In solidarity to Barrambin and the Goori Camp Embassy
You may have seen the deeply troubling events that unfolded at Barrambin/Victoria Park over the weekend. On Friday 30 May, without prior notice, up to 50 Queensland Police Service officers arrived alongside Brisbane City Council staff and began dismantling the Goori Camp Embassy. Tearing down tents and arresting five people, including Elders and community members who had been maintaining a sacred ceremonial fire.
The Goori Camp Embassy was established to protect Barrambin, a place of deep cultural and spiritual significance to the Yuggera and Turrbal peoples, and a traditional meeting ground for thousands of years. Construction of a $3.785 billion Olympic stadium will destroy 1,200 mature trees and 59% of the park. This is happening despite an outstanding application to the federal government to protect the site as a significant Aboriginal area.
This is not a small decision. Brisbane already has three operational major stadiums, the Gabba, Suncorp Stadium, and QSAC, all of which were identified in earlier planning reviews as viable Olympic venues that could undergo upgrades where needed. The choice to bulldoze one of the city's most culturally and ecologically significant public spaces for a stadium that will serve as an Olympic venue for two weeks is one that will be felt for generations.
While Queensland Conservation Council has not had the capacity to be as active in this fight as we would have liked, we unequivocally stand in solidarity with the Goori Camp Embassy and all those who have been defending Country and Culture. We are deeply troubled by the forceful and unjust actions of Brisbane City Council, Queensland Police Service, and the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) in forcibly removing Aboriginal people from ceremonial practice on their own ancestral Country, where Sovereignty was never ceded.
Now is the time to stand up for one of the oldest living cultures in the world!
1. Donate to the Goori Camp Embassy
The Embassy needs financial support to continue their work, cover legal costs, and sustain the community.
2. Report the human rights violations
The forced removal of Aboriginal people from cultural ceremony raises serious concerns under multiple laws:
- Queensland Human Rights Act 2019 — Section 28, which states that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must not be denied the right to enjoy, maintain, protect and develop their cultural heritage, spiritual practices, and relationship with Country. This is meant to explicitly protect against forced assimilation or destruction of culture.
- The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
- The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)
You can also make a formal complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission.
To report concerns at the federal/international level:
- Make a complaint via the Australian Human Rights Commission
- Contact the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
3. Follow and amplify
Stay informed and share the Embassy's updates widely via @GooriCampEmbassy on Instagram
Stay up to date with their Chuffed page for the latest calls to action.
4. Write to decision-makers
Contact the Queensland Premier and Minister for the Olympics to demand a halt to construction until the federal heritage application is determined:
The environmental damage this project will cause extends far beneath the surface. Barrambin/Victoria Park is one of the few inner Brisbane parks to retain natural vegetation, and its springs are the only original, still-functioning aquifer in the Brisbane region. Independent hydrogeological assessment has found that the site forms a critical unpaved rainfall catchment for Barrambin Springs, where rainfall enters porous soil and the aquifer before flowing as groundwater to spring-fed watercourses at York's Hollow, and that any material impact on this spring system would be considered unacceptable under modern impact assessment standards. These permanent spring-fed freshwater sources were central to Aboriginal camps, settlements, hunting and spiritual meetings, and later became Brisbane's first reliable water supply.
This is not just an ecological loss, it is the destruction of a living, sacred water system that has sustained people, Country and culture for thousands of years. To enable this willful destruction, the Queensland government introduced legislation giving GIICA the power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection Act, the Nature Conservation Act, and the Queensland Heritage Act.
Every place in this continent Always Was, and Always Will Be Aboriginal Land. Stand up today to assist the rightful, Traditional Owners in protecting this important and beautiful part of Brisbane’s history, present and future.
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