Federal budget 2023: Taylor, Pocock take aim at 'embarrassing' Canberra stadium plans

As the stadium uncertainty continues 14 years after Mr Barr first flagged the need for a new venue, Mr Taylor weighed into the debate on the eve of the federal budget.

Independent ACT Senator David Pocock also whacked Canberra's infrastructure status as "frankly quite embarrassing", but accepted revelations there would be no funding in the May budget for a stadium because there were "bigger issues at hand".

Mr Barr is negotiating with the Australian Sports Commission about a joint partnership in redeveloping the AIS site at Bruce, which includes the federal government-owned Canberra Stadium and AIS Arena.

But Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told The Canberra Times the lack of a formal business case was one of the main reasons for not allocating any money to the stadium project in the budget.

It's unclear if Mr Barr has tabled a formal plan to the federal government - Liberal or Labor - over the past decade.

"Canberrans should be bitterly disappointed to learn that Andrew Barr has failed to even make a submission to the federal government about a new stadium in Canberra," Mr Taylor said.

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"Andrew Barr has repeatedly argued that Canberra will be better off under a federal Labor government and once again that has been proven to be false.

"Canberra is an expensive city to live in and with inflation rampaging through the economy under Labor, it's only getting worse.

"Unless the government contains the growth of spending, Labor will only add to the cost of mortgage repayments, rents, groceries and just about everything else Canberrans are spending their hard-earned money on."

Mr Barr has put all of his focus into working with the Commonwealth on a precinct renewal at the 64 hectare site in Bruce. But because the federal government owns the stadium, the ACT government doesn't have the authority to conduct feasibility studies or business cases for renewal.

Senator Pocock continues to focus on a Canberra region city deal or partnership, as a way for both the commonwealth and territory governments to work with the private sector to attract and drive investment in the national capital.

A stadium and convention centre precinct is one of the options being floated, while Canberra's leading sporting organisations and tourism, hospitality and business leaders have supported the city transformation.

"The ACT's the only jurisdiction to not have one," he said on ABC Canberra. "The federal government has put almost $10 billion into these partnerships and the ACT's missed out."

"It really is about investing in infrastructure that is going to transform and really set up a city or regional town for the future. There's a really strong case for Canberra."

The senator has rallied community, business and sporting groups in calling for such a deal or partnership so "we can really build momentum leading into the next budget."

Senator Gallagher said, while she was hopeful of a good stadium outcome, she did not believe the work is complete on what the ACT government wants out of a stadium solution for Canberra.

Senator Pocock said he accepts there are "bigger issues at hand" and the business case for a new stadium has to be done right.

"This budget needs to be about people and needs to be about housing and health," he said.

"I have started doing the work to build a broad coalition of Canberrans, people in the region, who are pushing for in next year's budget to have a commitment to a city partnership that really sets Canberra up for the future.

"We have a convention centre that's no longer fit for purpose. It's frankly quite embarrassing that the national capital can't host big major conferences and events. And then if you're looking at Bruce stadium, it's beyond its use by date. It's going to have to be replaced whether we like it or not."

Senator Gallagher insisted that Canberra is not being left behind in the budget and the two levels of government need to engage over a range of policy areas including infrastructure, climate and housing.

"What we're looking to do is embark on a formal process around how we resolve some of those things," she said.

"There does seem to be some issues around the Civic location which I'll leave to [the Chief Minister] to talk about."

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