The ACT's requests for joint Commonwealth funding must ultimately be accompanied by strong business cases and it would be up to the territory to make the argument for co-locating projects, the federal Territories Minister says.
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Kristy McBain said the federal government would not pick up the tab alone for infrastructure projects, and the ACT needed to present business cases and demonstrate "strong community support".
"Any proposal needs to have a strong business case to go with it, and that's obviously something the ACT government needs to bring forward and present to the Commonwealth at this stage. We'll consider further investments in the ACT under the usual decision making-processes, and obviously the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister for Finance will be best placed to deal with those issues," Ms McBain said on ABC radio.
Ms McBain said the National Capital Investment Framework - announced last year - was an indicator the Commonwealth was prepared to invest in the capital, but the territory needed to demonstrate the value of projects.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr last month wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to seek 50-50 funding commitments to progress works on a new stadium at Bruce and a new convention centre and entertainment pavilion precinct in the city.
"Similar to the request made for a health, education and sporting precinct in Bruce, the ACT Government is seeking co-funding in the upcoming federal budget to expedite planning and approval for these projects to enable them to be placed in the forward infrastructure pipeline and delivered in line with the Entertainment Arts and Sports Infrastructure Plan released last year," a spokeswoman for the ACT government said.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said the request for funding for the entertainment pavilion and convention centre was an election eve stunt.
"Andrew Barr has had 15 years to deliver the much-needed stadium to Canberrans, and he has done nothing but make countless announcements on feasibility study after feasibility study with no action or delivery," Ms Lee said.
"Now he's been caught out congratulating himself for writing a letter to the federal government, but failing to include a detailed business case, as required by the Commonwealth, and confirmed by the federal minister this morning.
"This is a national embarrassment from a chief minister who has been in government for over two decades and Canberrans deserve much better than this."
The ACT government has said the Commonwealth sought information in early March about infrastructure projects that would be suitable for co-investment, and the territory's proposals were consistent with the federal government's urban precincts and partnerships program.
"This program will fund both the development of precincts to facilitate planning, design and consultation, leading to business cases for investment-ready proposals, as well as a stream for the delivery of larger scale precinct projects," an ACT government spokeswoman said.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
