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Fifteen months from now, MotoGP plans to host the 2027 Australian Grand Prix in an Adelaide park, but growing local resistance has triggered a parliamentary inquiry into the project MotoGP’s hopes of moving Australia’s motorcycle Grand Prix to a street circuit in an Adelaide city park are under threat from increasing local opposition to the plan. Tens of thousands have signed petitions rejecting the South Australia government’s push to create a new MotoGP circuit within the Adelaide parklands, a green belt surrounding the original city that was established in the 1830s. Enough signatures have now been gathered to trigger a formal parliamentary inquiry into the circuit, while also calling for an immediate halt to the development. State government officials want the circuit to host its first Australian Grand Prix in November 2027. Last week, a group of academics, ecologists and locals sent a letter to Jorge Viegas, president of the Fédération Internationale Motocyclisme, MotoGP’s governing body, claiming the project breaks the FIM’s own code of environmental practice. And an Adelaide singer-songwriter – best known for a Vietnam War protest song – has released a single protesting against the development. Adelaide’s MotoGP plans follow hot on the heels of a parklands redevelopment to upgrade the city’s northern parklands golf course for international tournaments, primarily the Saudi-owned LIV tour. This project is currently the subject of a high-profile federal court case, brought by activists who want deeper legal scrutiny into the project, which they see as part of a long-term programme to commercialise ancient parklands created for public use. The golf course revamp requires the felling of almost 600 trees, while the MotoGP circuit could require as many as 400 trees to be cut down, against the government’s original estimate of 45. Hence the growing “Stop the chop” campaign. The Adelaide MotoGP project was originally announced in February, after MotoGP decided not to renew its contract to keep its Australian round at Phillip Island in the state of Victoria. Days later, South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas revealed the Adelaide plan, which would give MotoGP its first street circuit in decades. Victoria and South Australia are huge rivals in competing for major sporting events, which both states see as important tourist and status assets. During the 1990s, Victoria snatched the Australian Formula Grand Prix from South Australia, moving it from Adelaide to Melbourne. South Australia’s success in taking MotoGP from Victoria is the latest episode in this inter-state duel. MotoGP’s aim is to copy F1’s strategy of staging races in major cities around the world, to leverage local infrastructure – hotels, restaurants and so on – to attract more fans, nationally and internationally. Although the planned Adelaide venue is called a street circuit, it is in fact a parkland circuit, with run-off areas up to MotoGP’s usual spec. Last week MotoGP CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta announced that he is looking forward to “unveiling the first visual renderings of the new Adelaide circuit over the next few weeks”. Preliminary work has already begun on the site, with engineers undertaking geotechnical studies, required before construction can commence. However, the Viegas letter, which was copied to Ezpeleta and Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang, wants the FIM to undertake an independent environmental impact assessment of the circuit and infrastructure before the project can go any further. “We wish to alert you specifically to the fact that the construction of the proposed Adelaide MotoGP infrastructure, and the event itself, is in breach of the FIM Environmental Code 2026 and the FIM Sustainability Policy,” says the letter. “The proposed MotoGP street race will be conducted in Adelaide’s nationally heritage-listed Park Lands – one of the world’s finest surviving nineteenth-century “city in a park” landscapes. “Approximately 40% of the circuit will be situated within the Park Lands itself, where large amounts of new hard surfacing will permanently replace existing green space and protected habitat. “The racetrack will cut through a stand of 100- or more years-old Eucalyptus trees and a 150-year-old olive grove. It will encroach on a protected Key Biodiversity Area, which includes a nationally endangered woodland and grassland, a conservation area for the rare Chequered Copper butterfly (Lucia limbaria), a complex wetland ecosystem and a 130-year-old closed woodland.” Mat Monti, of the Adelaide Park Lands Association, added, “Our Park Lands are enjoyed by thousands every day… Numerous festivals that don’t require tree felling bring in thousands of tourists every year. The best cities find ways to host major events while preserving the assets that make them special. The Park Lands are Adelaide’s inheritance. We hold them in trust for future generations. It’s time this [state] government recognised that.” Malinauskas is determined to push ahead with the project, which he says will bring important benefits to South Australia’s capital city, which hosted F1 from 1985 to 1995. The F1 circuit, which continues to host car races, can’t be used for motorcycle racing due to safety concerns. Hence the plan to build a second racetrack in the parklands, with some sections shared by both layouts. “The return of international racing to the Adelaide Street Circuit presents a unique opportunity for Adelaide to feature on the world stage,” said a government spokesperson. “In 2025, global exposure combined with tourism and hospitality of MotoGP Grand Prix events delivered an average of $217 million (£114 million) in economic impact to local economies.” The petition against the golf and MotoGP developments also demands a review of the government’s bypassing of local laws, which allowed it to seize control of parts of the parklands by changing land designation from Crown/community land to freehold land directly controlled by the government, thereby removing public and local council recourse. The single released in support of the project is called Ragtag Extremist Blues, by John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew. Schumann scored an Australian number one with his song “I was only nineteen”, released in 1983 to support Australian soldiers suffering from their time fighting in the Vietnam War. Not exactly. They just want to make money. The MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group is embracing Liberty’s city races concept with plans to move the Australian GP from Phillip Island to Adelaide’s old Formula 1 street circuit By Mat Oxley The song’s title comes from Malinauskas’s characterisation of the Adelaide parklands protesters as “ragtag extremists”. Those against the Adelaide MotoGP event have suggested the state government hosts the Australian motorcycle GP at Tailem Bend, 50 miles southeast of the city. The Bend has already taken the country’s World Superbike round from Phillip Island. However, Malinauskas insists that MotoGP has no interest in moving its Australian round to another short circuit. “The only reason why we’ve got MotoGP is because we are getting it in the city,” he said. “If MotoGP wanted to have it outside of a metropolitan environment, they would have been keeping it at Phillip Island.” Another protest against the circuit is planned to take place in Adelaide this Sunday. As a racer, Mat is an Isle of Man TT winner and lap record holder. As a scribbler, he’s been at it since the late 1980s and has written acclaimed biographies of Valentino Rossi and Mick Doohan – plus he’s an award-winning commentator too.