Thursday, 4 June 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (10:52): I want today to draw the house’s attention further to some of the matters we discussed yesterday: the so-called activity centre program. What is clear is this program for high-rise, high-density development in nodes around the city is much more extensive than the government has let on. It is not just the 10 key ones and then another 50; it is actually another 150 on top of that – that is 210. That is what the government intends to do. It is now retreating as fast as it can from that, but the cat is out of the bag. If the government is re-elected – and 2028 is the date that is listed – at the end of the year, it will roll out another 150 zones. There are only 340 suburbs in Melbourne, let alone the number of zones that are being intended – 210 is the number. Nobody should be under any illusions. The community needs to know that these high-rise, high-density monstrosities, many of them 20 storeys and beyond, without proper control are rolling over communities undemocratically, tearing out vegetation and destroying heritage – 210 of these across Melbourne. It is an absolute disgrace. The government has tried to keep this secret. It is now running away from it, but the community should be under no illusions whatsoever. If they are re-elected, it will be on.