Chief minister halts works on proposed Anzac Oval art gallery, protesters still going ahead with action

A protest action against a proposed art gallery is still going ahead – despite the new government halting demolition works at the football oval where it is to be built. Find out why.

Anzac Oval, Alice Springs. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Demolition works have stopped at Anzac Oval but the site will still host an art gallery, the new Chief Minister says – a move traditional owners of the site say they are against.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro made the stop work announcement on Thursday.

“We’ve made the very big decision to stop demolition and make sure that Anzac Oval is preserved for future generations to enjoy,” she said.

The new plan would see the existing oval stay, and the new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Gallery of Australia also built on the site, Ms Finocchiaro said.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro with Treasurer Bill Yan speaking at Alice Springs on Thursday, September 12. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Ms Finocchiaro said “in the next couple of months” Territorians could expect to see plans “of what the new-look gallery will be and where it will sit on that site”.

“We know there are plenty of options, and we’re committed with the funding and the desire to get this built as soon as possible,” she said.

No exact date has been set for the plans’ release, but Ms Finocchiaro said the government would be “engaging with the community on what that new proposal looks like”.

However, Traditional Owner Barbara Satour said she was still opposed to the gallery being built on the site – and hasn’t been contacted by the government on the change of plans.

“Where they want to put this art gallery is on my grandmother’s sacred sites,” she said.

“I am absolutely against having the art gallery on any part of the oval whatsoever.”

Yvonne Driscoll, Barbara Satour, and Amber Kunoth at Anzac Oval Thursday, September 12, 2024. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Ms Satour will be at a Central Arrernte women’s gathering planned for the site this Sunday, September 15, from 12.15pm.

Amber Kunoth, one of organisers from the movement “South of the Gap – Save Anzac Oval”, said the group wanted to see the gallery built south of Heavitree Gap in Alice Springs, in the Desert Knowledge Precinct.

She welcomed the decision to stop demolition works, but said the CLP was “not much different from the last government” if it wished to keep the gallery at Anzac Oval.

“The money should be spent on things that actually would help this town, because we’ve had so many blows and so much battering, and that’s what a lot of people are saying,” she said.

“We need to fix up some social issues; homelessness – there are more important things that should be on the agenda for money being spent.”

Sitzler Construction, which was awarded the contract for the project, was contacted for comment.