A t a public meeting in August, a former Liberal National party premier vowed to stand in the way of bulldozers that would be used to clear the way for the construction of Queensland’s main 2032 Olympics stadium.

About 200 local residents packed the small hall at Kelvin Grove state college in Brisbane that night for a meeting organised by the protest group Save Victoria Park, which is campaigning against a state and federal government-funded plan to build a $3.8bn 63,000-seat Olympic stadium at the site.

One stood up to ask how far people were willing to go: would they take “direct action” to prevent the venue set to host the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies from being built?

Campbell Newman , a former premier and Brisbane lord mayor, gingerly put his hand up.

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