The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO CANBERRA, BREAKFAST WITH ROSS SOLLY
THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2026
SUBJECTS: Canberra Stadium
ROSS SOLLY: Well, Andrew Leigh is the Member for Fenner. He's also got the Bruce Stadium, of course, in his electorate. Andrew Fenner, good morning to you. Andrew Leigh, sorry, did I call you Andrew Fenner?
ANDREW LEIGH: G’day Ross. That’s alright! You’ve also called me Andrew Barr before, Andrew Fenner, and it turns out Bruce is in Alicia Payne's electorate. It was in my electorate before the boundary moved north.
ROSS SOLLY: Yes, of course! Of course, I just realised we had a boundary redrawn recently, didn't we? So, it's no longer in your…
ANDREW LEIGH: That's right. The people of Bruce have traded up to get the terrific Alicia Payne as their local MP, but I maintain a keen interest in the AIS.
ROSS SOLLY: Oh have they? Yes. Well, just on this proposal. Have you been briefed on it, Andrew Leigh? Often referred to as Andrew Fenner. Have you been briefed on it, and what do you think at first blush?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, it's an exciting proposal. I've spoken to Stephen Byron about it. I'm interested in what it involves. I'm also aware, though, that there is a huge pipeline of investment going in from the ACT Government. So right now, you've got the pool development, that's a couple of hundred million dollars. You've got the convention centre, which is about half a billion dollars. You've got the theatre, which is about $300 million. And then you'd be adding a stadium, which could be anywhere from half a billion to a couple of billion dollars on top of that.
ROSS SOLLY: Yeah.
ANDREW LEIGH: So, you want to think about that not only in terms of what it means for the construction workforce but also in terms of what it means for taxpayers. So you're talking about, you know, thousands of dollars for the typical Canberra taxpayer in order to cover all of that. Getting a new stadium is super exciting. This is a shiny, exciting project. But the ACT Government's also thinking about how it fits in with Floriade, for example, and what it would mean for that important part of our city.
ROSS SOLLY: This would obviously, and I think everybody knows it's not going to happen without Commonwealth funding, without Commonwealth support. Are you happy – do you feel strongly enough about this, Andrew Leigh, to go to the Prime Minister and to go to those who control the purse strings and say, ‘I think this is a great initiative. I am going to lobby for it’?
ANDREW LEIGH: It needs to come from the ACT Government because they would be managing the construction of the project and working out how it works with other proposals. I always work closely with my ACT colleagues – I’m very keen to engage with them. What's good about this site, of course, is the great public transport connections. What's challenging is that it is a fairly tightly constrained space, and the proposal is coming at a time in which the ACT has an unprecedentedly large scale of construction going on. You've got the National Security Precinct. We've just had the War Memorial developments finishing up. We've got the next stage of light rail happening. There is a lot of development happening in this city right now, and so any new proposal just needs to fit into that.
ROSS SOLLY: Yeah. I guess the simple question I'm asking though, is are you prepared to go in and lobby for it? Yesterday, Senator David Pocock was on this show and he said that he thinks this is an initiative that all Canberra's federal representatives need to come together on and to lobby. Are you willing to be one of those people who are going to lobby for this?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, I'm not going to lobby against the ACT Government. If the ACT Government is enthusiastic about this and sees that it's going to work, I will back them in as strongly as I always do. We need to work through how event day access would work, crowd management, transport infrastructure. It's an idea that is exciting, but it's a very early stage and so you want to work it up and figure out how it's going to best serve our city, how we're going to effectively pay for it and what it will mean in terms of the uses that Commonwealth Park can be put to. I think there would be significant trade-offs. Economists are always fond of saying that nothing comes without trade-offs, and I think that's certainly true in this case.
ROSS SOLLY: I mean, you're a long-time resident here in Canberra, Andrew Leigh. You love your sport. Do you personally think that Bruce is the best place for the stadium? Or do you see, or do you agree with the vision that Stephen Byron seems to have that this could revitalise the city and put Canberra on the map as a destination for major events, not just sporting events, but concerts, et cetera?
ANDREW LEIGH: I love the idea of a city stadium. We've also got a big lyric theatre development, we've got the convention centre development and we've got the pool development all happening in that pretty close proximity there. So, as we look to build out the city, this certainly is a project that makes sense. It's got a keen logic behind it, but ACT taxpayers are also going to demand that they get value for money. It will have an impact on the territory budget and on the debt that's taken on or the tax levels that are imposed. So, as the ACT Government looks to invest across a range of areas, we need to figure out if this is a must-have or a nice-to-have.
ROSS SOLLY: Where do you sit on this?
ANDREW LEIGH: It's up to the ACT Government as to how they…
ROSS SOLLY: But what’s Andrew Leigh – you're the member for Fenner, you're representing Canberra. In the end, you have a voice. You can sit inside the federal government, who are going to be lobbied and asked, ‘Can you help with this’. When you're called upon to give your voice to this, Andrew Leigh, I know you're saying it's up to the ACT Government, but as a representative for the people of Fenner and representing this city, you must have a position?
ANDREW LEIGH: If I'm called on by the ACT Government to support it…
ROSS SOLLY: No, no, no, but…
ANDREW LEIGH: I will be there 100 per cent, but I'm not going to go against the ACT Government which are making considerable investments in health, housing, transport, community infrastructure. We have a huge set of priorities here in the city, Ross and the last thing we need is federal representatives and ACT representatives getting into a fight over these things. So, this needs to fit within what the ACT Government is planning for the city. It needs to fit within the infrastructure planning, but it also needs to sit within the budget which is currently both at the ACT level and the Commonwealth level in deficit.
So, we need to make that vision match our ability to pay for it, which is the standard question that, you know, every household has as they consider whether to put on that new extension or remodel a bathroom. You've got to make the numbers stack up as well as just thinking what would be fantastic to have. It's a beautiful vision. I really like the idea of returning that land to public space. I agree entirely with Senator Katy Gallagher's comments yesterday. So, I'm enthusiastic about the vision but I want to work hand in glove with the ACT Government to deliver.
ROSS SOLLY: Alright, Andrew Leigh, good to have you on the show this morning. Thank you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thank you, Ross.
ROSS SOLLY: That's Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner.
ENDS