30/08/2026
Update on the MotoGp doesn't look good for the parklands 😪
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1cyeZYcAxR/
NEARLY $100 MILLION OF TAXPAYERS’ DOLLARS AND ALMOST 400 TREES WILL BE REMOVED THE MOTOGP PRICE TAG WE WERE TOLD WASN’T TRUE!
Today, the truth about the proposed MotoGP street circuit in Adelaide’s Park Lands has finally been revealed.
Let’s face it, this is not just a city street circuit, this is in fact, a massive racetrack right in the middle of our city, specifically built on the Adelaide Parklands - a unique environmental and cultural heritage asset of the City of Adelaide. Our city will become one huge racetrack and everything will revolve around it.
Apart from its destructive impact on our iconic Adelaide Park Lands, it will also create a permanent barrier between the City and our surrounding communities.
The South Australian Government today FINALLY released the design for the $96 million, 4.13-kilometre MotoGP circuit. What wasn’t mentioned is the additional $15 million for Park Lands upgrades, along with the ongoing yearly costs of hosting the event. The Government has also finally admitted that 377 trees are planned for removal initially, we were told it would be just 44 trees with the racetrack also encroaching on the Pakapakanthi Wetlands in Victoria Park which were intentionally created in 2022 for wildlife, environmental and biodiversity purposes, by the previous Liberal Government and contributing councils.
The Government is expected to make approximately $10–20 million a year in revenue from the race, based on 100,000 ticket sales. The premier is claiming more than $200 million in combined economic activity will be generated from MotoGP but that is money circulating through the South Australian economy hotels, restaurants, shops, transport and businesses. It is not $200 million going back into Government coffers to pay down our debt or fund hospitals, schools, housing, roads or environmental protection. It is NOT the same as $200 million returned to taxpayers paying for the event. South Australia is already carrying around $35,000,000,000 - YES, $35 BILLION - in debt! Can our taxpayers’ money be better spent? The Government spends roughly $5–6 million every day just paying interest on this debt, adding up to nearly $2 billion every year.
Did you know the Victorian Government declined the proposed city street race because it didn’t want its precious city parklands and gardens ripped up and destroyed for a racetrack? Mali didn’t win the bid for the race no one else in Australia wanted it!
Our Government didn’t hesitate to take it on, choosing to sacrifice Adelaide’s priceless Park Lands, environment and heritage for a motor bike race. It chose not to listen to the people of South Australia, the very people he works for and who pay his wage, many of whom could see that this is not a viable or sustainable event for our beautiful green city. Instead, Mali has insulted concerned South Australians with terms such as ‘rag-tag extremists’, ‘lunatics’ and ‘cultural elites’. Our city, our people, our wildlife and our precious environment deserve better. We deserve a better government for our taxpayers’ money!
That is another 377 trees on top of the hundreds already destroyed, within our Adelaide Park Lands being sacrificed for a motorcycle racing circuit that is planned to operate for six years.
🏁 REMEMBER THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE COST?
Malinauskas denied the excessive cost and dismissed concerns when people tried to confront him with what they believed was the truth. When concerns were raised earlier this year that rebuilding the circuit could cost around $100 million, that figure was publicly disputed and denied. 🤨 You’d think that for nearly $100 million, we could build an entirely new racing track elsewhere. $96 million of taxpayers’ money for a redeveloped racetrack in our Adelaide Park Lands seems exorbitant!
Premier Peter Malinauskas rejected suggestions at the time that there had been any indication of a $100 million bill.
Yet today, the Government has confirmed a project cost of 💰 $96 MILLION just $4 million short of the $100 million figure that was previously being questioned. So the public was right to be concerned about the cost after all, how can we ever trust a government who thinks lying and belittling its people is acceptable! 🤨 What are we getting for this enormous expenditure? A racing circuit through our city park lands for six years, the removal of hundreds of precious established trees and long term destruction of our park lands.
It’s like putting a racing circuit through Central Park in New York - it just isn’t right! In fact, it’s lunacy!
The Government says 377 trees will be removed, 42 of them being significant trees. It also says replacement trees will be planted. But planting thousands of tiny trees does not magically replace hundreds of mature trees that have taken 50+ years to grow.
These are trees that already provide established canopy, shade, cooling, nesting sites, food and shelter for wildlife. They store carbon. They contribute to the character of our city. And they are already doing all of those things today.
A sapling cannot replace that tomorrow.
💔 AND THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT TREES
This is about what we value as a city.
