Adelaide MotoGP track sparks fierce debate over parkland trees and green promises

Premier Peter Malinauskas announced a $96 million street circuit for MotoGP in Adelaide’s eastern parklands, framing the development as beneficial for the environment thanks to a $15 million parklands package that includes butterfly habitat restoration and new water infrastructure for River Torrens platypuses. Conservation Council SA chief executive Kirsty Bevan welcomed the government’s pledge to plant 3,770 trees - a ten-for-one replacement ratio - and called the plan "net nature positive."

However, activists such as Councillor Keiran Snape and Adelaide Park Lands Association president Mat Monti denounced the council’s stance as a sell-out, and a petition signed by more than 43,000 people has fueled protests demanding the project be stopped. The controversy follows earlier backlash over the removal of 585 trees for the North Adelaide Golf Course upgrade. Opposition leader Ashton Hurn questioned whether voters would have supported the project if they knew the true scale of tree loss, which the government now estimates at around 400 trees. Despite the dissent, the government maintains that the circuit will deliver the most net new trees ever planted in the parklands.