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This was published 1 year ago
‘It is strange’: Brisbane may get Holocaust museum before Indigenous centre
By Tony Moore
Stakeholders behind one of Brisbane’s biggest tourist drawcards, South Bank, have not included an Indigenous culture centre on the draft master plan released for public consultation.
State governments since that of former Labor premier Peter Beattie have talked up the need for such a centre and even discussed a site at South Bank or the adjacent cultural precinct.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles and South Bank Corporation chief executive Bill Delves.Credit: Tony Moore
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in 2020 offered $1 million to help kick off the project, and various tourism strategies have listed it as a priority.
While the draft master plan makes various references to First Nations culture and a Gondwanaland treetop walk, it does not set aside land for a centre.
Under the plan, the piazza may be replaced with more open-air venues; a seafood restaurant and market could be added to the Maritime Museum; and new restaurants and cafes might pop up along the Brisbane River near the Cultural Forecourt – even if they have to be “resiliently designed” to cope with future floods.
At this stage, the parklands will not stretch around Kurilpa Point – as proposed by former deputy premier Jackie Trad in 2017 – but remain between the Maritime Museum and Victoria Bridge.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles confirmed an Indigenous centre was still on the agenda, but not yet on the drawing board.
“At this stage, it is the intention for that centre to be in this precinct, but there are still more details to be worked through,” Miles said, adding that different sites had been proposed.
On Wednesday, a new government tourism document stated that a multi-million dollar business case for the centre would be completed by 2025. It also had a mixed response to other recommendations relating to Indigenous culture and engagement.
Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, whose Gabba ward encompasses South Bank, said the delays meant Brisbane could have a centre commemorating victims of the Holocaust before it has one honouring 60,000 years of Indigenous culture.
“It is strange that a city like Brisbane doesn’t have an obvious central First Nations centre that celebrates First Nations culture,” Sriranganathan said.
“I think it is really disappointing that the council and the state government have not prioritised that.”
South Bank Corporation chief executive Bill Delves said while no site had been earmarked for an Indigenous centre, the proposed “green spine” between Musgrave Park and the parklands was identified as important by Indigenous leaders.
He said better streetscapes and pedestrian design would slow Grey and Little Stanley streets.
“It is just better use of the streetscape. We are just starting to propose what a more walkable – a more active – city might look like” he said.
South Bank attracted 14 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic hit, and experienced 40 per cent visitor growth over the decade.