Kick in with a small donation 4Kew	or make a statement with 4Kew Art - Click here to order -

2003

2004

Brief Chronology

The Kew Cottages 'Privatisation' Story So Far...

Pre History

1851 New Colony of Victoria Inaugurated
1852 First Medical Superintendant appointed at Yarra Bend
1864 Govenor La Trobe reserves 20% of all of Melbourne as Crown Land - "For public advantage and recreation'.
1864 Kew Asylum Land permanently reserved as Crown land.
1870 Charles Dickens dies.
1872 Kew Asylum opens, and education in Victoria becomes free, compulsory, and secular.
1880 Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building opens in Carlton Gardens
1881 Melbourne's first private school for the mentally handicapped opens in Moonee Ponds.

Early History

1887 Kew Cottages opens in the Crown Land Reserve just outside the walls of Kew Asylum.
1887 Outer Circle Railway line extended to Kew.
1888 Over 2 million people attend Melbourne's largest ever event - the Centennial Exhibition - more people than attended the 1956 Olympics.
1892 Construction starts on Melbourne's first sewer.

Post War

1952 Dr. Cunningham Dax appointed as Chairman of the Mental Health Authority starts a strong campaign for the Cottages
1953 The Herald's Tipping Appeal for the Cottages supported by John Cain Snr.'s Labor Government
1957 Cottages Parents Association established.
1959 Cottages Paediatric Unit established.
1966 Hamer flags idea of a 'Green Wedge' growth strategy for Melbourne
1971 Green Wedge Policies, including Statement of Planning Policy No.4 River Yarra, receive Bipartisan support in Parliament,
1975 The Age's Minus Children's Appeal for Kew Cottages supported by Rupert Hamer's Liberal Government
1983 Cottages land included as a 'Non Urban Area of high ecological and landscape interest value' in the Yarra Green Wedge.

Current

1999 Bracks election promise (Sep-99) to build more beds at Kew Cottages

Sep-99 Bracks meeting with 'Whatever it takes' Richardson is followed by large political donations to the Victorian ALP from both Packer and Walker.
Dec-99 Bracks Government amends Boroondara Planning Scheme

2000 Bracks silently amends the Government's Kew Cottages redevelopment policy.
2001 Bracks publicly announces his new plan to privatise Kew Cottages' Crown Lands.
2002 Bracks silently amputates Lower Yarra Valley and Dandenong Creek Valley Green Wedges (Sep-02)
2003 The Australian Financial Review breaks Offset Alpine story linking Richardson, Kennedy and Rivkin to secret share deals (Oct-03)

Nov-03 Bracks Government suddenly rezones Kew Cottages Crown Land and removes third-party appeal rights

2004 Kew Cottages Coalition and Louise Godwin nominate Kew Cottages for State Heritage listing

Nov-04 Bracks Government unsuccessfully opposes Heritage listing for Kew Cottages .

2005 Bracks Government revises Kew Cottages tender process.

Jun-05 Walker Corporation wins preferred tenderer status from Bracks Government but details of their agreement remains secret.

Jul-05 Bracks Government apply on financial grounds for a permit to demolish 3 of the 6 Heritage Cottages

Aug-05 Dr. Cunningham Dax calls for a Judicial Inquiry into the sale of the Kew Cottages Crown Lands

Sep-05 The first bulldozers start work at the Cottages near Main Drive in Brady Lane.

2006 A rare National Trust listed Bishop Pine Tree is found to be dying in Brady Lane

Feb-06 The Bishops Pine is subsequently diagnosed to be suffering from one of the deadliest tree diseases in Australia.

Mar-06 Boroondara Council commissions an expert environmental report by ENSPEC on the diseased Pine.
Apr-06 The ENSPEC Report finds disease management has been poor, recommends how it must be improved, and says an autopsy should be undertaken on the Pine in order to help establish when and how the tree became infected.
Jun-06 Bracks Government chops down the dying tree but refuse to undertake an autopsy.
Jun-06 Walkers start removing soil and native vegetation from a potential Aboriginal archaeological site in the grounds
Sep-06 Bracks Government grants the first planning permit that allows Walkers to remove native vegetation.
Oct-06 Bracks Government enters into a secret KRS Development Agreement with Walkers less than 30 days before the State Election
Nov-06 Bracks Government re-elected but Opposition parties now hold the balance of power in the Upper House.

2007 Bracks Government strongly opposes calls for a Public Inquiry into Public Land sales

Mar-07 The Age reports Richardson has been lobbying the Bracks government to approve Walkers on selling their Crown land development rights to rival developer Mirvac.. Mirvac's Victorian CEO denies Richardson is working for Mirvac.

May-07 Upper House establishes an all party Select Committee to Inquire into Public Land Development in Victoria
May-07 The Age reports Richardson's Kew Cottages exit bid has failed, but notes part of the development agreement has now been made public, and quotes Mirvac CEO Greg Paramour as saying 'he expected the Government to approve his company taking over the latter stages of the housing project'
Jul-07 Premier Steve Bracks and Environment Minister John Thwaites both suddenly resign without warning on the same day
Jul-07 John Brumby becomes Premier and appoints his new cabinet.
Sep-07 Just two years after Dr. Dax first called for a Judicial Inquiry, Victoria's Parliamentary Public Land Inquiry holds its first Public Hearings at Kew.
Sep-07 The new Brumby Government immediately moves to try and limit the Inquiry's terms of reference
Dec-07 The Public Land Inquiry publishes an Interim Report that accuses the Government of 'obstruction', and says that the involvement of lobbyist Graham Richardson at Kew Cottages is a serious issue and one that they will be investigating further.

2008 The Australian newspaper reports that Graham Richardson has been hit with a $2.3 million bill by the Australian Taxation Office following an investigation into the Offset Alpine share deals, and that the case will be heard in the Federal Court this year. (Frontpage 22/1/08)

2003

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010