Victoria Park / Barrambin is Brisbane's largest park, covering 64 hectares, it's the green lungs of our city.
The park is a sacred First Nations’ meeting place where groups from across South East Queensland have gathered together for thousands of years for competition, ceremony and sustenance. It was also a site of significant European contact and colonial conflict, and an important place for early industry and military use during World War II. Portions of the park are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
Victoria Park / Barrambin was designated as public parkland by the Government in 1864 and there is a Deed of Grant In Trust in place requiring the site to be used for parkland today.
In 2019 Brisbane City Council (BCC) began a master planning process for Victoria Park / Barrambin which included 80,000 points of engagement with local residents. Alongside a range of infrastructure for families, the project planned to “restore the natural landscape, revitalise the park’s wetlands and waterholes, and increase tree canopy to cover 60%...” of the park’s footprint.
That’s why it’s so outrageous that after promising no new stadiums, Premier David Crisafulli has announced plans to spend billions to bulldoze our city’s heritage, public parkland and culturally important First Nations sites for an Olympic stadium.
Victoria Park / Barrambin is constrained by major arterial roads and surrounded by health and education precincts, including a major hospital. It is characterised by hilly terrain and waterways, which would be destructive and expensive to alter.
When Brisbane first won the bid to host the 2032 Games, our city was promised it would be the first to be delivered according to the ‘IOC’s New Norms’ - climate positive & carbon negative, cost neutral, and use 80% existing venues. A stadium at Victoria Park / Barrambin is in complete contradiction with the IOC’s required new norms; it would be a new stadium that devastates the natural environment and is estimated to cost at least $3.4 billion making it one of the most expensive in the world, even before any feasibility assessments have taken place.
The LNP’s decision to build an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park / Barrambin is monumentally stupid, and certainly not the Olympic legacy our community wants from the 2032 Games.
Since being elected as the MP for Brisbane in 2022, I’ve consistently advocated to protect and restore Victoria Park / Barrambin for future generations. Below I’ve included a timeline of mine and the Greens work on this issue:
2016: Greens Councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan first advocates for the Victoria Park Golf Course to be converted back into public parkland.
June 2022: I attended my first constituent meeting as the newly elected MP for Brisbane at Victoria Park / Barrambin with the then Residents Action Group.
13 October 2022: Greens members attended Victoria Park Residents Action Group meeting on my behalf. My team begins working on further community consultation around the Draft Master Plan.
25 October 2022: I made a submission to Brisbane City Council providing feedback on the draft master plan. My submission welcomed the proposed plans for rewilding, First Nations representation, and free and publicly accessible community facilities. While raising constituents’ concerns about the amount of commercial activity, buildings and hard surfacing, the proposed car parks, and its future use as a temporary venue for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
November 2022 - February 2023: I ran a community survey, including asking Brisbane constituents questions about the 2032 Games to inform my work moving forward.
29 May 2023: I made a submission to the Senate Inquiry: Australia’s preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games, asking questions about the use of Victoria Park/Barrambin as a temporary venue. This inquiry was secured by the Australian Greens.
5 June 2023: Seal Chong Wah - then-Greens Candidate for the Paddinton Ward, Wendy Aghdam - Greens Candidate for Central Ward and I met with the Spring Hill Community Group about concerns regarding the Master Planning Process and its proposed land uses.
August 2023: I launched a campaign encouraging Brisbane constituents to make a submission for the Barrambin/Victoria Park Master Plan Local Government Infrastructure Designation (LGID).
1 September 2023: I requested a briefing from Brisbane City Council, and met with the Barrambin/Victoria Park Project Director and Principal Officer, to raise constituent concerns about the impact of the 2032 Games on the park and the Master Plan.
15 September 2023: I made a submission on the Barrambin/Victoria Park Master Plan LGID, again amplifying community concerns and asking questions about the potential negative impacts of the 2032 Games on the park.
11 November 2023: I launched a petition to restore the Normanby pedestrian bridge to provide greater access to the park and ensure it’s entirely disability accessible.
