Sunshine Coast Stadium expansion proponents are bewildered by the Federal Government’s decision to help fund a stadium at Ipswich, after rejecting a proposal at Bokarina.
The government committed $15 million towards a new $70 million, 10,000-seat venue at Springfield, which will essentially be home to the Brisbane Lions AFLW team.
But it is yet to chip in $20m towards a proposed $68m upgrade at Bokarina, which would enable another 10,000 seats at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
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There was commitment for the rest of the funding, from State Government, Sunshine Coast Council and local philanthropists.
Sunshine Coast Falcons chairman Ashley Robinson was surprised Federal Government funding was being invested elsewhere instead of Kawana.
“We were asking for $20m to get something nearly straight away.”
“They (Federal Government) talk about shovel ready projects, to get people employed. This is (shovel ready).”
He said an expanded stadium could be home to elite teams.
“If you want to talk about women’s sport, we could have an NRLW team.”
“And it (the stadium) is not just for footy, it’s for community events. There are a lot of uses for that stadium.”
Philanthropists Rod Forrester and Roy Thompson have indicated they would withdraw their $11m contribution if the Federal Government did not come to the party, leaving a bigger shortfall.
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Mr Robinson said the government had likely missed their chance to do the expansion on the cheap.
“If you look at all the other (proposed/approved) stadiums, are there any local community people chipping in $11m to the projects? The answer would be no.”
“This was a unique opportunity.
“The South-East Queensland Olympic bid (for 2032) seems deadly serious, so maybe the government will have to pay for it (an upgrade) down the track
“But they’ve just lost $11m by letting Rod and Roy out of their grip. They could have saved the taxpayers.”
He also said the Federal Government could be ignoring calls for a stadium upgrade because Fisher is traditionally seen as a safe Liberal-National electoral seat.
“I find it really disappointing that, as a conservative area, we get treated this way. We just get taken for granted,” Mr Robinson said.
“It just seems like we’re at the mercy of the government.”
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He said there could be a pushback from locals.
“Maybe they (Federal Government) will learn a lesson from what happened at Caloundra, where Labor (surprisingly) won the seat.”
Springfield, the site of the new AFL stadium, is in a Labor-held seat.
Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace recently said he would continue to fight for stadium expansion funding.
He said he was “100 per cent behind the project’’, but the government had deemed it more important to put $160m, be matched with equal State funding, towards the Mooloolah River Interchange replacement.
“I’m aiming to get this as an election commitment as it’s an important project for the Sunshine Coast. It (current stadium) is a joke considering the size of the region.’’
