Andrew Barr's latest federal funding request nothing more than a stunt

Media reporting today that Andrew Barr has also sought a 50-50 funding commitment from the Federal Government for an indoor entertainment pavilion on the Civic Pool site needs to be called out for the stunt that it is.

According to media reports, Mr Barr has written to the Commonwealth Government seeking a 50-50 funding commitment for both a stadium and now a new entertainment pavilion.

On radio this morning, the Federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Hon Kristy McBain, confirmed that Mr Barr has failed to provide a business case with his request for funding for a stadium or music pavilion. 

The Minister said in response to questions about what the Federal Government needs from Mr Barr in relation to his request that:

“any proposal needs to have a strong business case to go with it. Um, and that's obviously something the ACT Government needs to bring forward and present to the Commonwealth at this stage.”

The Minister went on to say:

“I mean, at the moment, we're all talking in hypotheticals because we don't have a business case in front of us. It's really important that the proper planning and consultation happens.”

This confirms what we already know; nothing more than a stunt from Andrew Barr to make it look like he is doing something on the eve of the ACT election.

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.

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.