Wednesday, 12 August 2026

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:21): I move:

That this house:

(1)   notes that:

(a) the Box Hill brickworks site, disused for 40 years, was never contemplated for residential use under the Whitehorse planning scheme, given its contamination;

(b) the most recent Environment Protection Authority report identifies buried benzo(a)pyrene, a known carcinogen, and advises against development without remediation;

(c) the Allan government rezoned the site in 2025 for high-rise residential development at substantially increased heights, now gazetted;

(d) no study demonstrating site safety has been released, nor the rezoning’s basis explained;

(2)   in accordance with standing order 10.01, requires the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within 14 days of the house agreeing to this resolution, all documents created since 1 January 2022, including briefs, correspondence, advice, reports, assessments and minutes, held by the minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Planning, Suburban Rail Loop Authority, Department of Transport and Planning or Environment Protection Authority, relating to:

(a) the decision to rezone the site for residential use and its justification;

(b) any preliminary risk screen assessment, environmental audit, audit overlay assessment or other contamination or human-health assessment relied on in that decision, under the Environment Protection Act 2017 or otherwise;

(c) any advice on whether the rezoning complied with planning, environmental and due-process requirements, including any need for updated assessment;

(d) any communication between those bodies or ministers on the site’s residential safety; and

(e) any communication, negotiation or agreement with the landowner, Phileo or associated entities, concerning the rezoning or built form.

I am pleased to speak to this short-form documents motion 1554 in which I am seeking documents regarding the rezoning of the Box Hill brickworks from unusable, contaminated landfill space to suddenly being suitable for high-density high-rise apartments. Briefly on the history of this, from 1880 to about 1990, it was an open-cut mine used for excavating clay and other things to make bricks. At that point it was closed and used as landfill for about 10 years. That landfill, as community memory allows, was pretty unregulated. There were all sorts of things that went into that landfill. When it was finally closed and there was some environmental testing done, it was found that the only safe thing to do was to put a clay cap across the entirety of the site, lock it in and put in some ventilation methods to ventilate methane and other gases that were percolating below. The most recent EPA report in 2019 said there are carcinogens in the groundwater – benzo(a)pyrene in particular. There is a risk of leaching groundwater into various areas.

The community itself has always held that in due course this should become open space because that is the traditional Melbourne solution to contaminated landfill sites: to make them parkland. If you put it in the context of Box Hill, where we have extraordinary growth in the population – in fact the population of that suburb alone is due to double with no additional open space being provided – then it seems absolutely the most perfect solution.

It was a shock to many when the government and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority decided that they would rezone this out of the blue into high-density high-rise housing. This is despite copious amounts of local contributions on why this should not be so but also engineering contributions saying that this will disturb the contaminated soil below in undesirable ways. You would have to do extraordinary amounts of engineering to make it safe to the local streets. I give credit also to the local group, the Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association, who have been instrumental in bringing this to the attention of the community and identifying the fact that the need for passive open space is not a luxury in a growing high-density area, which Box Hill is becoming. It is essential for health and recreation and for young people to have somewhere to move. There are already five 50-storey towers planned just streets away from this site, which will have no other open space.

The mystery of how it has suddenly been rezoned has been raised. I have raised it several times in this chamber, asking, ‘Where is the new environmental study that says this is safe?’ Even the engineering report says you could not put residences on the ground floor because of the gas risk. You could only have residences from the first storey upwards. There is obviously an inherent risk, but there has been no new environmental study. How this has come about is a mystery to the community. It is contrary to all logic, so something is up. Therefore I would like to see the documents on how this rezoning came about. What was the correspondence with the owner? What was the correspondence within the ministerial group? What was the decision-making process that took place to allow this to be arbitrarily – it seems arbitrary – rezoned to high density against every bit of logic that we see and every community wish as well?

I will pre-empt slightly here as well: there cannot be any objection to the production of these on the basis of them being commercial in confidence, because there has been no commercial transaction. There is nothing commercial in it; this is a rezoning. It would be highly suspicious if commercial in confidence was raised as a reason to not produce these documents, because that would suggest that the rezoning was done under some sort of financial deal, against environmental requirements. It would be equally suspicious if cabinet in confidence was called on to stop these documents being produced, because surely the rezoning of a piece of derelict land in the middle of an urban area is not something that requires cabinet debate unless there is something more to the story that is not being told to the people of Box Hill.

