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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. <\/p>\n
The Queensland government announced in March that a new A$3.8bn ($2.5bn; \u00a31.8bn) stadium would be built – with federal funding – at Victoria Park, a 60-hectare site.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Victoria Park is “of great significance and history” for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, YMAC spokeswoman Gaja Kerry Charlton explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there. There may be ancestral remains.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
If the stadium is built, it will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.<\/p>\n
After the Olympics, the stadium will become the home of AFL and cricket in Queensland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Infrastructure plans for the 2032 Olympics have become a heated political issue in Queensland in recent years.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Months later, he lost an election to the Liberal National Party which campaigned on a promise of no new stadiums.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The state and federal governments have signaled they will engage with Indigenous groups on the development plans at Victoria Park. <\/p>\n
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told the Brisbane Times that there was strong support for the stadium.<\/p>\n
“Ultimately, this is going to happen,” he said. “No doubt there will be attempts to thwart the project and slow it down.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n