Email Response from Stephen Bates (MP for Brisbane)
Below is an email response from the MP for McConnel, Stephen Bates. The email below is responding to a local resident who had written to Stephen Bates to expressing concern about the proposed stadium in Victoria Park / Barrambin.
Dear [Redacted for Privacy],
Thanks so much for your email and for your support for the campaign to Save Barrambin/Victoria Park. The Greens and I are with you 100%.
I want to reassure you that I am deeply committed to defending Barrambin/Victoria Park from becoming the site of a mega stadium. Did you know it was actually a Greens Councillor who first advocated for the golf club to be converted back into public parkland in 2016?
As you have rightly highlighted, Barrambin/Victoria Park is a sacred First Nations meeting place, and was designated as public parkland by the Government in 1864. Since then, special interests and property developers have long been circling and carving off sections of the park to make a buck, and residents and First Nations people have been defending it for 160 years.
We can’t afford to lose any more green space from Barrambin. This park is the green lungs of our city and I know that our community won’t be backing down. Local residents, backed wholeheartedly by the Greens, will be fighting tooth and nail to preserve this essential and irreplaceable green space for the generations to come.
If you’re interested, below I’ve briefly summarised the work of my office to protect the park since I was elected in 2022.
I have consistently met with community groups and local residents, including First Nations Traditional Owners, who are interested in improving and defending the park. I’ve also hosted multiple development forums in the area to promote the campaign to save the park and invited concerned community groups to speak and host stalls at these events.
I requested a briefing on 1 September 2023 from the Barrambin/Victoria Park Project Director and Principal Officer and took the opportunity to raise concerns about the impact of the 2032 Games on the park and the master plan.
I lodged two submissions during the master planning process. I supported plans for greening and rewilding, First Nations representation, free and publicly accessible community facilities and the reopening of the Normanby Pedestrian Bridge, while raising community concerns about the amount of commercial activity, buildings, hard surfacing, car parks, and its future use as a temporary venue for the 2032 Games.
I lodged two submissions to government inquiries about venues for the 2032 Games.
Once the idea for a mega stadium at the park was reported, I designed and printed ‘No Stadium for Victoria Park/ Barrambin’ yard signs to raise community awareness and build political pressure to reject the proposal. You can sign up for a yard sign here.
I attended the Save Victoria Park protest on Sunday 15 December 2024.
I’ve also used my digital newsletter and social media to reach tens of thousands of local residents with updates regarding threats to the park and the importance of preserving it, and will continue to do so!
Finally, yesterday I met with Greens Councillor Seal Chong Wah and her team to discuss how we can work together to save the park in the new year, including:
Making a submission to the LNP’s new 100 day venue review.
Organising a massive demonstration in the park in mid-february before the review returns its recommendations and report. I’ll be sure to let you know more details in early January when my office reopens.
In the meantime, please let me know if you have any other ideas, or if I can be of further assistance. Hope you have a very happy festive season with loved ones.
Kind regards,
Stephen.
Stephen Bates, MP for Brisbane
Electorate: 349 Sandgate Road, Albion QLD 4101 P (07) 3862 4044
Parliament: Suite R290 P (02) 6277 2168