Aren’t words funny things? Simple words can, it seems, mean the opposite of what they actually … well … mean. Premier Malinauskas is apparently a devotee of the Humpty Dumpty school of language: “When I use a word,” says Humpty “it means just what I choose it to mean….”.
Who knew ‘investment’ means chopping down trees?
Our Premier proudly announced that moving LIV golf from Grange to North Adelaide entails “investment” in Adelaide’s famed and treasured parklands. What does this investment mean? The loss of perhaps 600 trees and the eviction of over 100 species that currently make their home in the ‘investment’ site. New buildings will be constructed, but the government can’t say how many, or how big they will be. Expanded parking facilities will also pave over more green space. A large amount of existing parkland will be fenced off from the public. As yet, how much and how long it remains in place, remains unknown, at least to the public. Can the parklands withstand this ‘investment’? Significant tree and biodiversity loss, less green space and more built infrastructure suggest parkland destruction, rather than investment.
Is War Memorial Drive safe? Or the River Torrens precinct? A well-placed and credible local journalist, Mike Smithson, is putting his money on LIV’s ‘colossus clubrooms’ being on the tennis courts, across from Adelaide Oval on War Memorial Drive, or on the site of the now defunct Red Ochre and River Café. If this prophecy is correct, it will see the Premier’s investment entail Adelaide’s citizens having less access to their parklands. The Planning Minister, Nick Champion, conceded that the government’s new legislation allowed for potential closure of War Memorial Drive, but said the government had ‘no desire’ to do this. The legislation would, however, be implemented if the government needs the flexibility to close the road during building. This sounds like a Humpty Dumpty “No desire” — meaning there could be closure of War Memorial Drive and disruption to the River Torrens.
Does a bigger and better LIV mean a more transparent and accountable one?
The government is fond of grandstanding about the financial benefit of LIV Golf for the state’s economy; a yield of $81 million from the last tournament, we are told. But what we are not told, despite repeated requests, is where that money goes. Shouldn’t such a great success be accompanied by a detailed statement about how, and by how much, South Australians benefitted?
Similarly, the government remains tight-lipped on how much it spends on hosting LIV. Ultimately, taxpayers help fund this Saudi tournament. Yet we are not told how much of our money is spent. Finally, the North Adelaide course, loved and used by generations of South Australians, is to be remodelled. The redesign will be done by Greg Norman. The government clearly feels it has pulled off a coup by having the great white shark overseeing the devouring of approximately 20% of the north parklands. We can assume it won’t be cheap, but that information is not being shared with the public. Apparently, we don’t have the right to know.
Speaking of coups, the government has staged another one. Without consultation or negotiation, the government rushed through legislation removing the Adelaide City Council’s long-term control of a large slab of the parklands in another blow to transparency and accountability.
In the end, all the public are told is that LIV is good for them. An assertion we have to take on faith, it seems.
And, about human rights…..
Despite the best attempt of some apologists to spruik improvements, human rights abuses continue in Saudi Arabia. The human rights of migrant workers, women and dissidents remain curtailed and precarious. No amount of sportswashing will erase this inconvenient truth.
A human rights issue is unfolding closer to home. The lack of adequate and appropriate consultation about the fate of the parklands, which are significant to Kaurna people, sits oddly with the is government’s insistence that it acknowledges the rights of First Australians to have a say over what happens to areas of importance to them.
The LIV footprint over the Adelaide parklands is significant, including an extensive overlap with recognised Kaurna sites under the SA Aboriginal Heritage Act. See the photos attached.
Under the First Nations Voice Act 2023 (“the Act”), South Australia has a legislated First Nations Voice to both the Parliament and the Government. Section 28 (1)(c) of the Act empowers the State First Nations Voice to advise the SA Parliament and the SA Government on ‘matters of interest to First Nations people’. Consultation with First Nations community members prior to this advice is embedded in the Act.
The takeover by the State Government of a large parcel of Adelaide Parklands, previously managed by the Adelaide City Council, an area designated as Kaurna Heritage sites under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, would be a matter of interest to First Nations people. Yet the government rushed legislation through Parliament (in less than a day), meaning there was no opportunity for the State First Nations Voice to advise the government on the proposed legislation.
After this legislation was passed, a month long YourSAy SA online consultation commenced under the Aboriginal Heritage Act. A meeting for Aboriginal people was scheduled for mid July in a Mawson Lakes venue. Questions remain about the efficacy of this consultation process and whether it is culturally appropriate. We cannot answer those questions. Nevertheless, we note the consultation process is a short one, at arms lengths from the Kaurna community and undertaken after Parliament passed government-initiated, game-changing legislation.
