Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) — My adjournment matter, one of great importance for the Sunbury community, is for the attention of the Minister for Planning, who I see is in the house. The action I seek is that the minister coordinate a whole-of-government approach and create a master plan for the former Victoria University campus in Sunbury, on Jacksons Hill. I have raised this very important matter in the house before, and I am committed, determined and passionate about seeing it addressed.

The site, known previously as the Caloola Training Centre and before that the Sunbury Mental Hospital, has a long and dark past. I am not going to provide a history of that tonight; I have done so in the house before. This week I have had the great honour of tabling a petition in the house from the Sunbury Asylum Alliance and the Sunbury Community Progress Association. With over 1200 signatures, the petition draws to the attention of the house the decay, neglect and vandalism of the now-abandoned Victoria University Sunbury site and requests the reacquisition of the decommissioned site and its protection for future community use.

I want to thank each resident who has signed the petition, written to me or called to raise this important matter. In particular I want to thank Alison Cunningham and Julie Davenport of the Sunbury Community Progress Association as well as all members of the Sunbury Asylum Alliance for their hard work in bringing this petition to the house. I also want to thank Cr Ann Potter along with the federal member for McEwen, Rob Mitchell, who has discussed this issue at length with me. Recently a community advisory committee was assembled by Hume City Council to develop a proposal for an arts and cultural precinct on the site, and this report is now with the Hume council.

It is a great shame that Victoria University chose to close the campus and close the door on tertiary education for Sunbury and the broader Hume and Macedon Ranges region. I can see the honourable member for Macedon nodding her head as well. We are where we are, and we cannot go back; we can only go forward. We need a coordinated whole-of-government approach that delivers tangible, practical and beneficial outcomes that stand the test of time and stand up to the challenges in market conditions, a plan that ensures the future of the site that is secure and sound for generations to come, and a plan that involves the community in every step of the way and also involves Hume City Council. I ask that the site be considered as part of a whole-of-government approach led by the Minister for Planning in conjunction with the Minister for Education, the Minister for Training and Skills and of course the Minister for Creative Industries, in consultation with the relevant departments.

As I have said before, Sunbury is planned to grow significantly over the next 15 to 20 years, and with such growth important demands for new educational opportunities will arise. My hope and my vision for the Jacksons Hill site is for it to become a wonderful hub of educational and community opportunity, a place of learning and discovery, a place we are proud of and a place that captures and protects the historical significance of the site not just for today but for future generations. For this to happen, we need a whole-of-government approach, and tonight I ask the Minister for Planning to make this happen.