Des Houghton: 2032 Games will save Victoria Park, not destroy it

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will save Victoria Park, not damage it. The government needs to move fast and proposed laws to speed up approvals are sensible, writes Des Houghton.

A Queensland Government-supplied artist impression of a future Brisbane Stadium in Victoria Park. Source: Queensland Government.

I walked through a tree last week and dreamt of the Brisbane I love in all its Olympic glory.

In my crystal ball it was 2032 and I saw Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy running the 100m final. The Brisbane Olympic stadium looked magnificent.

In my mind’s eye I saw Premier Sam O’Connor and Governor Stephen Conry thank the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority for all its hard work. (David Crisafulli had retired from politics and returned to journalism as editor of The Australian).

My walk through the tree was no dream, however. It happened on the Manorina bush track at Mount Nebo, less than half an hour from The Gap in Brisbane’s west. It is an easy walk into a eucalyptus forest with tall blue gums and cabbage tree palms, ferns and rows of weeping lilly pilly.

Protesters saying no to an Olympic stadium at Victoria Park. Picture: Liam Kidston

There are many trails like this in the 40,000ha D’Aguilar National Park, which curves around much of Brisbane. So why am I telling you this? It’s because I’m tired of anti-Olympic activists pretending Brisbane has no green space.

The Save Victoria Park mob were moaning again at Parliamentary committee hearings this week.

In my view the Games will save Victoria Park, not damage it. With time running out, the government needs to move fast and has sensibly proposed laws to speed up approvals.

Disappointingly, the Bar Association and the Law Society were quibbling over the details.

Cate Heyworth-Smith KC of the Bar Association said there was a “breathtaking dismantling of the rights of individuals” that may deny access to courts for civil proceedings and challenge the “institutional integrity” of the Supreme Court.

Good. The fewer lawyers meddling in the delivery phase the better.

Originally published as Des Houghton: 2032 Games will save Victoria Park, not destroy it