It's only taken 10 years for them to make a meaningful move to lift the capital out of the sporting infrastructure dark ages, triggered by a looming tight Senate election battle.

But even now, you get the feeling they might be backing the wrong horse.

Zed Seselja's plan to partner with the Vikings Group to build a boutique venue at Wanniassa is in direct competition with the ACT government's stalled vision to build a 20,000-seat stadium in Civic.

Given it's taken this long for the conversation to ramp up, the chances of the federal government investing in two stadium redevelopments in Canberra is as likely as a warm winter night watching the footy at Bruce.

A failure to communicate between two levels of government threatens to make the stadium issue a political one rather than the real stuff, even though it has emerged as a federal election campaign topic for the first time.

Just last year Senator Seselja said a new stadium in Civic could "underpin the life" of the city after details of a feasibility study were revealed.

"When it comes to the stadium itself, I actually think it is worth pursuing," he said.

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A year later, with a federal election to win, Senator Seselja is pursuing an idea - but not the one most expected.

What the city really needs is for Senator Seselja and ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr to actually speak to each other about a plan, rather than blaming the opposite side for the lack of action.

Their communication about stadiums - including the future of the AIS Arena - has been limited to verbal jabs in the media.

If Senator Seselja were serious about being a "fly in the ointment", he would have been banging down colleague Richard Colbeck's door to demand the reopening of the AIS Arena and pushing for a decision about redeveloping the institute's 64 hectares.

If Mr Barr were serious about building a new stadium in Civic, he should have a plan after a decade of ruminating about the options.

If they spoke to each other, they might find some common ground and be able to work on a vision for what some have dubbed the need for a "National Stadium" in the heart of Canberra.

In an ideal world, Canberra would be able to have both stadium development plans.

The smaller venue - which is proposed to be in partnership with the Vikings Group - would service the non-marquee fixtures and give rugby union, soccer and even rugby league a mid-sized stadium.

Canberra Stadium is great when it's rocking with 15,000 people or more, but it's a lonely place when crowds dip under 10,000.

The proposed Civic stadium would give the city a heartbeat. A venue capable of hosting international fixtures, major NRL, Super Rugby or A-League men and women's matches as well as concerts and exhibitions.

It does, however, come with a hefty pricetag of about $600 million. The federal government would need to come to the party, either by funding the project or by giving the ACT the land at the AIS to redevelop and sell.

The Civic stadium project needs content to be viable, and splitting the games between a whiz-bang stadium in the city and a boutique venue in Canberra's south creates fewer opportunities to recoup investments.

So why are we talking about a potential Viking Park redevelopment? Because the Civic plans have dragged on for far too long with minimal movement, and there are fears it may never get off the ground.

Canberra already has the oldest and most run-down rectangular stadium and indoor arena in Australia. Townsville, Parramatta, Penrith, Manly and Hobart have all been able to fund projects before the capital.

The good news is that it's not all bad news. We're talking about the venue white elephants in the room and this is the first time there has been real talk about stadiums at a federal level.

Yes, David Pocock is an independent candidate and would likely hit roadblocks in getting the funding required to pursue the proposal he is backing for a stadium and a convention centre (at the cost of more than $1 billion).

But it has forced the Liberal Party to consider some sort of investment, even if it doesn't align with what a lot of sporting fans had been hoping for.

The key now is to actually achieve an outcome. It's time to build something, but not so just a few can come. Canberra deserves a stadium project that can unite the city.

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