JEFF KENNETT SAID...

"The gardens and parklands of Melbourne belong to the people of the State. The parklands of the city are something the politicians have inherited to hold in trust so that they can be passed on to future generations. It is not our right as members of Parliament in 1985 to say simply that the original plan of Melbourne and the parklands are ours to give away."

"It is unfair to steal the public's parkland simply because an individual has proposed a scheme... I bitterly oppose the concept of stealing parkland."

"I recognize that the land is held in trust and should not be given up lightly because one is told that it wiIl be replaced. Various groups that use the land have not been consulted"

Jeff Kennett
VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT HANSARD. NATIONAL TENNIS CENTRE BILL,
OCT 1 1985. pp501-2

Jeff Kennett said this when he was leader of the opposition in 1985. In 1993 after being elected Premier of the state of Victoria, he set in motion a stealing of public parkland that makes the National Tennis Centre project pale into insignificance...