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Schools, police stations: Andrews to sell off 2600 hectares of public land - The Age

Those properties include an old hardware store site on Alexandra Parade in Clifton Hill, vacant land on Warde Street and Whitehall Street in Footscray and a building and land at Grice Crescent in Essendon.

The government says there is nothing unusual about its plans, claiming the figures were being inflated by the large parcels of agricultural land on its disposal list.

The state also says that all surplus land is considered for other uses, including public housing, and undergoes native title assessments before being put on the market.

The Greens also believe selling off sites around Victoria will jeopardise the much-vaunted treaty between the state's government and its Aboriginal people by denying Indigenous groups the chance to negotiate over Crown land.

The largest land parcel due to be sold is 374 hectares of the old Mallee Research Station at Walpeup outside Mildura.

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Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said the government was selling off land to developers when it should be using it to help the poor and the homeless.

“A good government would put the interests of communities first," Ms Ratnam said.

"Public land should be kept to meet public needs, not be sold off to prop up the government’s bottom line.

“Without greater investment in public housing Victoria will continue to fall far behind the rest of the country when it comes to tackling the homelessness crisis.”

Lidia Thorpe, the former Greens MP who now acts as an advocate for the Djab Wurrung and Gunditjmara peoples, said the land sales were a "betrayal".

“This mass sell-off of surplus Crown and public land is a betrayal of the treaty process," Ms Thorpe said.

"Land is crucial in settling treaties between the Victorian government and the First Peoples of this land, but how can we negotiate for this public land if it has all been sold off?"

A government spokesperson told The Age the current "for sale" list  was not unusual.

"The number of properties being prepared for sale and on the market is consistent with figures over the past 20 years," she said.

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