{"id":116978,"date":"2026-03-05T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/?p=116978"},"modified":"2026-03-05T12:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:39:42","slug":"crowd-protests-proposed-fort-queenscliff-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/news\/crowd-protests-proposed-fort-queenscliff-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowd protests proposed Fort Queenscliff sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of the Queenscliff community again protested the proposed sale of the town’s historic Fort Queenscliff<\/a>, with about 200 people rallying in support of the cause on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Borough of Queenscliffe council<\/a> has also unanimously resolved its next steps in response to the Albanese government’s proposed divestments of defence sites.<\/p>\n

Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson organised the protest outside Fort Queenscliff on Sunday afternoon, announcing that a future Coalition government would keep the fort and land on nearby Swan Island in Commonwealth hands and not sell either site “not now, not never”.<\/p>\n

“We’re hearing lots of motherhood statements but no guarantees,” Senator Henderson said.<\/p>\n

“This is a fight we can win [and] we must win for our region, for our town, for our heritage and for our defence capability.”<\/p>\n

Other speakers were Queenscliff Community Association (QCA) president, David Connoley; Lucy Croxford from Australian Air Force Cadets; and National Trust of Victoria Geelong and Region branch president David Hobbs.<\/p>\n

“There is nothing in the country that matches this iconic fort,” Connoley said, adding Fort Queenscliff was a better example than the forts in Newcastle and Albany.<\/p>\n

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The protesters outside Fort Queenscliff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It can be opened up and celebrated and accessed by people right across the country.<\/p>\n

“We’d [the QCA] like an options analysis, we’d like a full EES [environmental effects statement] on site, we’d like a business case.”<\/p>\n

Following the speeches, the crowd formed a human barrier across the gate to Fort Queenscliff.<\/p>\n

Donnie Grigau, who will lead a taskforce investigating the sale in a personal capacity and not as a borough councillor or mayor, was an apology at the protest.<\/p>\n

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Protesters, including Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson (centre,in blue) formed a human barrier outside the gate to Fort Queenscliff to show their opposition to its sale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The borough has not yet adopted a formal stance on the divestment but at the council meeting on Wednesday last week, Cr Di Rule successfully moved a motion of urgent business with a six-part action plan:<\/p>\n