Howard Tries To Push Through Point Nepean Sale

Media Statement - 17 October 2002

John Howard has written to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks to tell him the Department of Defence will be selling Point Nepean on the open market - a move that opens the door to mansions for multi-millionaires, threatens the natural and heritage values of the site and shuts the door on plans to include the area in the Mornington Peninsula National Park.

The letter was in response to a request from the Premier for the Commonwealth to transfer the land to Victoria for inclusion in the National Park, after unexploded ordinances and chemical contamination had been cleaned up and heritage buildings on the site had been restored.

The Prime Minister's response displays an appalling lack of commitment to preserving both our natural and cultural heritage sites.

The Prime Minister is treating the people of the Mornington Peninsula with utter contempt. His letter makes a mockery of the consultation process established by his defence Minister. I call on him to withdraw this letter and extend the time available to the end of February, so there can be fair dinkum consultation process, not a sham.

This is not the approach John Howard took in his own backyard in Sydney. The Federal Government is spending $12 million on decontamination works of defence land at Sydney Harbour foreshore before handing it over to New South Wales to manage as National Park.

The land at Point Nepean is too valuable, too important, to be sold off to the highest bidder. It is surrounded by the Mornington Peninsula National Park – it should become part of the park, not an eyesore on the landscape that disfigures the Park.

If this land is sold for residential purposes, no working class people will end up living there – it'll be mansions for multi-millionaires. This land should become be a playground for all Victorians, not just the private property of a few.

If it's good enough for Sydney Harbour, it's good enough for Port Phillip Bay.