{"id":706156,"date":"2026-05-31T11:11:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/706156\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T11:11:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:11:18","slug":"federal-minister-murray-watt-rejects-two-applications-to-protect-victoria-park-ahead-of-olympic-stadium-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/706156\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal minister Murray Watt rejects two applications to protect Victoria Park ahead of Olympic stadium construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal government has rejected two cultural heritage protection applications for Brisbane’s Victoria Park, ahead of construction starting on the 63,000-seat Olympic stadium on Monday.<\/p>\n

From midnight, the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) will take over ownership of Victoria Park from the Brisbane City Council, so that early works can begin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It comes despite protests against the government’s decision to break its election promise and build a new stadium for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n

Indigenous groups have said the site is of deep cultural significance and they fear the loss of sacred springs and trees if construction goes ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other community groups and advocates have said they want to see the inner-city parklands and green space preserved.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The stadium will hold 63,000 spectators once completed. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

To date, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has received 10 applications seeking declarations to protect an area of the park under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Mr Watt said he had assessed two applications for declarations under the Act\u00a0relating to the early works and was “unable to be satisfied that either application met the statutory requirements for a declaration to be made”.<\/p>\n

“Today’s decisions follow consultation with interested parties, and I acknowledge the importance of the area to the Turrbal and Yagara Peoples,” Mr Watt said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Murray<\/p>\n

Murray Watt says he encourages all parties to engage, as his department continues to consider five more applications. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

He said his department was continuing to assess another application under section nine of the Act and four applications under section 10.<\/p>\n

“I have appointed a section 10 reporter to work with all interested parties to undertake a more detailed review of the issues before I determine if longer-term protections are required,” Mr Watt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I encourage all parties to engage in this process, and the proposed development, in an open and transparent way.”<\/p>\n

Under the Act, there are no powers to stop work and there are no statutory timeframes for determining applications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Victoria<\/p>\n

Supporters of Victoria Park gathered to oppose the construction of the stadium on Sunday. (ABC News: Lucy Loram)<\/p>\n

Groups vow to keep fighting<\/p>\n

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered at Victoria Park to oppose the construction of the stadium.<\/p>\n

Organiser Sue Bremner, from Save Victoria Park, a group that says it wants the green space preserved for future generations, told the crowd they had “not given up” and were “still fighting”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Seal<\/p>\n

Seal Chong Wah told supporters the sacred land of Victoria Park should be protected. (ABC News: Lucy Loram)<\/p>\n

Councillor Seal Chong Wah said the “sacred living country” should be protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“While they [the Olympics] are bringing all the nations together, they are destroying this Aboriginal nation,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Queensland premier and Brisbane mayor Campbell Newman also addressed the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Campbell<\/p>\n

Campbell Newman at the protest opposing the construction of an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park. (ABC News: Lucy Loram)<\/p>\n

“In a city that is growing fast … these places will be more and more precious and we need to save them,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This fight is not over. The fight is not over because it is too important a fight to let go.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Friday, five people were arrested after police and council workers entered a camp opposing the stadium. On Saturday, one woman was charged after allegedly breaching her bail conditions.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police entered a protest camp at Victoria Park on Friday.\u00a0 (ABC News: Lottie Twyford)<\/p>\n

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said if people remained on the site after it was transferred to GIICA, they would be moved on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is going to be a construction site, and you can’t have people protesting and living in tents on a construction site,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is not safe for them, it is not safe for the workers.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think anyone is in any doubt in anyone’s mind that the protesters had ample opportunity to vacate Victoria Park.”<\/p>\n

The state government has sought to clear the way for the project by exempting it from a range of heritage, environmental and planning laws last year, and recently converted Victoria Park to freehold land.<\/p>\n

\"Temporary<\/p>\n

Fencing has been put up at Victoria Park ahead of construction on the Olympic stadium. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)<\/p>\n

The last wedding<\/p>\n

The venue at Victoria Park, which includes a bistro and driving range, will stop trade at midnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On its website, the Victoria Park management team said it would mark the end of 27 years as one of Brisbane\u2019s “most recognised inner-city sporting, leisure and hospitality destinations”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Management said its priority during the closure period would be to support the more than 220 staff employed across its bistro, event and golf services, as well as their customers.<\/p>\n

The venue has long been a favourite of high school sweethearts Amy Plumridge and Izak Hethorn, who were the last couple to tie the knot there on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

High school sweethearts Amy Plumridge and Izak Hethorn celebrated their marriage at Victoria Park on Saturday. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

“We frequent the putt-putt course quite a bit \u2026 we’ve come for the new themed events; we’ve tried the driving range a few times,” Mr Hethorn said.<\/p>\n

“But we’re not very good!,” Ms Plumridge said.<\/p>\n

Mr Hethorn said it was “surreal” to be the last couple to be married at the venue.<\/p>\n

“My grade 11 semi-formal was here, which we were both at, so I would say it has over a decade of history for us,” Mr Hethorn said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has rejected two cultural heritage protection applications for Brisbane’s Victoria Park, ahead of construction starting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,277147,14932,94,701,85,343642],"class_list":["post-706156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-stadium","tag-olympic-games","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-sports","tag-victora-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}