Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has rejected two urgent First Nations appeals aimed at stopping work linked to the planned Victoria Park stadium and National Aquatics Centre from starting on Monday. The decision means the fight over the site has moved a step closer to construction, even as other heritage applications remain live.
The ruling came as more than 1000 people gathered at Victoria Park on Sunday, the final day before the park was due to close to the public. Protesters marched along Herston Road before moving into the park, where Gaja Kerry Charlton welcomed them to Barrambin and thanked them for backing the campaign against the project.
Watt said he had considered whether a significant Aboriginal area was under serious and imminent threat of injury or desecration, but was not satisfied either application met the legal test for a declaration under section 9 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. He said the decisions followed consultation with interested parties and acknowledged the importance of the area to the Turrbal and Yagara Peoples.
That acknowledgement did not change the result. In rejecting the urgent appeals, Watt cleared the way for the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority to take ownership of the land on Monday so venue preparation can begin for the planned 65,000-seat stadium and National Aquatics Centre. Four section 10 applications and another section 9 application are still being considered, leaving the biggest question now whether any of those remaining appeals can still slow or stop work at Victoria Park.
Charlton said the action was deeply wounding to her and many different First Nations people on Yagara Country, a message she said protesters wanted to carry to government, to the nation and to the world. Opponents of the stadium say the Crisafulli government broke an election promise not to build a new venue for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, while former premier Campbell Newman accused the government of acting with “arrogance” and “breathtaking hubris” over the plan.
