In the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Federal Government has announced next week’s Budget will invest $249.7 million in the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Bruce, to ensure they remain the destination for Australia’s élite athletes to train, develop and ultimately succeed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the funding will deliver an accessible multi-story accommodation facility; a multi-sports dome to provide an all-weather, multi-sport indoor training facility with integrated facilities for testing and analysis; and a new High-Performance Training and Testing Centre.
In addition, the Budget will invest $10 million for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts to work with the ACT Government to develop a Bruce Precinct Masterplan, ensuring the Bruce site is welcoming and fit for purpose for visitors, athletes and their families alike.
Funding will be provisioned in the Budget while a detailed business plan for the AIS site redevelopment is finalised.
There was concern last year that the AIS would be moved from Canberra to Queensland.
Th government said these commitments reflect the recommendations made in the recent independent review into AIS Infrastructure and help ensure Australian high-performance athletes have access to world-class facilities that best support Australia’s sporting success.
“We want to give our athletes the best chance of bringing home gold at Brisbane and every competition before and after those games,” Mr Albanese said.
“The upcoming Budget will ensure the Australian Institute of Sport remains in the Capital, where it belongs, and ensure it once again becomes the world-leading high-performance centre it was designed to be.
“What is crystal clear is that under my Government – Canberra will always get the support, investment and respect that Australia’s national capital deserves.”
The government stated that the previous Coalition government had ignored the ACT, resulting in the current condition of the AIS.
“For more than 40 years, the Australian Institute of Sport has been a much-loved venue for athletes, for Canberra locals and for visitors to the ACT,” finance minister Senator Katy Gallagher said.
“It’s played host to school excursions, sporting matches and concerts, but we know in recent years it’s fallen into disrepair due to inaction from the Liberals and Nationals.
“The Albanese Government is investing almost $250 million into the AIS so it can once again become the vibrant community hub that Canberrans know and love.”
ACT Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry said: “This is a great day for Canberra. The commitment to the AIS in Canberra will not only create local jobs, but it also appropriately recognises the city’s rôle as the nation’s capital.
“It places the Institute and its facilities at the heart of a modern sports, health and education precinct in Bruce for decades to come.
“We welcome the Albanese’s Government plan to restore this national asset and to work together to plan for the precinct’s future.
“I also acknowledge the advocacy of the many local sporting groups and Canberrans who have continued to passionately advocate for the AIS’s place in Canberra’s future and who have helped to achieve this outcome.”
Canberra Liberals
ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee welcomed the $250 million commitment by the Federal Government to restore the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) following continued calls by the Canberra Liberals for the institute to remain in the ACT and be adequately funded.
Ms Lee said the Canberra Liberals fought for the AIS to remain in the ACT after the federal government announced a review last year aimed at assessing the viability of moving the AIS to Queensland.
“I successfully moved a motion and subsequent amendment in the ACT Legislative Assembly that required the ACT Government to call on the Federal Labor Government to keep the AIS in Canberra and to invest at least $200 million on upgrades,” Ms Lee said.
“The AIS benefits the ACT greatly through facilities, employment, tourism, major events, and élite sports pathways for Canberrans, and remains an important part of our city.”
The ACT Government also opposed the proposed move; Ms Berry last year convened a roundtable of peak local sporting bodies to discuss the AIS’s future, and to help inform the ACT Government’s submission into the federal Independent Review of the AIS Infrastructure.
However, Ms Lee said the “paltry” $10 million for development of the Bruce precinct was “laughable”.
“[Chief Minister] Andrew Barr has a horrendous record when it comes to building infrastructure in the ACT, and this so-called Bruce ‘precinct’ looks like it will be no different,” Ms Lee said.
“Despite promising Stage 2B of the tram, a new stadium, a new convention centre, a new theatre, the northside hospital and a music pavilion, Andrew Barr has not told Canberrans how much they will cost and how they will be budgeted and delivered.
“By the Federal Government only offering $10 million towards the Bruce ‘precinct’, it appears they don’t have any faith in these projects being delivered either.
“This comes on the back of the laughable $50 million funding for stage 2B of the tram which will cost Canberrans well over $4 billion,” Ms Lee concluded.
