Email Response from Grace Grace (Member for McConnel)
Below is an email response from the Member for McConnel, Grace Grace. The email below is responding to a local resident who had written to Grace Grace to expressing concern about the proposed stadium in Victoria Park / Barrambin.
Dear [Redacted for Privacy],
Thank you for your email. Victoria Park / Barrambin is one of Brisbane’s treasures and is a culturally significant place for local indigenous people. It was only in 2021 that the golf course was closed and the majority of the 45 hectares returned to the public for use as a community park and open green space.
As a life-long local who grew up in Spring Hill, I know the value of Victoria Park / Barrambin. That is why I oppose the plan to build a mega stadium development on the park site. At the last election I campaigned on this issue, alerting locals to the LNP’s then-secret plan to build a stadium in the park. And, as the Minister responsible for the Olympics in the former Labor Government, I ruled out Victoria Park as a site for an Olympic stadium.
Premier David Crisafulli said no fewer than 10 times before the election that the LNP would not build a new stadium. The government has now commenced another 100-day review of venues being undertaken by a handpicked board. Unfortunately, the terms of reference for this review includes an option for a new stadium. This is a broken promise.
I am particularly concerned given that LNP Lord Mayor Schrinner and Cr Vicki Howard, who proposed plans for a redevelopment of the park as community space before the last council election, are now supporting the proposal for a stadium in the park.
The government has only given stakeholders and the public until Friday 10 January 2025 to make a submission on possible venues. Submissions can be made online using the following link: www.gamesreview.com.au.
I will make a submission opposing Victoria Park / Barrambin as the venue for an Olympic mega-stadium, and I strongly encourage you to also make a submission so that our community’s views are heard loudly and clearly.
Even setting aside my concerns about the loss of this vital community asset and green space, I believe that a plan to build a stadium on this site is impractical and would be incredibly expensive.
As locals would be aware, the topography of the park means that construction of a stadium and the necessary warm-up track would involve extensive and expensive earth-moving work to level out the site.
The site also presents challenges, with concept art published in the Courier Mail showing stadiums built over the Inner City Bypass and the Exhibition Rail Corridor.
The cost of any stadium built over the corridors would be dramatically increased due to the need to secure appropriate indemnities, insurances and securities to Queensland Rail, the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and to Brisbane City Council. Any plans for a stadium would also vastly exceed the $7.1 billion funding envelope agreed for all 2032 Games venues.
I also encourage you to connect with the Save Victoria Park Facebook Group, which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/savevictoriaparkbarrambin. This is a committed group of locals who are fighting to preserve the green space in Victoria Park. I was pleased to recently join the group to protest the possible loss of community green space for a stadium.
Victoria Park / Barrambin is Brisbane’s Central Park. It is an incredible asset to our inner-city community and I will fight with you to preserve and enhance it.
Sincerely,
Grace Grace MP
Member for McConnel
Shadow Minister for Trade
Shadow Minister for Olympic and Paralympic Games
Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations
Shadow Minister for Racing