KEY POINTS:
Cabinet will get a briefing today on a new sports stadium for Auckland but a decision is unlikely, says the Prime Minister.
The Government is looking at stadium options for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and is believed to favour a $700 million new stadium on the city's waterfront overlooking Waitemata Harbour.
The alternative is a $320 million upgrade for Eden Park to increase its capacity by 12,000 to 60,000.
Prime Minister Helen Clark told Newstalk ZB that New Zealand needed the 60,000-seat capacity so it would depend on whether a stadium of that size could be built on the waterfront.
"You've got to look at the total case. We all know Eden Park, we know it's got the ASB stand which is very, very good. We know that it would cost a lot of money to do up Eden Park for a 60,000," she said.
"It's no longer apparently an issue of the temporary seating which was the way the proposal was originally mounted, and then you've always got limitations in a residential area."
That's why a new site would be good if it could be made to work "but we've got to see what the practical issues are".
Helen Clark said Cabinet would get a briefing on stadium options but it was unlikely a decision would be made today.
- NZPA
