Canberra's stadium needs have entered the official federal election campaign, with Liberal senator Zed Seselja announcing $11.4 million to rehabilitate and reopen the unsafe, decommissioned and mothballed AIS Arena in Bruce.
Closed to major sporting and live entertainment events since 2020, the ACT's largest indoor venue has been left in the too-hard basket right up until the federal election. It has been used since September 2021 as a COVID-19 mass vaccination hub.
Liberal senator Zed Seselja has told The Canberra Times that the federal money was found after the 2022 budget but before the government entered caretaker mode, to fully fund the upgrade works.
It comes in the wake of polls showing the sole ACT federal Liberal representative is in the fight for his political life, and after political rival and independent Senate candidate David Pocock backed a more splashy proposal for a world-class national convention centre and stadium complex as a priority nation-building project.
"This is money that's delivered. And so this is something that obviously I've been working on with the Sports Minister and making representations to the Finance Minister as well," Senator Seselja said.
"So yes, this is money that's delivered and [I'm] very pleased that it is. It's obviously been a difficult period and we all know the reasons why.
"I made the judgement that regardless of what the ACT government did, this was important."
The new federal funding for the AIS Arena bypasses stalled negotiations with the ACT government, with Senator Seselja stating it was not "really willing to come to the table". When the arena closed in June 2020, the ACT government accused the Morrison government of allowing the AIS Arena to deteriorate.
The move to reopen the arena would finally give a home back to the ACT's top national sporting team, the Canberra Capitals.
Two new polls published last week commissioned by climate-focused fundraising group Climate 200 show Senator Seselja well short of filling a seat quota in the ACT Senate race at 25 and 24 per cent of the primary vote. However, he may still be re-elected if current sentiment does not shift before polling day, with preferences expected to play a big part in the final result.
Senator Seselja denied the upgrade had been forced by political expediency, and insisted there was not an urgent push to fix the facility until recently.
"Well, I mean, two years ago, this wasn't on the agenda," he explained.
"I mean, in the end, obviously, we had a situation where it wasn't being used, but we had COVID closures for much of that period. And then we had it used as a COVID clinic.
"So it obviously wasn't something that anyone had raised with me until recently. And obviously Andrew Barr and others have raised it in recent months and that's what I've been taking up when it became apparent that there were issues.
"But I think it only became a significant problem when we had a reopening and large events were once again possible."
Work is expected to begin within six months, and the AIS Arena is expected to reopen by the first half of next year, possibly sometime later this year.
The arena's remedial works will target lighting, fire safety systems, lifts, mechanical services and electrical systems. Stadium seating is also set to be replaced.
Senator Seselja said the work was both rehabilitation and refurbishment.
"So it will look and feel better, and so the fan experience will be better than it has been in recent years," he said.
The AIS Arena upgrade does not mean an end to the touted Viking Park upgrades, according to Senator Seselja.
In March, the senator revealed plans for a huge upgrade to the Wanniassa ground in Canberra's south to a 10,000-capacity stadium plus hill areas, while taking a big swipe at Mr Pocock's "thought bubble" plan for a Civic stadium.
"The reality is, when it comes to a stadium at the moment, we have a working stadium when it comes to outdoor," he said.
"But the more urgent issue, obviously, was an indoor arena that hasn't been available, and so [I'm] really pleased to be able to deal with it."
