Government declines to protect Indigenous sacred site to be bulldozed for Brisbane Olympic stadium | Queensland
The federal government has ruled against an 11th-hour intervention to halt construction of an Olympic stadium and aquatic center in the heart of Brisbane at a park that traditional owners say is a First Nations sacred site.
Environment minister Murray Watt issued a statement on Sunday afternoon saying he was considering applications to halt construction at Victoria Park under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.
The application stated that “an important Aboriginal site is under serious and imminent threat of injury or desecration”.
Watt said he decided not to make the emergency declaration but appointed a rapporteur to review subsequent applications and “determine whether longer-term protections are necessary.”
“Today’s decisions follow consultation with relevant parties and I recognize the importance of the area to the Turrbal and Yagara Peoples,” Watt said.
At the time the statement was published, hundreds of protesters gathered at Victoria Park on the final day before the 64-hectare site is transferred from trust land owned by Brisbane city council to the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA).
GIICA is responsible for the construction of the 63,000-seat stadium, which will later be used for Australian rules football and cricket.
Save Victoria Park president Sue Bremner said she expected fencing surrounding the site to be completed by Monday morning.
When the first fences went up on Friday, five people were arrested from the First Nations protest camp: Goori Camp Embassy.
“The world was horrified by what it saw on Friday,” he told the crowd Sunday.
Nurri Theresa Williams, who applied for protection for the site, said it was “the last sacred place where our people gather in the entire Brisbane area”.
Williams said his family has lived in the area for hundreds of years.
“I’m in my 80s now, and there are birthing grounds in this place; my parents’ birth places,” he said.
“This park is very beautiful, it is a natural park, it is our homeland, it has cemeteries. My family’s graves.”
Green councilor Seal Chong Wah described the “police attack on this country” as “evil”.
From the other side of the political spectrum, former Liberal National party premier Campbell Newman said he was “100% behind the Aunties” and their claims.
Newman said, “I preferred Joh!” He pointed to the sign that said: referring to his predecessor Joh Bjelke-Petersen – Queensland’s longest-serving premier and famous for “napping” historic buildings in Brisbane.
Newman said activists demonstrating against these demolitions are on the right side of history.
“Do you think you are on the right side of history, ladies and gentlemen?” he asked the crowd.
“Because that’s what those people were then, and over the years we’ve heard how awful it is for Brisbane to lose such a legacy. That’s what’s happening here: we’re about to lose something precious because of a barbaric act and a timely political calculation.”
The state government and Brisbane city council released a joint statement saying Victoria Park “will become a world-class destination with incredible new facilities” and “will be a revitalized parkland for people to enjoy for generations to come.”
“While we respect the right to peacefully protest, the Victoria Park camp has now become a security issue and no one can doubt that these protesters had ample opportunity to leave the area for their own safety,” the statement said.
“GIICA, Council and Police have repeatedly contacted protesters in Victoria Park and made it clear that it would be unsafe for people to remain when the area became an active construction site.”
There was a light police presence in Victoria Park on Sunday and a spokesman referred questions to the city council, saying Queensland police had no plans to immediately evacuate protesters.