I will just sum up by saying that I am not just saying that this land should be open parkland; I am saying this land must be open parkland. It must be for the future citizens of Box Hill. This is an intergenerational decision that is going to be made, and if any other use of this land is going to take place, then it is absolutely a requirement that the community have transparency on how this came about. What was the decision-making process? What was the quid pro quo? What was the transaction? What were the motivations? I think the people of Box Hill deserve nothing less. I conclude by saying the people of Box Hill will also be expressing their demand for this to be open space at a community rally run by the Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association on Sunday 23 August at 1:30 pm at Surrey Dive. We are expecting and hoping for a large community turnout for that event.

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:27): I rise to make a contribution on Mr Welch’s motion in regard to the Box Hill brickworks site. This is a documents motion, and as per convention, the government does not oppose documents motions. But having sat here and listened to the contribution of Mr Welch and also having read the motion, it should come as no surprise to anybody in this chamber that of course it is riddled with misinformation and poor facts. I just want to address some of the misinformation in this. What is important to note – and again, government speakers on this side have 5 minutes to respond to a documents motion, so we get gagged and nobbled from giving this a proper response, but that is the want of this chamber and the treatment of government by the people in this chamber. Nevertheless, the Box Hill brickworks site has been identified via precinct planning, and it will be the catalyst for building thousands of new homes within walking distance of new stations in Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill because that is what people have told us they want. They want affordable homes within walking distance of public transport.

After several years of planning, consultation and review, the Minister for Planning has approved the planning scheme amendments for SRL East stations. We have had more than 10,000 responses and submissions, and the feedback has actually helped shape the final planning controls and structures. The privately owned former Box Hill brickworks site has been identified as a strategic site in the SRL structure plan for Box Hill because of its size and location and its potential to deliver housing, employment and community benefits, which is why we want to make sure we get it right.

Mr Welch wants to talk about what the government has done, but what he has failed to address in his motion is that Whitehorse City Council rezoned the site for future residential use in 2006, identifying it as a strategic redevelopment site.

Richard Welch interjected.

Sonja TERPSTRA: There you go. Let us not talk about that. He does not want to talk about what Whitehorse council did. But this is not the first time that Mr Welch has blatantly and unashamedly misled this place. He says council never contemplated residential use at this site – they did. I may have missed any announcement this morning, but I cannot see where Mr Welch or the Liberals have made any announcement about their plans and whether they would acquire the site. I have been advised by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority that the cost of acquiring this site along with the necessary remediation works would exceed $200 million. I hear nothing from those opposite other than stirring up community concern and fearmongering, but there has been no announcement from them about what they might do. If they claim they want to make this site open parkland, then they should stump up the $200 million to make it happen.

I am telling you right now what the EPA has been telling us. Whoever acquires this site and whatever happens to it, of course there will have to be remediation works. Any change to the use of the Box Hill brickworks will require the soil conditions to be suitable for use. For residential development the soil must be remediated to meet human health guidelines and to the satisfaction of an EPA-accredited environmental auditor. This is standard practice, and it has been done across several landfill and industrial sites across Victoria and Australia, including the Epping renewal site, the Highett Gasworks, Arden precinct, Fishermans Bend, Docklands, Cairnlea estate and Carlton United Breweries on Swanston Street, just to name a few. These are examples of urban renewal with residential, commercial and employment outcomes that show that changes in land use can be done safely over former landfills, gasworks and other former industrial sites if done appropriately, properly and thoroughly.

We have been clear with the public throughout the structure planning process on how this site could enhance the broader community. But as I said – I will go back to my earlier comments – it is time for the Liberal Party to come clean. I have not seen any announcement. Mr Welch and the Liberals might talk about what they think should happen, but how about they stump up with an announcement of $200 million? How about it? No. All they are interested in doing is frightening the community, scaremongering and spreading misinformation. We know that people want homes closer to public transport, but how are those opposite going to achieve that if they are going to cut $40 billion from the budget in their costings? The acquisition of the Box Hill brickworks site does not appear to be part of any announcement they have made yet. We know all we get from those opposite is more politics, no substance and just more garbage. They are happy to sit on the sidelines and use misinformation as fearmongering, but they have no interest in actual delivery and are just consistently and continuously whipping up fear.

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (10:32): I rise to strongly support motion 1554 brought by Mr Welch. It is a motion that is in two parts. It is a motion that first looks at the details of the Box Hill brickworks and reprises some of its history and some of the key matters around it: the 40-year history as a disused site; the EPA report; the Allan Labor government’s extraordinary rezoning for high-rise high-density development without any community support; and the fact that there has been no study demonstrating site safety and nor has the basis for rezoning ever been explained.

