The Greens won’t stop pushing to protect our Adelaide Park Lands. Whether Labor or the Liberals are in government, we won’t stop pushing to protect our public green space.
1. We pushed back against the Marhsall Government’s plans to build a basketball stadium on our riverbank.
In 2021, the former Liberal Government proposed the development of an arena on Helen Mayo Park, and the Greens, joining the Adelaide City Council and the then-opposition Labor Party, opposed these plans. My motion to oppose development on the Park Lands was passed in the Upper House with support from all parties but the Liberals – both speeches I delivered on this are available here and here.
2. The Greens have fought against the relocation of police barracks to the Park Lands.
The Malinauskas Government’s decision to demolish the Thebarton Police Barracks necessitated the relocation of the South Australian Police’s Mounted Operations Unit – with the force’s preferred site sitting within the Mirnu Wirra site of the Park Lands.
The Greens fought against this location and for protection of this green space from development and won. More information on our position is linked here. Not only did the barracks not proceed within the Park Lands, but the Upper House backed a Greens bill to strip the Police Minister of their power to seize Park Lands for any new SAPOL barracks.
3. We believe rezoning of the Park Lands must be approved by both Houses of Parliament.
The Greens will also continue to advocate for reforms to prevent the State Government from rezoning the park lands without the approval of both houses of Parliament. In the last term of Parliament, this proposal was supported by the Upper House but blocked by Labor in the Lower House. We won’t give up, because it’s not right that the Planning Minister can unilaterally rezone green space without parliamentary approval. My speech speaking to this bill is linked here.
4. The Greens have fought against the Government’s $45 million plan to remove 585 trees in pursuit of redeveloping the North Adelaide Golf Course.
I opposed the bill that enabled the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment in June last year, and the first thing the Greens put forward in Parliament for the second term of the Malinauskas Government was a motion to reverse the $45 million project. The Greens believe we should instead invest the money in measures like free public transport during the cost of living crisis. Unfortunately, this motion was defeated by Labor, teaming up with One Nation in the Upper House. My speech on this bill is available here.
Along the way, we have pushed for the Government to make the business case public. My speech moving this motion is linked here, and question to the Minister is linked here.
5. The Greens will keep pushing to protect the Adelaide Park Lands with state heritage listing.
I have already reintroduced my bill to put the park lands on the State Heritage Register. This would provide additional protections to our park lands and support the Adelaide City Council’s ongoing world heritage bid. My speech marking the reintroduction of the bill is here.
6. The next challenge: MotoGP and the Supercars in Victoria Park.
We will also continue to seek transparency about the Government’s plans for Victoria Park and the expansion of the Adelaide Supercars and MotoGP. The Adelaide Motor Sport Board have already proposed that they control over 55 Adelaide Oval’s worth of our public green space for 159 days this year for these events! My initial statement on the Government’s announcement of the MotoGP race is linked here.