Aussie stars sign up for Adelaide park lands fight
Some of the nation’s most famous music, TV and food icons have signed an open letter calling on the state government to rethink MotoGP plans to fell trees. Including comedian Magda Szubanski and singer Kate Ceberano.
Dozens of Australian musicians, chefs and actors have signed an open letter calling on the state government to protect the city’s park lands ahead of trees scheduled to come down for a $96 million Adelaide Circuit Redevelopment in the CBD.
Organised by SA folk musician Naomi Keyte, the “Lungs of the City” campaign includes signatories led by SA Hall of Famer Paul Kelly, celebrity chef, MasterChef judge and artist Poh Ling Yeow, singer and actress Kate Ceberano, Oil frontman Peter Garrett and Kath and Kim actress and comedian Magda Szubanski.
Famed Australian musician and former federal Environment Minister Garrett recently led an independent inquiry against AUKUS, while Szubanski has been an advocate for marriage equality, authored an award-winning memoir and acted in films including Babe, Happy Feet and The Golden Compass.
In the open letter, Paul Kelly is among those calling for the Adelaide Park Lands to be “fully protected”.
“As Colonel Light intended, they are the ‘lungs of the city’. You can’t take a bit here and a bit there,” Kelly said.
“We will lose our beautiful biodiversity and our lovely public amenity. You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.”
The open letter addressed to Premier Peter Malinauskas and the state government said: “Australia’s arts, music, cultural and sporting communities are uniting our voices in protest” against the removal of 377 trees from “Adelaide’s Park Lands for the proposed MotoGP street circuit”.
“This is about more than these trees or this event. It’s about the precedent being set,” the letter said.
Subscribe for updates
“If a nationally recognised heritage landscape can be permanently altered for a commercial sporting event, what protection do any of our public green spaces have?”
Other names that have signed on so far include Australian director Damon Gameau, producer Anna Kaplan, Lime Cordiale brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach.
South Australian DJ Motez, Matt Gilberston, who is best known as performer Hans, and Conservation Council CEO Kirsty Bevan were also among those named in the campaign.
The organisers hoped to recruit more signatories in the coming days ahead of trees being felled for the MotoGP.
The state government has announced that for every tree removed for the MotoGP circuit, 10 new trees would be planted.
It has also committed to a $15 million Nature Positive Package to deliver environmental projects including butterfly habitat restoration in the park lands and revitalising the River Torrens. The government said the plan would lead to at least 3,393 new trees in the park lands.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
