Transcript 2CC interview with Leon Delaney following government announcement cancelling twin-sheet ice sports facility project

7 September, 2026

2CC Leon Delaney 7 Sept 2026

Interview with Sandi Logan, spokesman ACTISF

Delaney: The ACT Treasurer, Planning Minister and Sports Minister, Chris Steel, has today announced that the long-promised ice sports facility at Tuggeranong will not proceed. It's been a very long and difficult journey to get to this point, only to have this unsatisfactory conclusion to the saga. I would expect there's probably nobody more disappointed than the various sporting groups that would have made use of such a facility, and they're represented by the ACT Ice Sports Federation. The official spokesman is Sandi Logan, who joins me now. Good afternoon.

Logan: Good afternoon, Leon.

Delaney: Thanks for joining us today. I was looking at your official statement a little while ago, and it seems you're not entirely surprised by this outcome.

Logan: No, but I think it's important to start by saying, as you very well encapsulated in your introduction, we are profoundly disappointed. We may not be that surprised, and it may not have been that unexpected given what occurred, especially in the last nine months since the proponents Cruachan Investments and Pelligra Group were asked to answer some very specific questions about their proposal. It's not unexpected that it has now come to this, that the decision was made by government, that it simply wasn't a goer. But it is still profoundly disappointing when you actually hear it from the minister's own lips.

Delaney: My understanding is that the government decided initially, we want to have an ice sports facility in Tuggeranong, and then there was an expressions of interest process, a tender process. The preferred partners were Pelligra and Cruachan, and now it's reached this stalemate where the private equity partners are saying, look, for this to work, we need this, this and this, including a lot more money, and the ACT government has simply balked at that. Who's made the error here? Somebody's made an error in judgment, haven't they?Logan: I don't know that there's anything to be gained from us attributing blame or pointing the finger or, for that matter, even making such a call. But the one thing I would say is when the original concept came up in 2016 and then the calls for expression of interest went out in 2019 to 2020, there was no site specifically articulated by the government. They did initially say on the south side, but there was no site. When they did announce the site, and when the proponents who were selected stepped forward and had their photos taken at the site and welcomed the announcement, I guess I would have expected, you know, experienced developers like Pelligra would have possibly recognized that they still had a long way to go in assessing the lay of the land, what heritage potential, protection potential there was, etc., etc. But look, that's all now water under the bridge, or ice under the bridge. We do not have a new project for a new twin sheet ice sports facility anywhere in the ACT. At least the Tuggeranong area will get this money that was set aside for the rink for sports, and that's a good thing; it's, I guess, a silver lining in a dark cloud. But we do not have a new ice sports facility, and as I said, we're profoundly disappointed. We've not given up, Leon. We're what you could describe in one of the ice sports, that's ice hockey, we're in overtime. And in overtime, until a team scores, the game goes on. So we've got to find a way to score a goal to make this work. And this is for the benefit of not just the existing ice sports participants like figure skaters and ice hockey players and broomball players and soon curlers, but it's also for the wider community, the families that love to go ice skating. It might be a birthday party or it might be a special occasion. It might be even a corporate event. This is about serving the community. And that's what it's always been about. It's not simply about one team or one league. It's about building a modern, family friendly and safe facility for the future. And while, you know, Geocon is doing a fantastic job keeping the Phillip ice rink going and in fact, investing money into it, we all recognize that we need a new ice rink in Canberra.

Delaney: Okay, again referring to your official statement a little earlier, you have said that you will continue to work constructively with the Sport Minister, Chris Steel, and the officials at ACT Sport and Recreation, and other potential partners to develop a proposal for a new ice rink. But all the balls are up in the air now. We don't know where they're going to land, do we?

Logan: No, we don't. But having said that, I've already had a phone call from someone who wants to pick up one of those balls and have a bit of a look at how shiny it is or is not and where it might land. So I don't think it all done and dusted. I do think that there is a recognition that the ice sports particularly in the national capital -- that does experience a real winter and does know how to put on a good show at winter, whether it's, you know, the temporary ice rink at Civic that goes up each year or whether it's skiing at Corin Forest or whether it's just enjoying that four seasons -- that we get it here in Canberra. I think there is a recognition that the ice sports do have quite a place in the sporting mosaic and as a tourism icon, as a tourist attraction. So look, the Canberra Brave has demonstrated just how much Canberrans love a good sporting spectacle. And the Brave have done a fantastic job out at the AIS pop-up temporary ice rink that they've put in there. So who knows? Maybe there is a future in a more permanent facility at the AIS that involves a community-use facility, not just a single team use facility. Who knows?

Delaney: When this announcement was made earlier today, the first remark from one of my colleagues in the office was, what? Are they crazy? Don't they know how hot ice hockey is right now?

Logan: Yes. And your colleague is well informed. But let's remember, it is about all of the ice sports. But it's great to have at the moment, the sport of ice hockey, doing such a great job. And once your ducks are all lined up in a row, whether you have any say in that or not, and Netflix is running a series, and Stan is running a series, and there's some great hockey romance books out, etc., etc., it's terrific for the sport. But I got to tell you, when the Winter Olympics come around every four years, we get Australian figure skaters and speed skaters doing fantastic things on the ice. We get Australian curlers who are world champions and medallists in the Winter Olympics. So, you know, all of the ice sports have got a place in this advocacy that we're spearheading to get support behind a new ice rink in Canberra.

Delaney: Fantastic, Sandi. Thanks very much for chatting today.

Logan: Thanks for the opportunity, Leon.

Delaney: Thank you, Sandi.