International superstar Sia signs up for fight over Adelaide park lands
The list of famous names signing an open letter calling on the state government to rethink MotoGP tree-felling plans grows by the hour.
Adelaide-born, internationally acclaimed pop star Sia Furler has added her name to the chorus of musicians, chefs and actors opposing tree-felling in the city’s green belt.
The ‘Chandelier’ and ‘Cheap Thrills’ singer, who boasts 10 ARIA Awards and nine Grammy nominations, quietly joined the “Lungs of the City” campaign overnight, which has amassed almost 3000 signatures at the time of writing.
It’s the first time Sia – who now lives in LA – has weighed in on local issues in her hometown since 2020, when her management contacted the Adelaide City Council to request that a mural commissioned on Sia Furler Lane be updated to look less like her.
The “Lungs of the City” campaign launched on Wednesday afternoon with 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. It kicked off with high-profile names ranging from singers Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett to comedian Magda Szubanski.
It came as the first four of 377 trees face the axe on Friday to begin water works for the project, which is on a tight timeline to get Adelaide’s city streets motorcycle-ready for the race twelve months from today.
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MasterChef judge and artist Poh Ling Yeow called the plans “one of the greatest environmental tragedies our state will experience” and has rallied her 496,000 Instagram followers to share the letter “prolifically”, that she was among the first to sign.
Fellow MasterChef judges Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston have signed on, along with MasterChef winners Adam Liaw, Julie Goodwin and MasterChef contestant and food broadcaster Mandy Hall.
Other new signatories overnight include former Adelaide Writers’ Week Director Jo Dyer, writer Benjamin Law, director Sophie Hyde, actress-director Tilda Cobham-Hervey and current Adelaide Cabaret Festival artistic director Reuban Kaye.
Award-winning actor Daniel Henshall, best known for portraying serial killer John Bunting in the 2011 film Snowtown alongside other locally filmed projects including The Babadook and Hyde’s Jimpa also signed on, as well as local band Any Young Mechanic, who’s frontman wore a ‘Stop the Chop’ sign when collecting an SA Music Award on Tuesday night.
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Organised by SA folk musician Naomi Keyte, the letter launched on Wednesday afternoon with signatories Paul Kelly, Kath and Kim actress and comedian Magda Szubanski and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett.
The organisers hoped Garrett, a former Labor Federal Environment Minister, could move the dial on the long-running park lands debate, given Premier Peter Malinauskas is a known Midnight Oil fan.
Separately discussing events at Adelaide Oval on ABC Radio Adelaide today, Malinauskas said he saw Midnight Oil perform in 2017 and it was “outstanding”.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said today that he was “not concerned” about the letter.
“I’m not concerned about it, unless, of course, they haven’t taken the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the full picture,” Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide.
Malinauskas said “there’s a range of investments and activities that we’re making within the parklands proper”, including a $15 million Nature Positive Package to deliver environmental projects including butterfly habitat restoration in the park lands and revitalising the River Torrens.
When the MotoGP plans were revealed in August, the state government committed to planting 10 new trees for every one removed for the MotoGP circuit.
“When I think about a couple of years from now, and those works are complete, I think we’ll look back on this and wonder what all the noise is about, just as in the case when the same people were protesting against Adelaide Oval,” Malinauskas said.
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