In my inaugural speech to the Victorian Parliament in December past 12 months, I spoke about what I think is my obligation as a millennial MP to do what I can to assist my friends to accomplish the good Australian desire of household possession.

As I claimed, “I believe that it is immoral that huge sections of our internal towns, flush with good transportation, universities, wellness care and other infrastructure, continue being nearly flat, with obsolete overlays denying young Victorians a probability to invest in their 1st house where they want to dwell. If my party desires to remain suitable to young folks, we need to at every single option reject this limited-sighted and unfair strategy and champion household possession.”

This prospects me to dilemma the weird recommendation from the independent Setting up Panels Victoria report into the Metropolis of Melbourne’s Carlton Heritage Critique, which explained there was “significant justification” into applying a heritage overlay to the “brutalist” fashion carpark on the corner of Grattan and Cardigan streets in Carlton.

There is the stating that just one man’s trash is a further man’s treasure. But why we would want to heritage list a museum to parked vehicles is beyond me. Yet we have substantial architecture industry experts lining up to opine on is extra like a seven-storey pile of concrete.

Even though some in the political course may possibly not want to confess it, we have a housing disaster.

This is not to say that important web-sites and structures really should not be heritage mentioned. But it’s about striking the proper equilibrium, which I really don’t believe that has transpired in the scenario of the Metropolis of Melbourne Heritage Assessment.

Defenders of heritage listings and overlays will usually argue that listing does not have an affect on enhancement if the facade is managed. But VCAT has straight up turned down a proposal to make a 9-storey apartment tower future to the heritage-listed 204-208 Albert St, in an location of East Melbourne which is previously surrounded by comparable flats.

Whilst some may possibly feel they’re on the aspect of the angels and preventing a holy war in opposition to evil house developers, in substantial element all they conclude up performing is sending my generation packing to growth areas in which schooling, health care, features and infrastructure are previously a decade at the rear of in expansion.

I’m all for citizens getting their say about what they consider to be inappropriate progress, and I’m not about to go into bat for all builders. Some are entitled to the very poor name they cop. But we require to have an understanding of that it is not builders that are moving into these households and residences, it is the up coming generation, and migrants, searching for a slice of the wonderful Australian aspiration.

Let us not pull the ladder up powering us. Alternatively, we really should helpfully drop it down so the upcoming era of Australians can safe a household where by they want to stay. •

Evan Mulholland is the Liberal Member for Northern Metropolitan Region and Shadow Cabinet Secretary.