Protesters shift Olympic park fight beyond fences
Campaigners say their fight to protect Brisbane’s Victoria Park is moving from the parklands to the courts and Canberra as work starts on the 2032 stadium.
The battle for Brisbane’s Victoria Park is far from over – even though police have shut down protests and work has begun on the 2032 Olympics main stadium.
Premier David Crisafulli turned the first sod, declaring “game on” for the 2032 Games and vowing more than two‑thirds of the park would stay as public green space.
But Yagara Elder Aunty Kerry Charlton said the real contest would now play out in federal heritage processes and the court of public opinion.
She said Victoria Park – known as Barrambin to local First Nations people – had long served as a village‑like hub with burial grounds, birthing places, ceremonial areas and permanent homes, as well as springs and ancient trees.
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“It’s a shared history of black and white that’s being destroyed,” she said, warning the last surviving uncapped spring in Brisbane’s CBD and “irreplaceable” trees could be lost.
Campaigners are backing a series of applications under national Aboriginal heritage laws that seek to protect areas at the park “under threat of injury or desecration”.
They have also vowed to regroup outside the newly erected fences, continuing public protests as work ramps up on the stadium.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has received 10 applications, rejecting two so far, and has warned any declaration would set conditions on development rather than halt the project outright.
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Local supporters say they plan to keep returning to the fence line and to step up lobbying as major construction contracts are awarded.
Brisbane Stadium will host the 2032 opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics.
After the Games, it will be the home ground for AFL premiers the Brisbane Lions, as well as cricket’s Brisbane Heat, the Queensland Bulls and international fixtures.
The venue forms part of the $7.1 billion Games Venues Infrastructure Program, jointly funded by the state and federal governments.
Design work is under way following the appointment of architects in January and federal environmental clearance in May, with major construction partners to be named within months and a draft master plan for the wider precinct to follow.
Games Independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority chairman Stephen Conry said the authority would “care for the park” during construction and return it in 2032 with a new stadium and aquatic centre alongside more usable green space.
Queensland Cricket boss Terry Svenson and Brisbane Lions chief executive Sam Graham described the venue as a “generational asset” that would reshape the city’s sporting landscape and attract new fans.
-with AAP
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