Tuesday, 14 October 2025

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:36): (1985) I want to raise an adjournment matter tonight for the Minister for Planning. Last night in Hawthorn, at Glenferrie Primary School, there was a huge public meeting. Ms Crozier and I were both there with Mr Pesutto and a number of other panel members. There is palpable fury at what the state government is seeking to do in the City of Boroondara, in the Hawthorn electorate, in the Kew electorate, in the Ashwood electorate – right across large areas of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but in particular in Southern Metropolitan Region. What the government is seeking to do with its planning changes is force high-rise, high-density changes. Many people are concerned about what is going to happen with heritage, and it is true that there were no assurances given at the select committee that was held here to look at the new planning amendments. No assurances were given that heritage would be protected, and I am very concerned that the state government has many of our heritage areas in its gun. It hates many of the suburbs that have long-established heritage. For example, last night I spoke to a man who has got an 1872 home. It is a very significant property. It has a very significant history. But the state government is proposing to put an eight-storey tower right next to him, and that will overshadow his property. It will clearly upset the historic significance of the property, and this is being replicated again and again across the city as the state government’s new plans and its new maps and new arrangements come in.

The state government has not understood what is happening with heritage. Heritage Council Victoria made a very powerful submission to our inquiry, and clearly the state government had tried to nobble it at the time. I pay tribute to the work of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in bringing to the fore some of these issues with planning and the risk to our significant built heritage. What I am wanting from the planning minister is that she meet with the royal historical society and with the heritage council to understand what impact these changes will have on our heritage. We need to have guarantees that nationally heritage listed properties are protected, that state heritage properties are protected and that locally recognised properties have proper protections. At the moment we do not have that. At the moment they are under the gun and they could easily be rolled over.