South Australian Liberals are fending off allegations of hypocrisy over the contentious MotoGP event after a senior frontbencher joined forces with the Greens and a parklands preservation group to protest the felling of trees for the racing track over the weekend.

In a letter distributed to residents, Jack Batty said he shared their concerns about Labor’s plans to host the event at Victoria Park and opposed the “removal of potentially hundreds more trees” from the parklands, in a stand the state government claimed to be at odds with Liberal leader Ashton Hurn’s support for the race.

Mr Batty invited residents to join himself and the Adelaide Park Lands Association on Sunday to march against the axing of more trees at Victoria Park for the event – a rally also attended by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young.

State Development Minister Chris Picton said the Opposition could not “claim to support major events while trying to stop them”.

“Ashton Hurn went to the election saying she supported MotoGP, but her own shadow minister is actively recruiting people to protest against one of the most significant international events South Australia has ever secured,” he said.

On Monday, Ms Hurn hit back at allegations she and her party opposed the MotoGP, accusing Labor of working them into a “pretty ridiculous situation”.

“The Labor Party seems to seems to have worked us into a situation where apparently if you’re against the cutting down of hundreds of trees in the parklands … that also makes you anti-event,” she said.

“You can have major events and indeed motorsports in the heart of our city without needing to decimate hundreds of trees in the park lands.

“I just encourage the government to get creative with the plans. I want to see this event go ahead but it’s also up to the Opposition to be raising very legitimate concerns.”

Ms Hurn said she did want to see the felling of any trees but was “not going to shadow-box the government”.

“The government actually need to release the plans. I think that they should have it in their ambition to see as fewer trees removed as possible,” she said.

Mr Batty echoed the sentiment, stating he supported the party position on the issue.

“We support major events in the city, including the MotoGP,” he said.

“But we also support protecting the Adelaide parklands.”

It was earlier revealed around 200 trees may need to be axed to make way for the track, significantly more than the Premier’s earlier estimate of 45.

The government accused the Liberals of continuing their track record of opposing projects that have transformed the state, including the Adelaide Oval redevelopment.

On Monday, Premier Peter Malinauskas accused the Liberals of “yet again saddling up next to the Greens to say they don’t want motorsport in the parklands”.

“The Liberal Party kicked motorsport out of the parklands in the former government only five or six years ago. They lost an election, said that was a mistake and now they’re repeating the same mistake again,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas said he was “a bit surprised” to see Liberal frontbencher Jack Batty sitting alongside Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young at Sunday’s Stop the Chop rally.

“One minute they’re saying they’re in favour of MotoGP in the city, in the next minute they are saying they are opposed to it – there seems to be this real chopping and changing of position that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see from a party of government,” he said.

Mr Batty said many of his constituents have reached out with concerns about the impact of the proposed MotoGP circuit on the park lands and it was “entirely appropriate to let them know about an opportunity to peacefully express those views”.