Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (18:33): (2343) My adjournment is to the Premier, and it concerns the proposal for St Joseph’s Christian college from the Assyrian Church of the East. This whole tale is a sorry saga. The school site that they had wanted and that the government asked them to submit an application for was opposed by the government and then opposed in VCAT. They made all sorts of excuses in VCAT on behalf of the Minister for Planning, who took them there, including the certain type of trees they could not have and the traffic. Even though the government approved a 5000-home precinct structure plan (PSP) right across the road from where they planned to build the school, apparently it was going to be the school that caused the traffic. The church community made every attempt and did everything the government asked for, including making the site of the school smaller. That was not good enough, and the government still won that case to block that school, and despite expressing support for the school, this process has dragged on. Every proposal that has been put to the government has been met with a dead end, and I am told by my friends in the Assyrian community that they are getting a bit tired of this process. The government proposed a site in Craigieburn, and I think they have basically picked a spot on Google Maps and said, ‘This would be nice.’ The problem is that site is owned by the council, and the council, under state government laws, has no process to hand that land over to the Assyrian Church of the East. There would have to be a public open sale of that land. There has seemingly been no consultation. Despite a motion being moved at council for a ‘Please explain’ by the state government, this process has dragged on, with the government seemingly lacking interest in this.

I seek the action of the minister to approve the original site in Yuroke, which is perfectly capable of hosting a school. It is on Mickleham Road. There are plenty of schools on Mickleham Road, like Aitken College much further down Mickleham Road. It is a great site for a school for a growing community that deserves St Joseph’s Christian college. It should be approved there. The government approved a massive PSP right across the road, so it is not going to be the school that causes additional traffic. It is the government that will have to fund the infrastructure in that area, maybe if it spent developer contributions in that area.

The community knows where I stand with them on faith and on family, and I will never stop fighting for them for this school. I seek the action of the Premier to approve the original Yuroke site for St Joseph’s Christian college or to get on with a proposal to house St Joseph’s Christian college in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.