An Indigenous group has launched legal action to stop a 63,000-seat stadium for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics being built on culturally significant land.
The Queensland government announced in March that a new A$3.8bn ($2.5bn; £1.8bn) stadium would be built – with federal funding – at Victoria Park, a 60-hectare site.
The Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) and Save Victoria Park group are requesting the federal environment minister to determine the park as a culturally significant site, which could protect the land from development.
Victoria Park is “of great significance and history” for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, YMAC spokeswoman Gaja Kerry Charlton explained.
“We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there. There may be ancestral remains.”
A spokesperson for the federal government confirmed it had received the request to designate the site under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.
“The department is currently reviewing this application and will take all standard steps to progress it, including engaging with the applicant, the proponent and the Queensland government,” they said.
If the stadium is built, it will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.
After the Olympics, the stadium will become the home of AFL and cricket in Queensland.
Infrastructure plans for the 2032 Olympics have become a heated political issue in Queensland in recent years.
Labor’s Annastacia Palaszczuk led the successful Olympic bid, and announced plans to redevelop the ageing Gabba stadium for the games, at a cost of about A$3bn. But the plan was unpopular with locals who feared being displaced, and taxpayers dismayed at the price tag.
A review commissioned after she quit as premier in 2023 recommended an even more expensive plan, a brand new stadium in Victoria Park. However, amid a cost-of-living crisis, the state’s new leader Steven Miles opted instead to upgrade existing venues to host the games events, a decision some criticised as an embarrassment for Australia on the world stage.
Months later, he lost an election to the Liberal National Party which campaigned on a promise of no new stadiums.
But after the new government’s own review, new premier David Crisafulli adopted the plan to build a venue in Victoria Park, and has since introduced laws exempting new Olympic venues from planning rules in a bid to fast-track the development.
However the plans have been met with protests in Queensland, with some locals concerned about losing a large inner-city green space, and other worried about potential damage to cultural heritage.
The state and federal governments have signaled they will engage with Indigenous groups on the development plans at Victoria Park.
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told the Brisbane Times that there was strong support for the stadium.
“Ultimately, this is going to happen,” he said. “No doubt there will be attempts to thwart the project and slow it down.”
