A joint federal and territory effort is required to transform Canberra into a world-class capital city, with significant work needed to improve facilities including its 46-year-old stadium, an inquiry has found.
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The Albanese government should pay for a new National Convention Centre and invest in the Australian Institute of Sport "to be able to fully support Australian athletes" in time for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics", the report also said.
Canberra MP Alicia Payne, who chairs the joint parliamentary committee inquiry into fostering and promoting the significance of Australia's national capital, said it was "clear from the evidence" that Canberra's stadium infrastructure needed to be upgraded.
"This is not just for Canberrans to enjoy better facilities when they view sport," Ms Payne said.
"It's about building the sport aspects of the national significance of the capital, by enabling us to host events of national and international significance."
Ms Payne also said the old convention centre on Constitution Avenue - which opened in 1989 - was "not up to standard" and was turning away business.
"I think it's embarrassing that our nation's capital can't host international conferences and conventions that we should be able to if we want to be the face of our nation," she said.
She said both levels of government needed to work together to put Canberra on the map as a place that all Australians were proud of.
"Most Australians don't take a pride in or have a love of our capital unless they actually come here and experience it," she said.
"People that live here know how special our city is and all that it has to offer, but our city actually is the nation's capital ... It is a representation of Australia's history and how we want to be seen by the world.
"It is a place for all Australians to come together. It is the meeting place of our nation, the centre of our democracy, and it's about all Australians knowing that this city belongs to them."
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the government was "certainly working pretty closely with the ACT government on their priorities" ahead of next week's federal budget.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra at a joint press conference with Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Senator Gallagher said the government's plans for revitalising the run-down AIS were "coming to conclusion".
The government announced in February that the "national home of sport" would stay in Bruce, rejecting a $1 billion plan to move the high-performance base to south-east Queensland.
"The ACT government's lobbying pretty strongly on a whole range of fronts, not just [the] stadium but transport, national facilities," Senator Gallagher said.
ACT independent senator David Pocock, who serves on the committee, said more ambition and a sharper focus was needed to shape the Capital into a place which Australians can be proud.
"Canberra remains the least-known capital city in the developed world and we receive a disproportionately low amount of federal government investment," Senator Pocock said.
"We were the only state or territory not to get a City Deal under the last government, despite some jurisdictions getting two or more, meaning we missed out on a slice of almost $10 billion in federal funding under the previous government. This deficit still hasn't been rectified."
The inquiry report, tabled on Monday, also recommends the federal and ACT governments work together to "provide additional train services and carriages on the Sydney to Canberra rail line".
The Sydney to Canberra train operates three services a day, and are often booked out.