Western Australia's government has confirmed AU$375m (US$370m, EUR289m, £234m) of funding towards the development of a new stadium on Perth's Burswood Peninsula.

The funding announcement forms part of the State Budget 2012-13 and is more than a third of the development's anticipated AU$700m (US$690m, EUR540m, £437m) cost.

International design firm Populous has already been appointed to work on the design of the new stadium, with master-planning for the scheme due for completion by mid-2012.

Work is due to start in 2014, with the venue opening in 2018 as the third largest - in terms of capacity - in Australia and the second largest Australian Football League home stadium.

News of the funding came after state premier Colin Barnett announced the stadium would meet the requirements of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for international cricket.

A 165m x 130m playing field will be included, while the capacity will be an initial 60,000 but designed to allow expansion to as much as 80,000 if required in future years.

The state will also invest AU$32m (US$32m, EUR25m, £20m) over three years in building a new High Performance Service Centre for the Western Australia Institute of Sport.

State treasurer Christian Porter said: "About 1,000 people are moving to Western Australia every week and this creates enormous demands on infrastructure.

"The state government is responding to this unprecedented growth by planning for the future with a number of capital works projects, including the Perth Stadium."

In addition to the Perth Stadium and High Performance Service Centre, Western Australia's state government has also committed funding towards a new State Museum in Perth.

Details: www.wa.gov.au (Christian Porter statement)
Details: www.perthstadium.com.au (Perth Stadium)

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