21 November 2023: Michael Berkman - Greens MP for Maiwar, Seal and I hosted a town hall, The Future of the Paddington Ward. Representatives from the Victoria Park/Barrambin Residents Action Group are invited to attend and provide valuable contributions about keeping the park free and green.
11 December 2023: I met with a First Nations Traditional Owner to discuss the cultural heritage of the Victoria Barracks and Park. I learnt more about First Nations aspirations for the park and the consultation conducted with the First Nations community so far.
21 February 2024: Seal and I attended the Council Candidate Forum: Views and Visions for Herston and Kelvin Grove. All Greens candidates and representatives commit to defending the park.
22 February 2024: I made a submission to the Queensland Government’s Quirk Review of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Venue Master Plan, continuing my advocacy for the park.
30 April 2024: I met again with a First Nations Traditional Owner to provide an update on our work related to Barrambin/Victoria Park and continue consultation.
30 July 2024: Seal (now as the elected Councillor for Paddington Ward) and I hosted Revitalising our High Streets and Urban Villages drop in consultation session and invited representatives from the Herston And Kelvin Grove Action Group (HAKGRAG) to attend and promote their campaign to save the park, building more community power to oppose the proposal for a stadium.
1 October 2024: Following the proposal for the main Olympic stadium to be at Barrambin/Victoria Park in the media, my office designed and printed “No Stadium” yard signs to promote community opposition.
15 December 2024: I attended the Save Victoria Park protest at the opening of the Kangaroo Point Greenbridge opening.
10 January 2025: Seal, Senator Larissa Waters and I made a submission to the LNP QLD Government’s 100 Day Review (Games Independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority) providing comprehensive reasoning why Barrambin/Victoria Park is an inappropriate location for a stadium.
27 January 2025: Seal provided logistical support and attended the Artist for Victoria Park event in opposition to the stadium proposal.
1 February 2025: Seal and I attended Save Victoria Park’s ‘Big No’ demonstration and my office hosted a free community BBQ to support the event.
7 February 2025: Greens Senator, Penny Allman Payne asked questions at a Federal Senate Inquiry into Australia’s preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the hearing, representatives from the Queensland Government disclosed that no known due diligence had been undertaken in terms of heritage impacts, First Nations consultation, environmental assessments, engineering assessments or a cost estimation. Queensland Government representatives were also unaware that a stadium at Victoria Park / Barrambin might actually break Brisbane’s host contract as parts of the park are on the Queensland Heritage Register.
11 February 2025: Seal and I made a submission to support an application to add additional parts of Victoria Park to the Queensland heritage Register. I also launched an online campaign to drum up further submissions from local residents.
10 March 2025: I signed Save Victoria Park’s open letter to Premier David Crisafulli opposing the stadium.
22 March 2025: I spoke at the Picnic March to Protect Victoria Park / Barrambin organised by Councillor Seal Chon Wah after it was leaked the LNP QLD Government was going to propose the new stadium.
21 March 2025: Alongside other Greens elected representatives, I wrote to the IOC to request that the IOC publicly advise the Queensland Government to scrap any plans for a major Olympic stadium to be located in Victoria Park / Barrambin. Our request was based on the fact that a stadium at Victoria Park / Barrambin contradicts the requirement’s set in the IOC’s ‘New Norms’, and the precedent was set when the IOC Vice President previously stepped in to oppose the Gabba redevelopment as it was damaging public perception of the Games.
4 April 2025: Alongside other Greens elected representatives, I wrote to the Australian Government to request that they rule out any funding for an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park / Barrambin after Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers suggested it was a possibility.
I’ve also reached thousands of local residents with updates and information on how to support the campaign using my social media, digital newsletters and physical mailouts. I’ve made several speeches in the Federal Parliament about the Games and preserving the park.
Our opponents want us to feel like the stadium is now a done deal, but I know the community won’t be backing down. We must use every opportunity to delay and oppose the stadium, time is on our side. If I am fortunate enough to be re-elected as your federal MP for Brisbane, I look forward to continuing to fight alongside you.