For generations the Aboriginal Elders say the waters at Brisbane’s (Australia) Victoria Park have been a place of healing.
‘SBS News’ stated that the heritage-listed site’s ‘healing waters’ were surrounded by fencing, earth‑moving machinery and police as work began on the $3.8 billion 2032 Olympic main stadium.
Before dawn the officers moved in to clear the last protesters from the park near the city’s Central Business District (CBD) allowing the Games authority to formally take control of the site almost five years after Brisbane won its Olympics bid.
The Games authority is racing the clock to complete the 63,000-seat stadium that will be the 2032 centerpiece hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and athletics.
The Victoria Park, also known by its Turrbal name of Barrambin, is a heritage-listed park located in Spring Hill and Herston in Brisbane, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on December 3rd, 2007.
The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032, is a planned international multisport event scheduled to take place from July 23rd-August 8th, 2032 in Brisbane, Australia, with venues across the various regions of Queensland.
‘SBS News’ further stated that by mid-morning the park’s longtime users stood behind barricades as a cheerful Premier of Queensland David Crisafulli turned the first sod declaring “it’s game on”.
‘Brisbane Green Heart’
Commented Crisafulli, “The Victoria Park will be the beating sport, cultural and green heart of Brisbane and a place all Queenslanders can be proud of.”
Crisafulli said the Queenslanders had been urging the Government to “get on with it” after years of delays under the previous Labor administration.
‘More than a Patch of Grass’
Gaja Kerry Charlton, First Nation person, said the Victoria Park – known as Barrambin by the local First Nations peoples – was far more than a patch of grass earmarked for redevelopment – “For our people the springs were sacred and they were often really revered, places for healing – healing waters – “This was our water reserve, our special site. Our people gathered here – it was like a village with burial sites, birthing sites, ceremonial sites.”
The First Nations in Australia refers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and the surrounding islands with continuous cultures and histories spanning over 50,000 years. They comprise hundreds of distinct groups each with their own unique languages, cultural traditions and traditional lands.
The Premier promised more than two‑thirds of the area would remain public green space.
‘Living Cultural and Ecological System’
But Gaja Kerry said the park’s towering, centuries‑old trees and its last remaining uncapped spring formed part of a living cultural and ecological system that “connects us all through story and ceremony. They talk about green space but they don’t understand what they’re taking. Once these springs and these old trees are gone, they’re gone forever.”
Five people were arrested as protesters camping in the park were moved on.
With fencing ringing the construction zone about 20 police officers guarded the park’s main entrance as machines moved in on June 1st.
A handful of protesters arrived at the main entrance.
Green Space
Added Andrea Lunt, Save Victoria Park Organizer, “We’re not an anti‑Olympics group but we don’t support the Olympics in its current form which is going to take away precious green space – and cultural space – from the future generations.”
The Indigenous Elders have declared the Victoria Park a place of importance for many First Nations peoples and are pushing for their concerns to be heard as the national Aboriginal heritage laws are tested.
Aboriginal Area
The Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed he had received 10 applications seeking to protect a significant Aboriginal area at the park “under threat of injury or desecration”.
Two have been declined with the remainder still under consideration.
Senator Murray Watt stressed any cultural heritage declaration would not be a veto on the stadium – “People seem to think that these are stop work orders, and they’re not.”
Kerry Ire
Gaja Kerry lamented the Victoria Park’s plight after a heritage-listed State school was spared when a 2032 Gabba redevelopment plan was scrapped after protests – “We saved a 100‑year‑old school. Now they’re willing to destroy a place that has held our stories and our springs for thousands of years.”
Key Question:
- Is building a stadium at the Victoria Park right – a site sacred to the First Nations peoples?
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