A planned student accommodation tower on North Tce exemplifies what Adelaide is becoming under the Malinauskas government: a property developer state, writes Stewart Sweeney.

This week’s approval of a 33-storey student tower behind Trinity Church on North Terrace was treated as a civic milestone.

A $400 million investment. Over a thousand student beds. A cinema, gym, yoga studio, communal kitchens. The university backed it. The church blessed it. The Malinauskas Government applauded it. And the planning panel waved it through.

But behind the fanfare, a much deeper question remains unanswered: Is this the kind of city we want Adelaide to become?

Because the Trinity Tower is not just a building. It’s a signal – a vertical symbol of what happens when the future of a city is outsourced to developers and dressed up as educational progress.

It exemplifies what Adelaide is becoming under the Malinauskas Government: a property developer state, where public interest is repackaged as private opportunity, where scale replaces soul, and where real planning is buried beneath glossy renders and deal-making.

Let’s be clear: international students bring enormous value to Adelaide. They enliven our campuses, enrich our cultural life, and contribute billions to our economy. But student housing – like all housing – should serve the people who live in it, not just those who profit from building it.

The Trinity........

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