by Shane Sody
The Walker Corporation is proceeding with construction of its planned 38-storey office tower on Festival Plaza in your Park Lands, without waiting for a National Heritage assessment, nor a pending decision from the Federal Environment Minister.
Environment Minister Murray Watt is due to make a decision soon, about whether the commercial takeover of your Festival Plaza with a skyscraper, would harm the National Heritage values of your Park Lands, and/or Parliament House.
The Save Festival Plaza Alliance has been advised by the Minister that before making that decision, he is waiting for a National Heritage assessment. Minister Watt does not seem at all peturbed that the heritage assessment is being prepared by the developer, Walker Corporation, which has an obvious commercial interest in the outcome!
The delay in providing the Heritage assessment does not seem to have delayed the construction.
The Premier’s Chief of Staff, John Bistrovic, provided this update several days ago.
Pic: Supplied
Back on 5 July, the “Save Festival Plaza Alliance” combined with the Adelaide Park Lands Association to stage the “Rally for Adelaide’s Heart” on the steps of Parliament House.
Pic: Yuri Poetzel
Since that time, the Save Festival Plaza Alliance has stepped up its advocacy and campaigning. The Alliance has:
published a full-page “open letter” with more than 600 signatories in The Advertiser on 25 August 2025;
written again, to the Chair of the Australian Heritage Council, Bob Carr, and to the Minister, seeking clarification on what might be the way forward;
written, again, to Premier Peter Malinauskas, asking him to set a date for a public forum;
reached out to Senator Barbara Pocock of The Greens who has also written to the Minister. (PDF, 2 pages, 171 Kb) A meeting with Senator Pocock is scheduled for Wednesday 17 September; and
set up a website to assist in campaigning for an Open, Public usage of Festival Plaza.
Home page of the Save Festival Plaza Alliance: https://savefestivalplaza.net/
In the meantime, construction on Festival Plaza in your Park 26 is continuing.
Foundations under construction, in August 2025. Pics: Super-Force9288 on reddit
Back in 2017, the State Auditor-General was scathing of the governance failings that led to your Festival Plaza being (in effect) given away to Walker Corporation, without any public consultation nor electoral mandate. (PDF, 575 pages, 1.95 Mb)
As construction proceeds, without any Ministerial decision on the site’s dual National Heritage values, community activist Tim Jackson has urged the State Auditor-General to take another look at this matter.
Mr Jackson says:
“the project has become more complex with the need to manage significant conflicts of interest due to government now being the joint proponent and the regulator and in the absence of a market testing process for South Australia’s largest commercial office project.
”I am strongly of the opinion that due to the previous failings and the new complexities the project warrants a fresh look by the Auditor General.”
The Audit Office has advised Mr Jackson that its annual work plan is set for this financial year but it will consider the inclusion of this project in its next annual work plan.
Top (banner) pic: Rory McLaren, ABC News, 9 April 2024
The author of this article, Shane Sody, is a former President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association (from 2017 to 2025) and remains the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".
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