Our Park Lands are used every single day by ordinary South Australians. People walk there, families take their children to the playground, people exercise, cycle, play sport, walk their dogs, enjoy picnics and spend time surrounded by nature. In addition, this new race will displace and prevent several existing sporting clubs from having year-round use of these spaces. 🏏⚽️🎾🏈
Wildlife depends on these spaces for survival! 🦜🐿️🪺🐣🐧🦆🪶🐛🦋🦇🦉🦎🐝🐸🐢🦗
The precious Adelaide Park Lands provide something that money cannot easily recreate. Something extremely rare: something that has evolved over decades of care and commitment- open green public space, natural ecosystem and environment in the heart of the city of Adelaide.
I haven’t even mentioned the impact on local residents, surrounding suburbs and the wildlife whose home is the wetlands and Adelaide Park Lands where this track is proposed to be built.
🔊 AIR AND NOISE POLLUTION
MotoGP bikes use petrol-powered combustion engines, meaning they burn fuel and produce exhaust emissions. These can include:
• Carbon dioxide (CO₂) — a greenhouse gas
• Nitrogen oxides (NOx) — air pollutants that can contribute to smog and respiratory irritation
• Carbon monoxide (CO) — a harmful combustion pollutant
• Unburnt hydrocarbons and other combustion by-products
MotoGP bikes are not zero-emission. They burn fuel in combustion engines and release exhaust pollutants, on top of all the cars, trucks, planes and other transport associated with the event. The environmental footprint also includes international and interstate travel, freight, construction, temporary infrastructure and the removal of nearly 400 established Park Lands trees and wildlife habitat.
And what about the immense noise this event will bring? The roar of motorcycles is louder than an aeroplane - engines, practice sessions, racing and associated events will create an enormous disturbance for people living in surrounding suburbs, not just for one day, but throughout the entire period of construction this will include noise, vibrations, dust, all day and night works, preparation and racing.
Then there is the ongoing road disruption: roads closed, traffic diverted, increased congestion, construction vehicles, barriers, restricted access and major disruptions to the daily lives of residents, workers and everyone who uses the area.
And for wildlife, sadly, the consequences could be even greater. They cannot escape the constant violent noise, vibration, bright lights, crowds, disruption and extreme loss of habitat. These wetlands and Park Lands are their home places where they feed, shelter, nest and raise their young, made particularly harder as the races are on during peak breeding season.
This isn’t simply about putting a racetrack on a piece of land. The impact will RIPPLE throughout the surrounding community and environment.
Have local residents truly been given a voice about how this will affect their everyday lives?
💰 WHERE IS THE VALUE FOR THE PUBLIC?
We are constantly told about the economic benefits, but we also need to talk about the cost to taxpayers and the environmental cost to our city.
If the project costs $96 million, South Australians have every right to ask whether this is the best use of our money. The Government is claiming more than $200 million a year in combined economic return from MotoGP and Supercars, but that is economic activity generated in South Australia money spent throughout the economy on hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses.
It is NOT $200 million going back into Government coffers to pay off our $35 billion dollar debt or pay for hospitals, schools, roads, housing or protecting our Park Lands.
Is a six-year race really worth the cost and destruction?
Was this really the best place to spend $96 million?
Could a purpose-built motorsport venue have been built elsewhere for the millions they are spending on this redeveloped racetrack?
😢 ONCE THESE TREES ARE GONE, THEY ARE GONE
There is no undo button.
No amount of replacement planting can instantly restore decades of growth.
No promise of future canopy can replace the habitat that wildlife loses when established trees are destroyed.
And once the racing infrastructure is built, our Park Lands will have been permanently damaged and changed.
🇦🇺 THIS ISN’T ABOUT BEING ANTI-MOTOGP!!!!!
It is about asking whether one major sporting event is worth permanently sacrificing part of Adelaide’s priceless Park Lands and creating an enormous amount of long-term damage to our city, our precious heritage and our environment.
🌳 OUR PARK LANDS ARE NOT A COMMODITY
They were set aside for the people of Adelaide.
They are not vacant land.
They are not spare land.
They are not a convenient place to build whatever project comes along.
They are a legacy.
A legacy entrusted to us to protect for future generations.
💰 $96 million.
🌳 377 trees.
🪺 Irreplaceable habitat and green open space.
🏞️ Permanent damage and changes to our Park Lands.
And all for a racing circuit that could have been located elsewhere.
😢 Adelaide deserves better.
🌳 Our Park Lands are priceless.
🐦 Our wildlife deserves a voice.
💚 And once those trees are gone, no amount of money will bring them back.
Just a last small fact: The Bend Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend is actually closer to those driving from Melbourne than Adelaide is.
STOP THE CHOP! HELP SAVE THE ADELAIDE PARK LANDS!
