The $0 Centenary: How a Multi-Billion-Dollar Precinct Discarded 100 Years of Motorsport Heritage

BRISBANE EXHIBITION GROUNDS, QLD.

The Public Record vs. The Grassroots Reality

When a historic institution manages a public showground, it operates under an unwritten contract with the community: a social licence earned through generations of public loyalty and cultural investment.

According to official financial disclosures filed with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) commands massive financial scale, yet allocates nothing to the direct community groups maintaining this living history. This disparity has culminated in what many are calling the most neglected 100th milestone ever recorded in grassroots sporting history.

• The Number 1 Tenant: Speedway stands as the longest-running and highest-capacity tenant to ever rent and pack the Brisbane Showgrounds, anchoring the venue's public identity for a century.

• $38 Million – $48+ Million: The average total annual gross income recorded in recent official RNA financial filings.

• $2.9 Billion: The total value of the ongoing Brisbane Showgrounds commercial and residential precinct redevelopment footprint.

• $0: The exact dollar amount reported under the official ACNC line item for "Grants and donations made for use in Australia" directly to grassroots community heritage groups.

• 100 Years (4 Generations): The century of continuous family, driver, rider and fan dedication that built the social infrastructure of the showground speedway from the dirt up.

The Public Funding Disparity: Who Pays to Protect Heritage?

The civic failure becomes even more stark when looking at how public funds are distributed. While grassroots organisers and the elder generation are reportedly being slammed with a $40,000 bill in administrative and operational costs just to celebrate a century of community culture, the venue itself operates on a completely different financial scale:

• Public and Corporate Funding: The RNA receives substantial institutional backing, government grants and a $2.9 billion commercial precinct redevelopment partner footprint designed to preserve the site's "original values."

• The $0 Reality: Despite these millions in public and commercial resources, $0 is allocated directly from the RNA to the community groups preserving this specific living history.

• The Question of Accountability: If public funding and charity status are granted to an institution to maintain a historic public asset, why is the financial burden of protecting a 100-year social infrastructure shifted onto the pockets of the community elders who built it?

A Pattern of Disrespect: The Discarded Plaque

The institutional erosion of this heritage is not just financial; it is physical. The original 2002 memorial tribute plaque, unveiled by past RNA President Colin Meagher A.M. to commemorate the October 16, 1926 origins of the sport was reportedly thrown out by an RNA representative and discovered by a club member near an outdoor rubbish bin. Saved from destruction by the community, the original plaque never returned to the grounds.

In an effort to restore this history, a new golden plaque was funded and manufactured by Jocelyn Dare in 2025 and was publicly displayed to around 600,000 attendees at the Ekka Show. Around 2024, RNA staff management verbally assured her that they would consider installing the new replacement plaque on the grounds following the completion of Olympic Games renovation designs. The installation was intended to feature a QR code linking to an independent heritage website managed by Dare to preserve the site's true history.

Two years later, the community has received zero response and the gates remain closed to the public.

The Ultimate Double Standard: 150 Years of Corporate Promotion vs. 100 Years of Cultural Erasure

The hypocrisy of the precinct's management is laid bare by their upcoming calendar. While the RNA will rightfully celebrate 150 years of the Ekka with massive public infrastructure and corporate backing, they have completely stonewalled the 100th anniversary of grassroots motorsport the longest-serving and highest-capacity tenant in the venue's history.

This is not a logistical oversight; it is the final stage of a controlled extinction. The venues and tracks across South East Queensland did not simply fade away they were starved out by the very administrative bodies tasked with protecting our social infrastructure. They cut the water from the river with their own hands and then used the resulting dry riverbed to justify building commercial real estate.

The Verdict

To claim that a milestone as significant as a 100-year centenary must be restricted to a closed-door, display-only private club event due to "administrative rules" or "insurance logistics" is a total failure of civic due diligence.

An organisation with a multi-billion-dollar development footprint possesses the clear corporate capacity to safely host the public. Weaponising red tape to lock out four generations of families does not protect the sport, it suffocates it.

The history of the track belongs to the generations of families who built it, not the corporate entities that inherit the spreadsheets. Open the gates. 

Photograph taken by Jocelyn Dare at the self-funded "Speedway Exhibition" during the 2025 Ekka Show (Channel 7 Pavilion Room). The display included the new golden heritage plaque, historical literature and a memorial tribute listing athletes who lost their lives on the oval. The photograph documents the complete layout prior to the removal of the memorial candles by RNA staff at the conclusion of day one. 

Between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm on the opening evening, RNA staff members proceeded to remove the memorial candles from the exhibit. When questioned regarding the removal, a male RNA staff member stated to Dare: “You are promoting death.”

The intervention occurred despite an overwhelmingly positive reception from members of the public, who had utilised the display throughout the day to respectfully honour the lives lost and the century-long heritage of grassroots motorsport. The entire exhibit was organised and financed solely through Dare's personal funds.