‘What’s the voice done for us?’ Indigenous groups lash Mali’s LIV golf course
Two pet projects of SA Premier Peter Malinauskas – the LIV golf tournament and Indigenous voice to parliament – are on a collision course.
In the biggest test yet for Australia’s only voice to parliament, Indigenous anger is growing over the South Australian government’s plan for a $50m golf course redevelopment in Adelaide that is feared could unearth sacred Aboriginal burial sites.
Two pet projects of Premier Peter Malinauskas – the LIV golf tournament and the Indigenous voice to parliament – are on a collision course amid growing anger over the upgrade of the North Adelaide course and Indigenous claims it is a “disgusting insult, which rubs our faces in our colonial history”.
The Greg Norman-led project, which critics say is being rushed to meet its 2028 deadline, will involve the wholesale redesign and rebuild of the existing par-3 course and two 18-hole courses, set on the edge of the River Torrens, which holds great significance to the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.
There is well-documented evidence of Indigenous burials and religious ceremonies dating back thousands of years on the river’s edge, where major bulldozing will inevitably occur to have the new course ready for the LIV tournament in 2028.
Indigenous leader Natasha Wanganeen told The Australian the golf plan was “a disgusting insult, which rubs our faces in our colonial history”.
“Imagine if we went and dug up a cemetery or a war memorial so that people can stand around drinking beer watching rich white blokes playing golf,” Ms Wanganeen said. “You’d get charged. You’d go to jail.”
The problem for the Malinauskas government is further complicated by the fact that the Kaurna were officially recognised in 2018 as native title holders over the Adelaide Plains, the first time such recognition had been made over an Australian state capital.
The Australian can reveal a meeting was held last week between Indigenous Affairs Minister Kyam Maher and the Kumangka Warrarna Wangkanthi (Central) Voice, one of the six 11-member voices representing each Indigenous region of SA that together help comprise the State Voice, which reports to parliament and meets with cabinet.
While the SA voice differs from the failed federal model in being legislated, with a clear stipulation that its advice is non-binding, the Malinauskas government will be put in an awkward position if it rejects its advice on such a contentious issue.
Not only are several voice members concerned at the proposal, Aboriginal leaders who oppose the voice as tokenistic and ineffectual are piling pressure on voice delegates to fight the government over the golf plan.
The Central Voice includes several members with qualms about the plan including Major Moogy Sumner, a well-known Ngarrindjeri elder and cultural ambassador, and Eastern Arrernte academic Dr Jenni Caruso, who has written extensively on Aboriginal anthropology and presented evidence at last week’s meeting about Kaurna heritage in North Adelaide.
Fellow Central Voice member Scott Wilson, a Professor of Public Health at La Trobe University, confirmed to The Australian the concerns over the golf plan were “genuine”.
“We did meet with Kyam and it is fair to say there is concern over this,” Professor Wilson told The Australian.
“Jennifer (Caruso) did a great job at the meeting explaining that not only does the area around the golf course have great significance to the Kaurna people, it also has some very significant colonial history going back to white settlement.
“The bottom line is that there will more than likely be human bones uncovered there. The question then becomes: What do you do with them? It’s a big question for Kaurna Yerta (Kaurna land). It’s their cultural heritage.”
Professor Wilson said that with the government opening the project for public comment, the matter could come to a head if the voice formally opposes it proceeding.
“If Kyam gives approval, that would put us in a situation where we might have to speak up,” Professor Wilson said.
“If the government takes no notice then people will ask what have we got a voice for, even though under the legislation the government is not bound to accept our advice.”
As is the case with all such developments, an application has been made under the 1988 Aboriginal Heritage Act to apply for an exemption to damage or disturb Aboriginal heritage.
Indigenous pressure from outside the voice is growing, with Kaurna elder Tim Agius saying it is unacceptable that people are being asked to green-light a project when the plans have not even been completed.
“Despite the fact that this area of the parklands is particularly significant to traditional owners, the consultation with us has already closed without the redevelopment plans having been released,” Mr Agius said
“How valid is such a ‘consultation’ with the traditional owners, if it’s more of a research exercise to assist the government’s ongoing planning?
“Also, a cultural heritage assessment is a requirement of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, but this was not provided for the traditional owners’ engagement and consultation.
“Informed consultation is vital and the Premier needs to be transparent about his plans, in order to allay speculation.
“But the fact remains with this proposed golf redevelopment that existing lawns would need to be excavated for deep sprinkler systems to be installed, and they could be up to a metre deep. That places any existing ancestral burials at significant risk.”
Writer, activist and actor Ms Wanganeen – who starred in the Phillip Noyce film Rabbit-Proof Fence – went further and called on every Aboriginal South Australian to rise up against the project.
Ms Wanganeen said Aboriginal South Australians had already endured the trauma of seeing the remains of dozens of Indigenous people unearthed at the Walker Corporation’s $3bn Riverlea housing project in 2023.
“They are ripping our ancestral bones out of the ground,” Ms Wanganeen said.
“It is disgusting. It is disgusting that it has already happened, and it is disgusting that they are talking about doing it again so they can build whatever they want to build. If the government goes ahead and does it they shouldn’t just be fined, they should even be jailed.”
Ms Wanganeen said if the voice didn’t stand up against the plan it would be a proven failure.
“The voice has done jack shit so far for my community,” she said. “Can you tell me anything it’s done?”
A spokesperson for the Aboriginal Affairs Minister said the government was committed to consulting and would follow the processes as required under the Aboriginal Heritage Act.
“As is the case with all applications received under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988, a process is under way through Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation,” the spokesperson said.
“AAR undertakes a consultation with traditional owners and other interested Aboriginal parties, giving them an opportunity to provide feedback on applications.
“There has been wide consultation conducted by AAR with the Aboriginal community, including a public meeting. The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs has also met with the Central Region Local First Nations Voice in relation to this matter.
“As required by the Aboriginal Heritage Act, the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee will consider the matter before a report is provided to the minister.”
The golf project is becoming a serious headache for Mr Malinauskas ahead of the March 2026 election, especially in the seat of Adelaide, which has historically been volatile over development issues.
Aside from Indigenous concerns it is being attacked by parklands preservation groups over the removal of an unknown number of trees, and many voters are questioning its $50m price tag at a time when ambulance ramping is still running out of control, and when the government has so far found just $14m to tackle the algal bloom.
The Premier would be left in an awkward position if the voice ended up opposing the LIV project as he has passionately championed both initiatives.
He stared down widespread criticism of his State Voice after SA recorded the highest No vote at the referendum, saying the State Voice was a pre-existing 2022 election promise and that as a legislated model could be repealed by future governments.
He also defied the Labor Left in defending taxpayer support for the Saudi-backed golf tournament, saying the event has been a boon to the state, bringing in $230m in revenue to SA in its first three years and, along with AFL Gather Round, making SA a tourism drawcard.
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