Save the Skyneedle

Once saved and gifted to the people of Brisbane. It now needs our help.

Our Skyneedle.
Our icon.

Maybe it feels a little dorky at the moment but with a neon lights makeover and a return to South Bank, this Expo relic would look truly magnificent.

See the community vision
Ignite its mojo✦Return it to South Bank✦Remind the people of where we came from✦Give our city a recognisable icon✦

01 / Why now

The Skyneedle is about to disappear into the shadows.

Architectural view showing the Skyneedle dwarfed between proposed high-rise buildings on Manning Street
New high-rise development will leave the Skyneedle crowded out and barely visible on Manning Street. View BCC development application A006879997 .

Once it shone across the city as the world came to Brisbane for Expo ’88. Soon, several new towers will close in around it.

We are not against new housing but our Skyneedle deserves better than a sad, pathetic ending obscured between concrete blocks. One of the wonderful things about living in inner-city Brisbane is randomly seeing the Skyneedle peeping out at you at unexpected times. In recent years, it really has lost its mojo as our city grows. This recent development application really will be the final nail in its coffin.

No doubt, even the nice folks in the apartment building that’s looked after it for the last few years don’t want to see this precious icon end its life like this. We believe the Skyneedle can be returned to South Bank, given the 21st century glow-up it deserves and become something all Queenslanders can feel proud of once again.

See the proposal: BCC development application A006879997

“For years, Sydney and Melbourne looked down on us and mocked us as a ‘big country town’. We were Australia’s Cinderella city and they were our two mean stepsisters. Expo ’88 changed all that. It was our ball, our coming out to the world. The Skyneedle is the most striking relic left behind from our magical debutante. It is our glass slipper—it proves who we are without us having to say it.”

02 / The vision

Give it back its mojo.

It’s easy to forget how tall the Skyneedle really is because of its current siting. It is a magnificent 88 metres tall. Imagine giving it a glow-up that perfectly complements its South Bank surroundings and is respectful of the built environment, and letting it become an iconic asset. There are numerous locations throughout Brisbane it could go. It is relatively simple to move as well because it can be deconstructed into modular pieces. The 40-year anniversary of Expo ’88 is coming up in 2028, so why don’t we return the Skyneedle home and make our city proud in time for the next time the world comes to Brisbane: the 2032 Olympic Games?

What will this cost?

This is a remarkably perfect time in history to take this action because the Future South Bank Master Plan to renovate South Bank will soon be underway. This timing presents a powerful opportunity to ensure the engineering and stability requirements for relocating the Skyneedle are sound and cost-effective.

The Olympics is also presenting numerous opportunities for Commonwealth funding to revitalise our city ahead of the Games. And the truth is...a city cannot simply invent an icon. Icons emerge organically and tell a story about who you are. Any money spent returning the Skyneedle to the river and giving it a glow-up will be an intergenerational gift - just like the Eiffel Tower feels to Parisians today.

Concept mock-up of a neon-lit Skyneedle beside the Wheel of Brisbane at South Bank
Community concept: Next to the Wheel The Wheel is 60 m tall. The Skyneedle is 88 m tall. The mock-up is scaled to show their relative heights. If this location becomes too difficult to engineer due to the car park below, there are numerous other fantastic location options in South Bank, such as somewhere on the area between the Piazza and the river.
01

Bring it home

Stakeholders (i.e. South Bank Corporation and renewal decision-makers) negotiate and arrange with its current stewards (Skyneedle Apartments) on a plan to return the Skyneedle back to South Bank.

02

Restore its glow

A bold renovation with new paint, efficient LED lighting and special-event effects.

03

Light it nightly

Include it in Brisbane’s civic lighting program alongside bridges and landmarks.

04

Bring back the beam on very special occasions

Use the searchlight safely on rare occasions such as Riverfire, recalling its Expo spectacle.

03 / Icons and identity

Brisbane’s glass slipper.

Expo ’88 was the moment Brisbane stood up and said: “No, I am worthy.”

For years, Brisbane was mocked as a big country town. Expo transformed how the city saw itself and how the world saw Brisbane. The Skyneedle is the glass slipper left behind from that Cinderella moment: proof of who we became.

Paris once resisted the Eiffel Tower, built for its own expo in 1889. Over time it became inseparable from the city’s identity and evolved into a canvas for mourning, celebration and solidarity. Brisbane can give its own expo icon that same living role.

Concept view of the restored Skyneedle illuminated in green, red and warm white beside the Brisbane River
A renewed civic landmark could celebrate Christmas, the footy, NAIDOC Week and the moments that bring Brisbane together.

The save before the save

It was already on its way out of Brisbane.

After Expo, the Skyneedle was reportedly bound for Tokyo Disneyland. Local hairdresser, powerboat racer and larger-than-life Brisbane figure Stefan Ackerie bought it with his own money and kept it here.

Now the next generation has the chance to secure its future for everyone.

One landmark.

Endless moments it could commemorate.

RiverfireState of OriginThe AshesBrisbane FestivalEkkaPaniyiriANZAC DayRemembrance DayAustralia DayPrideThe World CupNAIDOCThe OlympicsSo much more

About the campaign

Next Gen Skyneedle Collective

The Next Gen Skyneedle Collective is a youth-focused grassroots movement.

We are independent and not affiliated with Stefan Ackerie—although we think he is an absolute hero for keeping the Skyneedle in Brisbane after Expo ’88.