This is your chance to speak up as this plan has gone to committee and is now open for public submissions.

How to Make Your Submission

To make your submission to parliament BEFORE TUESDAY 20 MAY 2025 at 12pm MIDDAY, follow these steps.

1. If you would like to EMAIL your submission, open up your email platform and paste the following email address into the “TO” field - SDIWC@parliament.qld.gov.au (optional BCC or CC vicparkrag@gmail.com)

2. If you would like to complete your submission via the ONLINE PORTAL, CLICK HERE.

   If you wish to upload a file for your submission, select the “Load file” option . If you wish to copy and paste or freehand write your submission, select the “free text submission” option (choose this option if you will be copying and pasting our sample template below)

3. Submissions MUST include the following details otherwise it may not be considered by the committee - 

• your first and last name

• email address

• mailing address

• daytime phone number

• If your submission is being made on behalf of an organisation, you must also include the level of approval (eg. a local branch, executive committee or national organisation)

4. Feel free to use our sample template below which you are welcome to use word for word for your submission, or you can also use it as a starting point for inspiration

Optional Submission Template

Instructions: simply copy and paste and text below and edit the required fields

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Submission to the State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee

Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (the Bill)

Name: [Insert your full name and at least two of the following]

Address: [Insert your postal address]

Email: [Insert your email address]

Phone: [Insert your phone number]

Organisation (if applicable): [Insert organisation and level of authorisation]

1. Why Victoria Park Matters

Victoria Park / Barrambin is Brisbane’s largest inner-city park. It spans over 64 hectares and is a rare green space for recreation, ecology, and cultural heritage. The site is deeply significant to Aboriginal peoples, and it also holds immense value for Brisbane’s broader community.

The Victoria Park Master Plan was developed after almost four years of community consultation so the surprise announcement of Olympic venues in Victoria Park is a shocking betrayal of community trust.

[Consider adding personalised submission here, eg. I personally love Victoria Park because... OR If Victoria Park is lost in its present form, I will lose…]

2. Why a Stadium in Victoria Park Doesn’t Make Sense

Building a stadium in Victoria Park / Barrambin is impractical, environmentally damaging, and contrary to community interests. Key reasons include:

1. Challenging Topography: The park's hilly terrain and hard Brisbane Tuff rock would require extensive excavation and blasting, increasing costs and potentially disrupting nearby hospitals due to vibrations.

2. Violation of Olympic Host Requirements: Constructing a stadium here would breach the Olympic Host Contract, which mandates avoiding permanent structures in protected areas and prioritizing previously developed sites.

3. Existing Traffic Congestion: The area already experiences significant traffic from nearby hospitals, schools, and universities. A stadium would exacerbate congestion, affecting emergency services and daily commutes.

4. Inadequate Public Transport: Unlike other stadiums, Victoria Park lacks sufficient public transport access. The nearest station is a considerable walk away, posing challenges for attendees, especially those with mobility issues.

5. Loss of Essential Green Space: As Brisbane's largest inner-city park, Victoria Park provides vital green space in a city already lacking in such areas. A stadium would significantly reduce this public amenity. There are mature native trees in this park which pre-date European settlement and date to pre-1750.

6. Proximity to Major Hospital: The park is adjacent to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Stadium events could disrupt hospital operations, affecting patient care and staff.

7. Lack of Surrounding Amenities: The area lacks the bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues that typically support stadium events, leading to potential overdevelopment within the park itself.

8. Environmental Impact: The park serves as a natural cooling area, mitigating urban heat. Development would increase heat retention and reduce air quality.

9. Cultural Significance: Victoria Park holds deep cultural importance for First Nations communities. Development risks disturbing sacred sites and erasing historical significance.

10. Every inch of Victoria Park is heritage listed at the local or state level. This land is part of the story of Brisbane and has a rich WWII and depression era history.

11. Community Opposition: There is strong public resistance to the stadium proposal, with concerns about environmental degradation, cultural disrespect, and loss of public space.

3. What the Bill Would Do

The Bill proposes to list a Stadium in Victoria Park as an 'authority venue' for the 2032 Olympics. The Bill would exempt construction of such Olympics venues and villages from 15 Queensland planning, environmental and heritage laws. The Bill would also remove any access to the Courts in relation to the construction of Olympics venues or villages. It would also override First Nations cultural heritage protections using a new process which railroads First Nations into a default plan if they don’t agree in the timeline specified by the Bill.

4. Why This Should Concern Queenslanders

The Bill removes public safeguards by effectively exempting Olympic venues and villages from laws that apply to ordinary Queenslanders. This includes the Planning Act, Heritage Act, and Environmental Protection Act.

Access to the Courts is a basic right of all Queenslanders. The Bill proposes to remove this right with sweeping provisions in relation to Olympics venues and villages.

The Bill introduces a fast-tracked cultural heritage scheme that limits consultation and allows default plans without the agreement of Traditional Owners.

The potential use of public parkland for commercial Olympic 'villages' risks corruption. These exemptions from planning laws and court review bypass scrutiny and reduce transparency when privatising very valuable public assets.

5. What I Am Asking the Committee to Do

I respectfully ask that your report to Parliament recommend that:

1. Victoria Park / Barrambin be removed from Schedule 1 (Authority Venues);

2. The cultural heritage override provisions be withdrawn;

3. Olympic developments be subject to existing Queensland laws like all other developments;

4. The Victoria Park Master Plan be upheld as a reflection of the community’s vision for the park.