page_title: Docklands, Victoria
section_title: Kennett era - wheels set in motion
hierarchical_section_title: Docklands, Victoria / History / Kennett era - wheels set in motion
caption_attribution_description: Docklands Stadium, Melbourne, Australia under construction Christmas 1998. Named as Colonial Stadium, then Telstra Dome, and (from March 2009) Etihad Stadium
context_page_description: Docklands is an inner-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2016 Census, Docklands had a population of 10,964.
  Docklands occupies an area adjacent to the Melbourne central business district, consisting of land and water totalling 200 hectares. It is bounded by Wurundjeri Way and the Charles Grimes Bridge to the east, CityLink to the west and Lorimer Street across the Yarra to the south and is a primarily waterfront area centred on the banks of the Yarra River.
  Contemporary Docklands is the product of an ongoing urban renewal project to extend the area of the Melbourne CBD by over a third when completed around 2015. It is now home to several of Melbourne's modern landmarks, including Docklands Stadium and the Melbourne Star Observation wheel.
  From the 1880s, the former swamp west of Melbourne became heavily used as a dock, with an extensive network of wharfs, heavy rail infrastructure and light industry.
context_section_description: With a government running in budget deficits, not much progress was made on the Docklands project. In late 1992, Jeff Kennett was elected Premier. Kennett instituted many changes and turned the government's financial position around. He then embarked on a multitude of projects, which included Docklands. It was politically imperative to get the project rolling, the Docklands Authority opted for the concept of having leaving all design and funding of infrastructure to the developers. The development industry supported this, and claimed that the project would be more efficient. Docklands was divided into sections or precincts, which were to be tendered to private companies to be developed.
  May 1996 saw the relaunch of the tender process. Few restrictions were applied to the bids from developers, and as the vision was to make Docklands 'Melbourne's Millennium Mark', the key criterion for a successful bid was to get projects going by 2000. It did not take long for the realisation that the lack of government coordination in infrastructure planning would create problems. Developers would not invest into public infrastructure, where benefits would flow on to an adjacent property. This was corrected by allowing developers to negotiate for infrastructure funding with the government. The Docklands Village precinct was planned for a residential and commercial mixed development, but, in late 1996, that plan was scrapped when it was announced a private football stadium would be built on the site. The site was chosen for its easy access to the then Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station), and it was intended to be an anchor for the entire project and provide for a clear signal to the long-awaited start of the Docklands project. However, this would create a huge barrier between the City and Docklands.
  In 1997, the Docklands commission engaged architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall to design the Docklands masterplan.
  With the exception of Yarra Waters (later Yarra's Edge) bid by Mirvac, bid for every other precinct between 1998-1999 fell through, reasons for which were often unclear due to secrecy provisions and a change of government.
caption: Docklands Stadium under construction in December 1998
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