The Allan Labor Government cannot be trusted to deliver the homes Victorians desperately need.
Despite inheriting a fully rezoned precinct at Fishermans Bend more than a decade ago, the Victorian Auditor-General has today confirmed the Government's ongoing failure to lead and deliver the state's largest urban renewal project.
The 480-hectare Fishermans Bend renewal area - more than twice the size of Melbourne's CBD - was once heralded as a city-defining opportunity. Instead, it stands as a case study in bureaucratic chaos and missed deadlines.
The planning Framework has now been delayed by at least five years, pushing final delivery out to 2055. Some medium-term projects will be delayed or deferred by up to 21 years beyond the original schedule. The key tools to unlock the precinct's growth - the Development Contributions Plan (DCP) and Precinct Implementation Plans (PIPs) - were due in 2019 but remain incomplete.
As a result, just four of the 21 medium-term projects expected by 2025 have been completed, and only 12 of 28 longer-term initiatives have even been committed to.
Worse still, governance changes in 2021 excluded local government partners from decision-making. The City of Melbourne has refused to sign the partnership agreement, citing a lack of genuine consultation and stating that the Allan Labor Government's mishandling has placed it at unnecessary risk.
Shadow Minister for Planning, Richard Riordan, said the report was a devastating indictment of Labor's mismanagement and empty promises on housing.
"In eleven years - with zoning already in place - Labor has failed to work with local government or the development sector to deliver the homes Melbourne desperately needs," Mr Riordan said.
"They can't even deliver housing on a cleared site twice the size of the CBD. How can Victorians trust them to build in established communities where heritage, open space and local character are at stake?"
"Premier Allan and Minister Kilkenny must come clean and tell Victorians whether the 50 newly rezoned activity centres will face the same decade of delay, dysfunction and failure."
"Labor's track record shows that when it comes to urban renewal, it's all announcement and no delivery."
