The Gold Coast Football Club has welcomed the State Government pledge to provide $60 million in funding towards the redevelopment of a new AFL stadium at Carrara.

GCFC Chairman John Witheriff said the commitment towards construction of a new stadium was a significant step forward in the journey to becoming the 17th team in the AFL but also vitally important for the local economy.
“The new Gold Coast Football Club will return economic and social - as well as sporting - benefits to the Gold Coast community through increased jobs, greater economic and tourist activity and greater opportunities for local families”.

“The AFL club will lead to additional $34 million is spending each year in the local economy and the construction of a new stadium will create  much needed employment for the local building and construction industry.

“I’d like to congratulate the State Government for backing this important initiative and would personally like to thank Premier Anna Bligh, Deputy Premier Paul Lucas and Sports Minister Judy Spence and acknowledge the hard work of our local Labor Party MPs in particular Peter Lawlor, Di Reilly Peta Kaye-Croft, Phil Gray, Margaret Keech and Christine Smith who have contributed to this outcome.

“The Gold Coast City Council have also pledged their support for the upgrade of Carrara so all the pieces are falling into place for a successful outcome. “We believe the AFL are close to making a decision and the commitment from the Queensland Government to support AFL on the Gold Coast and the local community is very encouraging.”

President of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) Gold Coast, Col Dutton, said Premier Anna Bligh has given the local building industry an important boost by committing to a large infrastructure project such as the redevelopment of Carrara stadium.

“Mid-term this project will provide greatly needed construction jobs and all indications are that the program will happen which is excellent news for the Gold Coast,” he said.

“Longer term the project will be a general boost for the city with the ongoing employment created through the stadium’s operation and the impact of a new AFL team playing on the Coast.” Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said: “Sporting events are a major contributor to the Gold Coast tourism industry delivering exposure, interest, visitation and additional opportunity for tourism businesses to attract trade.

“The development of new event infrastructure and introduction of the Gold Coast AFL team are bound to deliver significant returns for the tourism industry and the city as a whole.

“Gold Coast Tourism will pursue all opportunities to capitalise on this brilliant addition to the Gold Coast proposition with our full support of the Gold Coast AFL team.”