Poh Fires Up, ‘Deeply Insulted’ as Adelaide MotoGP Trees Fall
MasterChef judge Poh Ling Yeow said she was deeply insulted by South Australia's premier as workers felled the first four of 377 marked trees in Adelaide's park lands for a $96 million MotoGP track. Police held back protesters at the site on November 13, 2026.
Poh Ling Yeow, a judge on the cooking show MasterChef, said she was "so deeply insulted" by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas on Friday, November 13, 2026. She spoke as workers felled the first four trees in Adelaide's park lands for a MotoGP circuit.
Poh fired up at the site after the premier said he was "not concerned" about an open letter opposing the project.
Chainsaws at dawn
Workers arrived around 6am to begin clearing for the $96 million track build. Four trees came down within an hour in Victoria Park/Pakapakanthi and Rymill Park/Murlawirrapurka.
About 20 police officers held protesters back. Footage showed groups shouting "stop the chop" and "shame". One truck driver wore a mask, and a protester asked why he was covering his face.
Workers in cherry pickers cut branches with chainsaws and fed them into a mulcher. The four trees are the first of 377 marked for removal.
The state government wants water works linked to the project started on a tight timeline. It aims to have the city street motorcycle circuit ready for the race twelve months from this week.
What Poh said
The chef spoke to cameras for the first time since signing the open letter on Wednesday. The letter now has almost 5000 signatories, including Hollywood star Dev Patel and pop star Sia Furler, a former South Australian resident.
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, singer Ruel, Matt Preston, Paul Kelly and comedian Magda Szubanski also signed. Patel said: "We must save these beautiful trees and all the beating hearts that reside within them."
"You're not going to get smiley-Poh today, that's for sure," Poh said. She called the tree removal "one of the greatest environmental tragedies" if it goes ahead.
Asked whether she had a message for Malinauskas, she said there was so much to say that it was "probably not appropriate to tell you". She described the government's choice of the "path of least resistance" as "inexcusable".
The premier's comment
Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday that he was "not concerned" about the letter, "unless, of course, they haven't taken the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the full picture".
Poh said those words left her "so deeply insulted". "You don't get to denigrate one group of people that care about something. It's terrible," she said.
"That's not a democracy. I don't appreciate it as a taxpayer at all, and I contribute a lot to this state."
Legal fight and a call for calm
Poh was joined by folk singer Naomi Keyte, musician Nancy Bates and David Klingberg, president of the South East Residents Association. The association is suing the state government in an attempt to halt the MotoGP project.
Adelaide Park Lands Association President Mat Monti, Edwin Kemp Attrill and Adelaide City Councillor Patrick Maher also attended. Kemp Attrill recently lost a court bid over the North Adelaide Golf Course plans.
Maher posted a video on Thursday night asking people planning to attend to "keep it real". "We don't want to end up in the newspaper for the wrong things, please," he said.
Eight people were arrested and removed from the North Adelaide Golf Course site in May.
