Thursday, 24 February 2022

Conundrum Holdings

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (17:39): (1778) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning. Late last year I was contacted by Conundrum Holdings, a family-owned and operated quarry business that I have been working with for some time. They were upset after an attack on their business by a Liberal MP who represents the Northern Metropolitan Region, who posted a Facebook video calling on the people of Beveridge and Wallan to contact you, Minister, and voice their opposition to Conundrum’s new quarry proposed for the area. Mr Ondarchie, the quarry is still in Northern Victoria Region, and you are poaching in my territory. The video is still publicly available online, dated 9 November with the hashtag #Fighting4MelbsNorth.

This has caused considerable grief for a family-owned business that is providing economic benefits to the region and the state. Ron Kerr, the business owner, was shocked that a political party that purports to stand for small business and free enterprise was targeting his business and their new quarry that is over 15 years in the planning. To be fair, I was not surprised. There is a reason that small businesses are abandoning the Liberal Party and coming to the Liberal Democrats. We are a party that has values and that does not abandon principles in a grubby hunt for nimby votes. Quarries are an essential part of our economy. You cannot purport to be a party of government when you are calling to shut down industries we need for jobs and buildings.

Fast-forward to January 2022, and the Mitchell Shire Council sent out quarry hate mail with their rates notices. I have a copy, but I am sure the minister has seen it as well. In their targeted campaign against the quarry, which this government has previously supported, they open with the headline ‘Tell Minister Wynne to put quarry in bin’. They included a reply-paid form to send to the minister with a number of predetermined options for a resident to choose from to state why they oppose the quarry. This is an appalling use of ratepayers funds. We have seen hundreds of ratepayers who support the quarry and its economic benefits for Melbourne and northern Victoria. As the Minister for Planning, Mr Wynne should appreciate as much as I do—as apparently the Libs do not—the value that small to medium-sized quarries such as the one proposed at Wallan bring to our state, particularly in terms of planning, growth and development. I have been to Conundrum’s existing quarry in Melbourne’s north, and it is not intrusive, noisy or disruptive.

Life is tough enough for extractive industries in this state already. We need less restrictions, not more, to bring down the costs and create jobs. We need these quarries to keep pace with the ongoing development throughout our state and to power the government’s Big Build. It may not be the biggest vote winner, but without quarries to extract these resources, where will our new houses, foundations, roads and bridges come from? Will we have them flat-packed to us from China? The action I seek is for the minister to publicly endorse and affirm his support for this quarry as well as all quarries in Victoria. Quarries provide the state with the resources needed to meet our current and future development needs.