Philanthropists Roy Thompson and Rod Forrester walk away from Sunshine Coast Stadium funding pledge

Sunshine Coast philanthropists Roy Thompson and Rod Forrester have confirmed they will walk away from their plans to help fund expanding Sunshine Coast Stadium.

Sunshine Coast philanthropists Roy Thompson and Rod Forrester have confirmed they will walk away from their plans to help fund the long awaited expansion to Sunshine Coast Stadium.

The benefactors' pledge of a combined $11m towards the stadium required an investment of $20m from the federal government in its May Budget.

However, Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace on Monday confirmed the federal government was unable to find money to fund the project in its budget, which will be released on Tuesday.

It comes after a commitment from the state government ($20m) and Sunshine Coast Council ($17m) which would have expanded the stadium's capacity to more than 16,000.

After hearing the federal funding was not available, Mr Thompson said he would walk away from the project leaving it in limbo.

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"That's the end. I will take it out and give it to someone else," Mr Thompson said.

"There's no good leaving it there indefinitely when there's people out there who need it."

VISION: An artist's impression of an upgraded Sunshine Coast Stadium.

 

Mr Thompson, who is in his 90s, labelled the federal government's decision to not make funding available in its Budget as "terrible and ridiculous".

He said he had not thought about who or where he would put his money towards.

A bitterly disappointed Mr Forrester said he would also pull his funding commitment.

"We did everything we could to try and make it happen," Mr Forrester said.

"It's so disappointing. It would have been great for the Coast.

"I am definitely pulling out."

Mr Wallace said he was "painfully aware" of Mr Thompson and Mr Forrester's comments around pulling out of their stadium commitment and encouraged the pair to reconsider.

Local rugby league personalities Ashley Robinson and Billy Moore have been strong supporters for the Sunshine Coast Stadium expansion.

"If they want it to go ahead as much as I do … I need them to keep their money on the table," Mr Wallace said.

"I need them to continue to work with me."

As to why the money was not made available towards the stadium project, Mr Wallace said it was a "matter of competing obligations".

Mr Wallace said he had been "upfront and honest" since February that federal funding would be most likely be unavailable.

"That said, I was still hoping against hope but it wasn't to be," he said.

He said he shared the disappointment that the project was not funded on a federal level but vowed to continue to advocate the stadium expansion.

Mr Wallace previously said the Sunshine Coast had benefited from "unprecedented" federal funding since 2016 but said the cash did not come from a bottomless pit.

He said his goal now was to secure an election commitment for the stadium expansion.

The proposed expansion would have boosted the venue's seating capacity to 11,618 with a total capacity of 16,618.

Originally published as Philanthropists Roy Thompson and Rod Forrester walk away from Sunshine Coast Stadium funding pledge