would be necessary for the Northern Territory to achieve its $40bn gross state product target by 2030.
“To get families to move here you need schools and hospitals, but you also need lifestyle and recreation. A facility like a stadium is a great investment,” he said.
Former Australian Rugby League director John Moore, who has been leading calls for a Cairns stadium for decades, said the Far North risked missing the boat.
He had seen too many elections with indistinct undertakings and said residents needed plain-speaking commitments so they knew how to vote.
“Rockhampton has a commitment from both the LNP and Labor,” he said.
“They’ve got absolutely firm commitments from both sides of politics – it’s just a question of where it goes.”
The state government has already flagged a $40m-plus upgrade of the Barlow Park precinct as part of its Olympics legacy funding.
Cairns Regional Council is also pursuing a $10m lighting upgrade after applying for $5m of federal funding.
Proponents say upgrading Barlow Park to a 14,000-16,000 seat arena – with the option of later expansion – would be about $100m.
Questions have been raised over whether a separate facility would have to be built to house the exiled Barlow Park athletics track, however another option is being discussed.
High-ranking council officers have been shopping around a design that allows seating to be removed when rectangular spectator sports are not under way.
If it works, it would allow both uses to coexist.
To date, Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch has given broad support to the stadium concept but said an election commitment would be unlikely at this late stage.
Labor’s candidate for Leichhardt Elida Faith has similarly made no pledge.
“We’ve got $40m plus $10m so it’s already about halfway there,” Mr Moore said.
“The election hasn’t been called yet so it’s certainly not too late.”
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