Environmental advocates and Indigenous Australian protesters are standing their ground at a Brisbane city park slated for Olympic stadium construction, despite government warnings they face forced removal when building begins next week.
The demonstrators have established an Aboriginal tent embassy at Victoria Park, one of Brisbane’s limited downtown green areas, which is set to be cordoned off starting Monday for Olympic stadium development.
Queensland state officials have issued warnings that protesters must leave voluntarily or face removal.
“As it stands, participants say they intend to remain at the site and continue their campaign,” Aboriginal elder Gaja (Aunty) Kerry Charlton said in a phone interview.
“They also point to protections under the (Queensland) Human Rights Act, which they argue supports their right to maintain and defend cultural heritage.”
The building timeline moves forward despite a pending request to Australia’s federal government from Indigenous communities seeking permanent protection for the park as a “significant Aboriginal area.”
Victoria Park, home to numerous mature trees, is called Barrambin (meaning “Windy Place”) by the Yagara and Magandjin peoples, who view the location as holding cultural and spiritual importance.
Premier Steve Crisafulli stated the state cannot accept construction delays for the 63,000-seat venue.
“Queensland is feeling a sense of pride, and we’re not going to have that hijacked by a group of activists, I’m just not going to do that,” he said during media remarks last week.
Crews hired by the organization responsible for 2032 Games facilities started installing barriers at the park Tuesday, in a section next to where the Save Victoria Park advocacy group conducted a news briefing.
The protesters claimed the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) attempted to interfere with their media event.
“We old grannies would say there was a bit of humbug happening there. It was probably, in layman’s terms, some sabotage of our media gathering,” Charlton remarked.
GIICA explained it has conducted site survey work since October and uses temporary barriers for safety purposes, while Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said workers were “left shaken” following confrontations with demonstrators.
Crisafulli announced Victoria Park as the Olympic stadium site more than a year ago, abandoning a campaign pledge that he would not approve a new arena in the city.
He has stated that no more than one-third of the park’s green area will be utilized for the stadium and an aquatics facility being constructed for Australia’s third Olympic Games.
The Save Victoria Park organization commissioned an independent evaluation by hydrogeologist Ted Hamer, who determined the site sits above an active waterway supplied by a natural spring that could be “permanently terminated or unacceptably diminished” by Olympic stadium development.
“The importance of permanent spring-fed freshwater sources, springs and the associated ecology to Aboriginal people and early settlers is undeniable,” Hamer concluded in his evaluation.
Charlton indicated activists are ready for an extended battle to preserve the park.
“My ancestors were in the park, their children, grandchildren. We all visited there and played there,” she explained.
“That cultural heritage is tied to the protection of the spring and the trees — and also those animals and habitats that are connected to that ecosystem.”
