LNP reversal on 'bottomless pit' stadium In opposition, the Liberal National Party described it as an under-used "bottomless pit" of expenditure. But the stadium at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre in southern Brisbane appears to have a future under an LNP government. In its previous incarnations as QEII Stadium and ANZ Stadium, the 49,000-capacity centre has hosted a Commonwealth Games, the Brisbane Broncos, State of Origin games and some of music's biggest superstars. The stadium was built for the 1982 Games with one permanent structure, the western stand, and a series of 13 temporary aluminium stands. While the cost of maintaining the temporary stands was relatively modest - $15,000 a year, according to Sports Minister Steve Dickson's office - those stands have not supported a crowd since Angus Young duck-walked across stage when AC/DC played at the venue in February 2010. In 2009, Labor's then-sports minister Phil Reeves pointed to that concert, and that of Pearl Jam three months earlier, as justifications for the venue's continuing viability. More than three years on, those concerts are still being used to justify the cost. "Having the facility available as a back-up to Suncorp Stadium for concerts far outweighs the relatively modest cost associated with maintaining the aluminium stands, as the benefits to the local economy in hosting events like AC/DC and Pearl Jam easily cover the ongoing maintenance cost between major events," a spokeswoman for Mr Dickson said in a statement. The LNP took a different view in 2009, when then-opposition sports spokesman Jack Dempsey, now the Police Minister, said the stadium was a "costly and under-used venue" that needed a proper feasibility study. Repeated interview requests were ignored by Mr Dickson's office, but his spokeswoman said the stadium would remain as is. "The cost of removing these stands would far outweigh the relatively minor ongoing maintenance fees," she said. Australian Track and Field Coaches Association executive director Glynis Nunn-Cearns, who won a Commonwealth gold medal at the venue in 1982, said it was time to consider scrapping the stadium. Ms Nunn-Cearns said the stadium held a lot of memories for her, including that of her heptathlon gold medal in 1982. "It's special, but if it's not being used it's silly to keep if it's costing so much money because there are so many other areas you could put that money into for sport," she said. If those stands aren't being used, then sell them off and if it means you've got to redesign, it might be worthwhile in the long run to do that. Opposition sports spokesman Curtis Pitt said the future of the stadium was a matter for the Newman government, but it needed to be "retained as a venue for sports and events." "The LNP seemed to be quite agitated about the future of the stadium when they were sitting on the opposition benches," he said. So after a year in office it is odd that they appear to have failed to deliver any sort of vision for its future. Figures provided by Mr Dickson's office show the stadium hosted more than 80 school athletics carnivals last financial year.