At a public meeting in August, a former Liberal National party premier vowed to stand in the way of bulldozers that would be used to clear the way for the construction of Queensland’s main 2032 Olympics stadium.
About 200 local residents packed the small hall at Kelvin Grove State College in Brisbane that night for a meeting organised by the protest group Save Victoria Park, which is campaigning against a state and federal government-funded plan to build a $3.8bn 63,000-seat Olympic stadium at the site.
One stood up to ask how far people were willing to go: would they take “direct action” to prevent the venue set to host the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies from being built?
Campbell Newman, a former premier and Brisbane lord mayor, gingerly put his hand up.
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If he does, the conservative who once campaigned as “Can Do Campbell” might end up linking arms with socialists and other former political enemies.
Former Brisbane mayor and former Queensland premier Campbell Newman: ‘We’re going to fight, we’re not giving up.’ Photograph: Darren England/AAP
Sitting next to him was the former Labor deputy mayor of Brisbane, David Hinchliffe, also with his hand firmly up. Then there’s the “unapologetically radical” former Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, a self-described “anarcho-communitarian” and firm opponent of the stadium plan.
“It’s an uneasy alliance, we’re not quite strange bedfellows; we’re not necessarily even in the same bed!” Sriranganathan said of the coalition of campaigners from all political persuasions.
“But people with very different views of the world are aligned on this issue.”
Brisbane’s Olympics were supposed to bring the city together for a few weeks on the world’s stage. Instead, the city is divided over plans that include the demolition of the historic Gabba stadium and the construction of the Games’ main stadium and a 25,000-seat national aquatic centre built at Victoria Park – which comes after the LNP premier, David Crisafulli, broke an election promise not to build a new Olympics stadium.
“We’re going to fight, we’re not giving up. We’re going to win this. This is the wrong place,” Newman told the room in August to cheers.
Relaying a conversation with an anonymous establishment figure and a friend, Newman said he was told “the whole Olympics will be upended” if they won their fight.
“And I said, ‘Well, I don’t want that to happen, but that’s your fault.’”
Jonathan Sriranganathan, a former Greens councillor, says ‘people with very different views of the world are aligned’ against the stadium. Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian
Victoria Park, or Barrambin, is also a significant cultural site for First Nations people. Save Victoria Park is currently pursuing a legal challenge to the Olympics plan under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, appealing to the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to use his powers to halt the project.
‘People like me will disobey’
The volunteers of Save Victoria Park have been a blizzard of action since the LNP’s plan was announced in March, writing press releases and reports (the latest, released this week, claims the stadium cannot be completed in time), petitioning, organising protests and holding public meetings.
Earlier this year, the state’s deputy premier and planning minister, Jarrod Bleijie, moved to thwart many legal challenges by exempting Olympic venues from 15 state laws, including the Heritage Act and the Planning Act. The federal government will require the state to consult with the community about its venue plans, but asked in September if he would continue with the plan for Victoria Park if the community said it didn’t want a stadium, Bleijie simply said “yes”.
In a written statement, Bleije said the Crisafulli government “is delivering a generational infrastructure legacy across Queensland ahead of 2032” and that the legislation “accelerates the delivery of Games infrastructure on time, on budget”.
Mathew Ford, a member of Save Victoria Park, is protesting by playing Dungeons & Dragons while chained to a concrete table in the park. Photograph: Andrew Messenger/The Guardian
Retired games developer Matthew Ford, a member of Save Victoria Park, isn’t waiting for stadium works to begin to take direct action.
He hosts a Dungeons & Dragons game in the park, his local, on a weekly basis, serving as dungeon master. Alongside his wizard hat and staff, he wears a chain on his leg, locking himself to a concrete table.
“I think that people have to stand up for their values and to me, the value of protecting greenery, protecting habitat, and showing that it matters and standing up to development is important,” he said.
“People like me will lock themselves on. People like me will disobey.”
At an event picketed by protesters this week, the minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tim Mander, was asked if he had a message for Save Victoria Park.
The minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tim Mander. Photograph: AAP
“It’s not for me to send a message to protesters. We live in a democracy, and it’s great that people can do that freely and safely, and we respect their opinion, but we are committed to Victoria Park,” he said.
“So they can protest. We’ll continue to go progress forward with regards to what needs to be done at Victoria Park.”
