Barr wants 30,000-seat Canberra stadium with AFL, no ACT capital
Andrew Barr has pushed the Regatta Place stadium pitch from 25,000 to 30,000 seats, wants AFL and cricket included, and rules out ACT capital funding.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr used ABC Radio this week to reshape the privately pitched Regatta Place stadium, telling listeners the venue should seat 30,000 rather than the 25,000 floated when the Canberra Airport Group proposal surfaced on 18 October, and that it should host AFL and cricket as well as rugby codes. Barr also said the design would likely need to push east into Commonwealth Park to fit, and that he expects the Commonwealth, not ACT ratepayers, to pay for it.
Why it matters
A week after Barr described the lakefront pitch as worth looking at, a cautious endorsement, he is now actively resizing it and adding codes, a shift from reactive bystander to active shaper of the proposal’s scope. For an ACT builder or project proponent, that is the signal to watch: a government figure publicly expanding a privately funded concept’s seating and sporting use before a land purchase, a design or a construction cost even exist raises the odds the scope keeps moving before any tender is cut. Barr said he expects at least 12 AFL and cricket fixtures a year on top of rugby league and union dates and three or four concerts, the kind of utilisation case that would normally come from a venue operator’s business plan, not a chief minister musing on radio.
Barr also drew a hard line on funding, saying the chance of ratepayers contributing is “pretty low” and that he wants a public-private partnership structure, paid through availability payments after completion rather than an ACT capital contribution, similar to the light rail financing model. That matters for anyone pricing risk on the project: no government capital commitment this early means a deal for the Catholic Archdiocese’s leasehold, the Populous feasibility work and a costed design all still have to land before a contractor sees a scope of works.
The numbers
The proposal’s cost has been touted at about half a billion dollars, Region Canberra reported, with Barr putting the carrying cost of that debt at “the cost of capital alone will be $50 million a year.” No construction price has been formally published by the proponents. Manuka Oval, the comparison venue the report raises, already carries a $12 million Test-standard media centre and currently hosts three Giants AFL home games a year, well short of the 12 fixtures Barr says a new stadium would need across AFL and cricket to help cover maintenance and loan repayments.
Barr separately told the Legislative Assembly in August 2025, in response to a question from independent MLA Thomas Emerson, that the Archbishop’s residence site was “not zoned, suitable or available for development of that large scale” and that the government did not support a stadium there, citing expected impacts on Commonwealth Park and the National Triangle. That comment predates the current pitch.
What’s next
Nothing about the site’s lease has moved since 18 October. The Canberra Airport Group still needs to secure the Regatta Place lease from the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Populous still needs to finish a concept design and feasibility report, and no construction cost or funding deed has been published. Barr’s bigger seating number and added codes raise the commercial bar the business case will have to clear, while his PPP preference signals the ACT government intends to carry minimal capital risk if the project proceeds. Until a lease deal and a costed design are confirmed, builders and subcontractors watching this site have nothing to tender against.