Aboriginal group launches legal bid to to stop Brisbane Olympic stadium

Aboriginal group launches legal bid to to stop Brisbane Olympic stadium

9 minutes ago Share Save Lana Lam and Tiffanie Turnbull BBC News, Sydney Share Save

ABC News/Mark Leonardi Victoria Park is the intended home of the main stadium for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics

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. The Queensland government announced in March that a new A$3.8bn ($2.5bn; £1.8bn) stadium would be built - with federal funding - at Victoria Park, a 60-hectare site. 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. Victoria Park is "of great significance and history" for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, YMAC spokeswoman Gaja Kerry Charlton explained.

"We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there. There may be ancestral remains." 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. "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. If the stadium is built, it will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032. After the Olympics, the stadium will become the home of AFL and cricket in Queensland.

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