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A Senate committee wants work on the Gabba to be halted.Credit:Queensland government

The committee recommended the federal government “work with” the Queensland government to halt the Gabba’s redevelopment “until such time that a review of the business case and a socioeconomic cost-benefit analysis of the decision to redevelop the Gabba has been completed”.

“This business case should consider the costs of relocating the East Brisbane State School,as stated in the first interim report,as well as the additional costs of displacing sporting codes that currently use the Gabba,” it said.

But it was full steam ahead on Thursday,as the state government hosted an industry briefing on the project,in the first step of the procurement process followinglast month’s release of the project validation report.

Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne,a member of the committee,said the Gabba rebuild was unnecessary,“deeply fraught” and had progressed without adequate consultation.

“As an immediate first step,the Queensland government must scrap the $2.7 billion Gabba demolition and redirect this money into long-term planning,specifically public housing,” she said.

State Transport Minister Mark Bailey said on Thursday the Palaszczuk government remained committed to the Gabba.

“The government is very committed to ensuring that the Gabba is disability-compliant for everybody who uses it and also everybody who is a participant athlete in there,” he said.

“I don’t want us to see it being an international embarrassment in 2032 by putting a few band-aids on an old stadium,that doesn’t respect people with disabilities,as the Greens party want us to do.”

In their dissenting report,Labor senators Glenn Sterle and Linda White said the inquiry had become “yet another vehicle for the Greens and the Coalition’s relentless negativity,political point-scoring and finger-pointing”.

“It further underscores their inability to come up with a positive plan for Australia – their consistent approach to obstruct,criticise and blame does not help our country,it hurts us all,” they said.

In relation to the Gabba recommendation,the Labor senators pointed out it was a Queensland government project.

“The Australian government has no role in this project,and it is unclear how the Australian government would work with the Queensland government to ‘halt’ a project it is not involved in,as suggested by the committee,” they said.

The federal government has committed$2.5 billion to the Brisbane Arena at Roma Street.

The Senate committee consisted of six Coalition members,two Labor,two Greens and One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts.

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