Mick Gooda urges David Crisafulli to build Indigenous culture centre for Brisbane Olympics

Indigenous leader Mick Gooda has warned Queensland Premier David Crisafulli against dumping plans for a new First Nations centre in Brisbane.

Aboriginal leader Mick Gooda says the Indigenous centre would be a lasting legacy of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

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Prominent Aboriginal leader Mick Gooda has cautioned Premier David Crisafulli against dumping plans for a First Nations centre in Brisbane, reminding the new Queensland gov­ern­ment promotion of Indigenous culture was a key selling point for the city’s Olympic bid.

State cabinet is expected to consider a business case within weeks that recommends a new First Nation cultural centre be built in Brisbane’s inner south to showcase the art and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Australian on Thursday revealed the new LNP government, which is seeking to control infrastructure spending after a series of cost blowouts under Labor, has refused to guarantee building the cultural centre until the business case is finalised.

Mr Gooda, a former human rights commissioner, believes there is huge demand from international visitors for Indigenous experiences in Brisbane and a cultural centre could be an Olympic legacy for the city.

“I think this government doesn’t know the commitments that Annastacia (Palaszczuk) made to get the Olympics, an important part of her pitch in Japan was that there would be treaties with Indigenous people in Queensland, and now they’ve (the new government) wiped it,” he told The Australian.

“I’m hearing from both the Australian Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, they’re a little bit concerned about what happened when they repealed that legislation. So I think it is now up to the current government to do something that actually says they’re committed to reconciliation because that was a big selling point for Queensland to get the Olympics.”

The first law passed by the Crisafulli government after the October election was to repeal the historic Path to Treaty legislation and axe a royal commission-style truth-telling inquiry.

Brisbane businessman David Goodwin, a conservative LNP powerbroker, urged the government to “strongly resist the infuriating calls” for money to be spent on “unproductive assets”

“People have to realise that real taxpaying businesses are desperate for a break and we simply cannot afford these luxury projects which cost a fortune to build and create ongoing expenses for us to pay for,” he said.

“The real conditions of Indigenous people are not advanced one millimetre by Indigenous museums. Indigenous families are better served by productive industry that can offer real employment and opportunities for Indigenous families.”

Tourism Minister Andrew Powell said the LNP was still “determining whether (the cultural centre) is something the government could support”.

“I’m open to anything that is good for tourism … (and) we have launched consultation on our 20-year tourism plan,” he said,

“We’ve got this green and gold runway … up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032 and we want to maximise the international spotlight here on Brisbane and Queensland in the lead-up to (the Games) and then in the decades that follow.”

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said Labor commissioned a business case to get the project started, and it was “now on David Crisafulli and the LNP to deliver it on-time and on-budget, like they said they would”.