Queensland is finally full steam ahead on the state's Olympic stadium after lengthy delays - but it has now been revealed the state government has scrapped a First Nations cultural centre after sinking $3million into a business case that greenlit it. 

The confidential report that applauded a proposal to turn Brisbane's South Bank Piazza into the cultural facility has been buried by the Crisafulli Government.

Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek during NAIDOC Week in July 2025 confirmed the centre, which has been in the works since 2018, would not go ahead.

However, in the lead-up to the city hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, documents seen by Courier Mail this week have brought that decision into question.

The detailed business case found the proposed centre would be an opportunity to reframe the government's relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders and could be a significant tourist attraction.

The 15,000sqm 'Queensland First Nations Cultural Centre' was intended to showcase Indigenous history, stories, art and culture and draw an estimated 435,000 visitors each year.

It also would have been constructed in time for the 2032 Games, acting as a place for international tourists to learn about Australia's Indigenous peoples.

The detailed business case was requested by the former Labor government and was initially completed in August 2024.

However, changes to 'address specific stakeholder feedback' saw its publication date pushed to May 2025 - after David Crisafulli's LNP won the state election.

The case cost $3million, with funding evenly split between the state and federal governments and Brisbane City Council, on top of the $2million spent on a preliminary business case five years prior. 

The Crisafulli Government had refused to release the document and declined to comment to the Courier Mail.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who's part of Crisafulli's LNP, called for the centre to be reconsidered.

'There is a real opportunity now for private sector investment to build on this momentum and deliver a world-class cultural centre for Brisbane, just like we're seeing with Brisbane Arena,' he said.

'Popular tourist attractions can also be good businesses and create jobs for local residents.'

The next phase for the centre's development, a detailed 'design and delivery readiness' process, was set to cost $14million.

When announcing the centre would not go ahead last year, Minister Langbroek said the government was instead 'committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through a broad range of cultural and arts initiatives'.

'The previous Labor government had nearly a decade, and indeed many decades prior while in office, to progress the delivery of a First Nations cultural centre in Brisbane, or in Cairns,' he said.

'But despite repeated announcements, glossy business cases and endless consultations, they failed to deliver anything tangible.'

However, Opposition arts spokeswoman and Indigenous woman Leeanne Enoch said the scrapping of the centre was part of a wider disregard for Indigenous projects.

'In 18 months they have scrapped the Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry, watered down the Indigenous Procurement Policy, abandoned the Indigenous Policy Unit within education, removed Indigenous members from arts boards, forced traditional owners into protracted litigation and whitewashed the naming of the Glasshouse Theatre,' Ms Enoch said of the LNP.

The news follows another knock to Brisbane's Indigenous community earlier this year.

Concept images for a new stadium to be built on Victoria Park were released in January, despite pleas from Indigenous groups for another site to be chosen.

Olympic planners had initially planned to upgrade Brisbane's existing cricket stadium, The Gabba, to host the games.

However, the plan was scrapped in 2023 in favour of building a new stadium in Victoria Park and demolishing The Gabba for residential redevelopment.

Indigenous non-profit group, Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation, in August 2025 lodged an application for the park to be legally protected.

Yagarabul elder Gaja Kerry Charlton said the land was of 'great significance and history' and historically acted as a gathering place.

'We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important eco-systems existing there,' he said. 

'There may be ancestral remains. We stand resolute in our responsibility to protect it.'

Daily Mail has contacted Crisafulli's office for comment.