Editorial: Last piece of the puzzle that makes our new stadium viable

The biggest attraction of the original plan for a new stadium at the Gabba was the Cross River Rail station just across the road. This new one makes Victoria Park work, writes the editor.

The new train station will be closer to Victoria Park than the recently reopened Exhibition Station.

Yes it will add more cost, but it also makes perfect sense that a new train station be constructed to service the new stadium that will be built next to Brisbane’s inner-city Victoria Park in time for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Until today’s exclusive revelation of that plan in The Courier-Mail, there were concerns about how the 60,000-capacity stadium would be linked to public transport.

The new Metro (three-carriage) buses run along a busway that borders the park, but you need a lot of buses to make up for a train. There is a train station at the RNA Showgrounds, but it is a fair hike from where the stadium will be, and for the Games that will be smack bang in the middle of the Athletes’ Village. So, not ideal for security.

The main Citytrain line already runs along Victoria Park, just across the Inner City Bypass. There is a train washing shed there, and not much else. This is also where the trains that use the new Cross River Rail tunnel will enter and exit from on the northside. It’s really what one might call a no-brainer to build a new train station there.

Remember also, that the new National Aquatic Centre will be built right there too – at the existing Centenary Pool Complex.

The plan is that in Games mode, the main pool there will have a capacity of 25,000 people.

The biggest attraction of the original plan for a new stadium at the Gabba was the Cross River Rail station just across the road. This new one makes Victoria Park work.

DELAY IS JUSTICE DENIED

Queensland continues to be affected by the DNA lab scandal, three years after the story broke and almost two decades after a flawed DNA extraction method was introduced at the state’s Forensic and Scientific Services laboratory.

As we report today, the case of a Cairns teenager, who is accused of being part of a brutal gang rape that shocked the state earlier this year, might not be heard for at least two years because of ongoing delays at Queensland’s forensic lab.

It is a classic case of justice delayed is justice denied.

This of course all goes back to concerns raised about the “forensic trainwreck” that was uncovered by journalist Hedley Thomas in The Australian’s podcast about the murder of Mackay Woman Shandee Blackburn in 2013, and the subsequent investigation.

A Commission of Inquiry, led by retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC, reached the bombshell conclusion that 100,000 DNA samples processed between 2007-16 might have been compromised.

The new method of DNA extraction that was introduced in 2007 was found to have favoured speed over accuracy, and could potentially give false negative readings, allowing criminals to escape conviction.

Since the report was released in December 2022 and the previous state government promised to spend $170m to improve the service, the lab has struggled to cut the backlog, struggled to attract enough technicians to tackle the massive workload, and even struggled to maintain a sterile environment.

The legal ramifications have been huge, with cases delayed and dropped and convictions overturned. And the fallout is continuing.

Just last Friday Attorney-General Deb Frecklington suspended the state’s top forensic scientist Linzi Wilson-Wilde over fears that DNA tests had been contaminated.

Ms Wilson-Wilde had been appointed only last September to get the lab back on track and had been regarded as one of the leaders in her field.

Not only has the lab’s boss been suspended, but testing has been put on hold.

So much for cutting the backlog.

In the case against the boy in Cairns Childrens Court, Magistrate Sandra Pearson said there had been no forensic testing carried out for two weeks in Queensland’s Forensic Sciences laboratories and she was “told we won’t get DNA results in this court for two years at least”.

Only then would the boy’s matter progress to a higher court.

This is an unacceptable delay, for all parties.

For the alleged victim, it puts her life on hold.

There can be no moving on until this matter is dealt with, until she feels justice has been done.

For the boy, it means years in detention waiting for his day in court. If he is innocent of these charges that delay would be a tragedy. And if he is guilty then it is time wasted when he should have been made accountable for his actions.

And for the people of Queensland, it is further erosion of our faith in the criminal justice system. We expect matters to be dealt with as expeditiously as is fair for both parties.

But it seems that is now too much to ask.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Last piece of the puzzle that makes our new stadium viable