Plans for a new lakeside stadium in the centre of Canberra have emerged this month, with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr calling for the proposed rectangular venue to also be configured for AFL and cricket matches.
Canberra Airport has proposed a city centre venue, taking inspiration from Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium which opened in March this year.
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The roofed Kiwi venue holds up to 30,000 fans for sporting events including rugby league, union and football, along with holding up to 37,000 fans for other events like concerts.
It cost around $531 million to build, including earthquake-proofing which was required given it replaced Lancaster Park which was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Replacing Canberra’s existing 48-year-old GIO Stadium, which houses the NRL’s Raiders and Super Rugby’s Brumbies, has been discussed for years due to its ageing condition and location 15 minutes out of the city centre in suburban Bruce.
“I feel sorry for those people there with the stench, it’s s**t. I know people laugh about it but we are the capital of Australia,” Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said in a 2024 rant about the state of the venue, in which fans had to deal with a “pungent aroma”.
“The stadium administration are wonderful people, they accommodate us so well. They and Canberra deserve a new stadium.
“It’s absolutely crap they don’t build a stadium to look after Canberra’s people.”
Finding a location has proven difficult but the newly-proposed venue on the north shore of Lake Burley Griffin would take advantage of land now potentially available at Regatta Place, including a portion currently leased to the Catholic Church for the Catholic Archbishop’s house.
It would also be built next to the next stage of light rail already being constructed.
A consortium of business people has proposed the venue, saying it could be finished by 2030, though they does not want to build or own the stadium; instead either a private company or a government venture, at either federal or territory level (or both), would need to develop it.
Australian rules and cricket currently use Manuka Oval, which is in better condition than GIO Stadium, but would likely need to be redeveloped and/or expanded if an AFL or Big Bash League expansion team were granted to Canberra.
Currently the AFL’s GWS Giants and BBL’s Sydney Thunder each use Manuka Oval as their second home venue playing a handful of games in Canberra each year.
The Giants frequently draw bigger crowds in Canberra than their home at Sydney Olympic Park and also use the ACT and surrounding region as a recruiting base.
This week the ACT Chief Minister said he believes adding more content by expanding the playing surface from purely rectangular, and allowing the oval codes to use the new venue, would be worth considering.
Andrew Barr told ABC Radio the stadium would need to hold 30,000 seats and “I think they should also consider its configuration to allow it to host cricket and AFL. That would give another 12 events a year at least.”
Critics say that plan would negatively impact the fan experience for league, union and football fans pointing to the likes of Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium – which is oval-shaped but infrequently adds extra seats on the wings to create a rectangular playing surface.
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Cricket ACT chairman Greg Boorer is, perhaps surprisingly, a critic saying the stadium would be better off remaining rectangular.
“I honestly think the best way forward is to have a dedicated rectangular stadium that has the 25,000-30,000 capacity,” Boorer told The Canberra Times.
“Any bigger than that, it makes it more difficult. If you incorporate that number of seats and also a round playing surface for cricket and AFL, it becomes really challenging.
“I think the best solution here is a 25,000-30,000 seat stadium, with or without a roof in that particular location, specifically for rectangular sports.
“Then, over time, a modest increase to, say, 20,000 plus improved hospitality at Manuka is the best way forward. Manuka’s an absolute national institution that we need and one of the best first class grounds in Australia. That needs to be protected and preserved.
“The Australian cricket team, all the Big Bash teams, and the AFL teams love coming to Manuka. It’s a great location.”