Thursday, 15 August 2019

 Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (12:11): My question without notice is to the Minister for Priority Precincts. The government talked long and hard—in fact it waxed lyrical, as the minister is very good at doing—about its plans for the East Werribee employment precinct and the proposals for the Australian Education City. The Andrews Labor government has now totally ditched these proposals, including the promised new jobs and investment. Minister, what will replace these plans?

 Mr JENNINGS (South Eastern Metropolitan—Leader of the Government, Special Minister of State, Minister for Priority Precincts, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs) (12:12): I thank Mr Finn for a couple of things. One is that he is obviously concerned about an important part of his electorate and the community in Werribee and the ongoing measures that can be taken to support economic and employment opportunities in that municipality. I am pleased that that is an issue that is important to him. It certainly is an issue that is important to the Victorian government, and we have seen that in a variety of ways, which I will go back to in the conclusion of my answer to remind the chamber of some things that have occurred in that community and things we are going to work on. But I know that there is a threshold question, because I know that there is some degree of disappointment in the community that the Australian Education City proposal did not reach maturity—a proposal that originally was put to the government that we succeeded—in terms of whether it was going to deliver real and lasting educational, and not only educational, facilities and attract collaboration between here and China in terms of universities who were prepared to be a walk-up start for that opportunity, on which the concept was founded.

I do not necessarily want to go through the internal commercial considerations or the maturity of those proposals from the proponents of the Australian Education City, but I think it is very essential for people to reflect on who were the international education institutions that had signed up for this proposal. If you apply that test, then you actually may have some concerns about its ongoing viability. You also could actually think about what industry was going to be attached to that proposal. How was that proposal, when it was redesigned and reconfigured to fit into the landscape, going to fit with the Victorian government’s major plans in relation to regional rail, the Suburban Rail Loop, the airport rail link and whether they were compatible? These were the various elements that the government had to consider about whether the proposal was compliant with those contemporary issues.

The government has actually invested significantly and supported investment in health precincts. There has certainly been significant investment, as you know, in infrastructure that was provided to that community. We have very mature and enduring relationships with Victoria University in relation to their aspirations for their already existing educational facilities in that municipality. We have also had some constructive conversations with Deakin University about the potential for that opportunity to be filled by an interest of local universities that will be driving a coincidence of not only their educational opportunities. We are working with Wyndham council in terms of the way in which we can bring those proposals forward into the future, because we understand that at the heart of Mr Finn’s question is a legitimate concern for the economic and employment opportunities for people of the west.

 Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (12:15): Minister, as you have indicated, this project—proposed project, suggested project, call it what you will now—is a real game changer for Melbourne’s west, and there is real concern about what this land may or may not be used for. As a result of that, will you provide the house with an assurance that this massive tract of land, this critical precinct, will not be chopped up for housing blocks?

 Mr JENNINGS (South Eastern Metropolitan—Leader of the Government, Special Minister of State, Minister for Priority Precincts, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs) (12:16): I believe I can come 99.9 per cent of the way to giving you that undertaking, because that is not the intention of the government. That is not the preferred outcome that the government wishes to pursue. The government wish to pursue employment and educational opportunities and infrastructure that will lead to economic participation in the community, and we do not see it as a dormitory suburb or as a dormitory part of the suburb. We actually want to make sure that there are economic and other opportunities that are driven in this important part of Werribee.