The second part of the motion is a pure documents order. It seeks documents, correspondence, briefs, advice, reports and other matters held by the minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, the Minister for Planning, the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, the Department of Transport and Planning and the Environment Protection Authority Victoria. These documents relate to the decision to rezone it – and this extraordinary rezoning has never been properly explained; the minister has done this behind closed doors – and whether there has been any risk-screening that looked closely at the human health risks and impacts. It is very clear, given the history of this site, that these risks are material and need to be dealt with properly, professionally and with high scientific standards. I do not think anyone would disagree with that, although the government appears to be happy to put housing on the site without undertaking these steps. That is how it appears. The motion seeks advice on whether the rezoning complied with planning, environmental and due process requirements; any communication between the various bodies or ministers on the site’s residential safety; and any communication, negotiation or agreement with the landowner Phileo or associated entities concerning the rezoning or built form.

We know we need more housing capacity, but running with that is a need to have proper infrastructure. Infrastructure is transport infrastructure. It is education infrastructure, it is health infrastructure and it is parkland and open space. If you are going to whack huge numbers of new people into a municipality, if you are going to force them into sites in around the Suburban Rail Loop, if you are going to force them into other sites in the City of Whitehorse, or neighbouring municipalities, you will need more parkland and you will need more ovals. Where will the children play? Where will people recreate? These are legitimate questions. We say the government has misunderstood the importance of this site. It is a historic opportunity to get more contiguous open space in a really strategic location. So why would we not proceed with that direction? And why would we not thereby open up these documents to see how the government’s decision-making has gone so wrong, how the decision-making has gone astray? I do not agree with this centralised decision-making. I think the City of Whitehorse should have a central role in this rather than the Minister for Planning. I understand that there are statewide implications to every major development, but the City of Whitehorse should be the primary planning authority on the future of the City of Whitehorse. It should reflect the community’s views, and it should work with the local community.

Mr Welch has worked hard on this issue, and I support his activities. Indeed I have had a number of approaches from the City of Whitehorse and from constituents in and near the City of Whitehorse, who have got quite a lot to say about these matters. They actually want the open space. They do not want dense towers on this location. As I say, given the neighbouring density that is planned and the neighbouring proposals that the government has for intense high-rise development, actually make this strategic site of open space even more important. So we say: let us take a longer term view here. Let us look at this as something that is part of the future.

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:37): I rise on behalf of my Greens colleagues to contribute to today’s production of documents motion regarding the Box Hill brickworks site. This is a site that has garnered a lot of interest in this part of my electorate, out in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in and around Box Hill, an area that has a lot of density that has built up over the years. It is a really vibrant community. I feel really proud to represent this part of Melbourne. It is home, for example, to the largest Chinese diaspora community in the country. It is a really amazing place to be. Any time you can get out there, I encourage everyone to go down. There are some amazing things to see down in Box Hill.

This documents motion seeks documents relating to decisions regarding rezoning of the site at the brickworks site for residential use and what that process was. It seeks documents around any preliminary risk screening assessment, environmental audits, audit overlays or other contamination or human health assessments relied on in and around these decisions, whether that is through the Environment Protection Act 2017 or otherwise, as well as advice on whether decisions around zoning and rezoning have complied here with planning, environmental and due process requirements. Is there a need for further updates to those assessments as well as communications between those bodies or ministers around things like the site safety, as well as broader communication or negotiation with the landowner or associated bodies?

The Greens are really proud to help secure these documents. I think it can put to bed a lot of concerns that may be out there around the processes that have been undertaken regarding use of this site, and it is a really important site if you factor in how much density there is in the area. It is a really important opportunity to make sure we get the use of the site right. You can see it on the map currently. It is a really large amount of space. You want to make sure that the community are involved and supportive of the decisions that are made with respect to that land.

The motion does also talk about the fact that this is a site that was disused for 40 years. It notes the contamination of the site, the presence of particular carcinogens in and around the site and that there has been advice given to government regarding the need for remediation of the site prior to any development. That has been mentioned by government contributions here today, noting of course the government’s decision, particularly in and around development of the Suburban Rail Loop, that this is intended for residential development. The Greens, I and my colleagues, have been clear from the beginning, in talking with the community who are behind this campaign and its origin, that we are supportive of a combination of open green space and genuinely affordable housing in and around this site. I think ultimately it should be the community that are in the steering position on what goes here, because as we see more density come across these parts of Melbourne, which are really amazing places like Box Hill, we have to make sure that people are given the open space that they deserve and that we have the amenity required to make sure that everyone has an optimal quality of life. These things should not be either-or.

In noting that, I want to acknowledge the work of my colleague down in Box Hill Aaron Qin, who is proud to be our Greens candidate for that state seat in the upcoming election. He is an amazing member of the local Chinese community down in that area and is seeking to represent the broader community in the Box Hill district at the upcoming election. He came to Australia as an international student to study nursing, and he has done an amazing job advocating for and representing community in this area.

Motion agreed to.