Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

During the past week in Geelong we have seen the pages of our local paper, the Geelong Advertiser, filled with debate about the future of Geelong’s central business district. The decline of a once vibrant regional retail centre is a sorry sight that is not lost on anyone. The Advertiser has taken up the call to save our CBD. This discussion is great to see. Concern about the march of major retailers towards the waterfront and the empty shops left in their wake is, of course, not new. But sustained and thoughtful public discussion about what should be done to revive our ailing retail heart is new. I welcome that discussion wholeheartedly and congratulate the Geelong Advertiser for its initiative and commitment.

I have voiced my concerns about this issue on many occasions, including several times in speeches delivered in the House. I passionately believe that Geelong could take its place among Australia’s best known heritage cities if we focused on reviving those buildings that have seen better days. Our built heritage could be a major drawcard enticing not just shoppers but also tourists to Ryrie and Moorabool streets. Just a few months ago I spoke about the importance of Ryrie Street, which, through its built heritage, plots the evolution of our city.

Geelong is not a boom city like Bendigo and Ballarat. We are a city that was settled early and grew strongly firstly through agriculture and then through industry. The buildings of Ryrie Street reflect that, spanning the decades from the mid-1800s onwards, representing not just one era but many eras. But the removal of verandas, unsightly signage and general neglect means most of us barely look twice at many of these historic gems.

The discussion over the past week has highlighted a few key issues: the costs and location of parking, how we can broaden the city’s appeal by encouraging more people to live there and making the streets more pedestrian friendly. We have heard from cities like Newcastle that have faced this challenge in the past and have taken a creative approach and reinvented themselves in the process. But to find a solution that suits Geelong we need to articulate that problem and that will not happen until our civic leadership puts our CBD on their agenda. So today I encourage the City of Greater Geelong, the Committee for Geelong and G21 to each place the fate of Geelong’s city centre on their well-published list of regional priorities.

We can talk all we like—and discussion is absolutely crucial—but until these leadership groups put the CBD onto their priority lists for negotiations with local, state and federal levels of government then we are not acting. I do not think that there is a person who lives in Geelong who would not like to see a revival of the city centre and I welcome the debate in the pages of the Geelong Advertiser and look forward to the ‘Addy’ keeping this debate alive for the long haul.

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