Wednesday, 13 August 2025

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:42): I rise today not just to revisit a petition that was tabled here in this place but to give voice to a community that has for far too long been silenced. A small hamlet of 45 people in Kongwak, South Gippsland, locals call ‘the valley of peace’ is a place where neighbours look out for each other and farmers quietly tend to their land. Although Kongwak are perpetually sidelined and dismissed in the scramble for public resources, they are not complaining.

Were it not for this audacious developer, this overlooked community would more than likely stay out of sight and out of mind, but a $36 million development changed all of that. The old Kongwak Butter Factory, once a proud symbol of a time when paddock to plate was a rural reality, not merely a TV catchphrase, is at the heart of this proposal. It includes the prospect of 39 cabins, luxury villas, a restaurant and a convention centre approved without community consultation, without VCAT review and without local council oversight. The developer places wastewater treatments on flood plains just 40 metres from the property of Stephen and Lee Storti, owners of the Ferndale organic farm, a place they once planned to stay and die in. This now endangers the farm’s organic certification and, they say, their sanity. In fact this proposal will overwhelm this tiny population by 400 per cent, bringing a sewage burden that dwarfs the town’s capacity, and it does not stop there. It is an insult to the community’s dignity.

The developers initially proposed an entry point through the avenue of honour, a line of trees lovingly planted in honour of soldiers that served that community. After pressure from the RSL the proposal was changed. However, the threat remains as the narrow road needs to be carved wide open to make room for commercial buses. Behind these trees a dam is proposed, blocking a causeway, something farmers themselves are prohibited from doing. This is all in farm-zoned area, yet the developer, with just 36 acres, is permitted to do what others were told would require 100 acres.

This is not only a planning failure, it is a real slap in the face to the community. It is a threat to biosecurity, regional food security and the mental health of an already stressed rural population. The very people this government promised to listen to – regional hardworking families – are being drowned out by developers with high-level connections in a modern-day David and Goliath battle. To ensure the development’s success a former EY director was awarded half a million dollars in taxpayer funds to produce reports to justify this project. To their credit, this tiny town rallied together and petitioned on change.org, garnering over 4000 signatures – only to have them recorded as one single objection. In despair the community came to me. I tabled a petition opposing this development on 27 November last year, with 1165 signatures representing voices far beyond Kongwak. If we truly believed in supporting regional communities, a genuine community consultation would have occurred and people would have been listened to. The artificial lights powering new street lighting, roads and buildings will forever transform this peaceful landscape, disrupting the natural, sunlight-driven circadian rhythms that animals live by and thrive by. The very shape of the land will act as a natural amphitheatre, echoing live music, and late-night guests and partygoers moving between venues and accommodation will disrupt the nature of the place.

I ask all members to consider this: if we silence little communities like this in favour of connected developers, who is next? The people of Kongwak are not anti-development – they support small-scale, respectful proposals – but they are against this development because of its scale and its disproportionate size compared to the town and its character and its destruction of the land and nature around it, the soul of the community. It is time to stop this widespread pattern of decision-making that fast-tracks large development over small farmers and overlooks communities. This is not just a planning dispute; this is a culture that needs to change.