Brisbane 2032 Olympics body gatecrashes Save Victoria Park event to erect fences
Olympic infrastructure body tasked with delivering 2032 Games venues accused of intimidating behavior after crashing a Save Victoria Park Tuesday morning hedge planting event.
Save Victoria Park called media to the park grounds on Tuesday morning to release a hydrology report on natural resources in the area; just as the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority was fencing off the adjacent area for further testing.
Workers waited for the media conference to start to start working.
Aboriginal elder Gaja [Aunty] Kerry Charlton, whose lineage goes back to the site’s original residents, said it was a clear act of intimidation and a show of disrespect for National Sorry Day.
“You can’t say that this was anything other than a deliberate, intentional act of intimidation and harassment and that this was an abuse of power,” he said.
“Silencing our voices is an abuse of our rights, that’s what it’s for. This is complete madness.”
GIICA has been contacted for comment.
Charlton said he expected more scares to come next Monday when GIICA takes possession of the land.
Encampments of First Nations people and their allies opposed to the Brisbane Stadium and National Aquatics Center are expected to be removed from the area.
“I’m not afraid of confrontation,” Charlton said.
“I think there will be some conflict and First Nations people will have the rights to reoccupy the land – I prefer to occupy it more permanently – because we have done that for thousands of years.
“We didn’t leave, we were displaced and moved.”
Asked whether the camps would be moved before the June 1 handover date, Police Minister Dan Purdie said he would not discuss operational matters.
“I understand they are being offered housing – and they will continue to be – but anyone who is trying to protest and make a political point should not be doing that on a construction site, and that is what is going to happen,” he said.
Charlton bristled at the idea that the camps were full of homeless people who needed help.
“There are some very hard-working people there, and I know they are doing a great job maintaining the area, just like our ancestors did,” he said.
“Keeping hygienic means being clean, taking care and taking care of each other.”
Central to Indigenous use of the site, known to First Nations people as Barrambin, were springs flowing through the rugged terrain.
Hydrologist Ned Hamer said the importance of freshwater resources fed by permanent springs to Aboriginal people and early settlers was undeniable and was at the heart of the region’s cultural heritage.
Hamer said he feared the developments and associated excavation could cause irreversible damage to underground aquifers that flow into York’s Hollow.
“There were really three or four major springs that provided a water supply for the settlement of Brisbane – Roma Street, Milton, Spring Hollow, which was renamed Spring Hill, and York’s Hollow, which was a much larger system than Spring Hollow,” he said.
“This is the last one that is still working because we still have a solid charging collection area, a park where water can enter.
“We have closed or covered all other spring systems. Some is still flowing through culverts and stormwater drains; this is still flowing above ground.”
Citing previous concepts for the site such as Archipelago’s Brisbane Bold proposal, Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Sue Bremner said she expected more of the land to be handed over to private developers for bars and restaurants around the stadium – along with residential proposals above.
“We know private developers are after this as a money-making exercise; they really see it as vacant land, an empty space,” he said
“In 20-30 years our children will be faced with a lot of shoddy buildings that have managed to get through the doors this government has opened.”
Prime Minister David Crisafulli said on Tuesday he could “absolutely” rule out handing over more land to developers.
“My commitment is that parkland should be available free to every Queenslander every day,” he said.
“Part of the design work, which I think will be quite special, is the stadium’s location close to the university, which will allow for a large amount of green space.”
Earlier this month, Crisafulli said about two-thirds of the sites would remain as parkland. He said Tuesday it “could be a little better” than that.
“Early designs are positive,” he said. “At least two-thirds, and it needs to be public, open and green space for everyone.”
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