The Queensland Government has confirmed that from 1 June, most of Barrambin / Victoria Park will be fenced off from the public, in what officials are describing as an essential step in making the $3.785 billion Olympic stadium build appear to have made significantly more progress than it actually has.
The Goori Camp Embassy, established earlier this year on grounds of long-standing cultural significance to Turrbal and Yuggera peoples, has called on the broader community to assist in defending the site, which the state intends to convert into a 63,000-seat venue used principally for two weeks in 2032.
A senior departmental spokesperson said the fencing arrangements were a critical visual milestone for stakeholders, particularly those who had committed extensive political capital to a stadium project that as of this week has yet to break ground, hold a sod-turning ceremony or in fact identify which sods are scheduled to be turned.
“Public confidence in major infrastructure projects depends on the public believing the project is happening” the spokesperson explained. “Hoarding around Barrambin will achieve this even on days when no actual building is occurring, which the department has not ruled out being most of them.”
Officials confirmed that in the same week the fencing was authorised, three remote Indigenous housing applications dating from 2017 had been transferred between departments for the eleventh time.
The Queensland Government has indicated the stadium will be completed in time for an event that requires it to exist for twelve days, after which the question of what it will be used for has been placed under review until 2033.
Always was, always will be a paddock with a fence around it.
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