Mary Drost joined by actor Geoffrey Rush and the late comedian Barry Humphries at Camberwell Railway Station.
Mary led Planning Backlash with distinction and conviction for the best part of two decades,only passing the baton on after she reached the age of 90. She was an inspiration to many civic-minded locals fighting their own battles.
Mary’s energy was truly remarkable. She attended State Parliament regularly to debate strategy policy issues with ministers and MPs,and to oppose proposals which threatened heritage.
Outside parliament,she organised rallies,engaging her networks to oppose specific measures. She routinely attended Boroondara Council planning committee meetings,speaking against development proposals that threatened heritage,and engaging with individual councillors. Indeed,she continued to attend meetings and have her say even after her 90th birthday,right until her admission to Knox Private.
She wrote submissions to government,government agencies and to VCAT about both specific issues and about wider policy matters. She lent her experience and support to groups throughout Victoria. She helped bring activists together and keep them in touch with each other.
One of her great strengths was networking and communication. She had a wide list of supporter groups and supporters,who she regularly kept in touch with. She encouraged them to make their views known to the relevant authorities.
This work fostered civic pride and social cohesion. It was a powerful antidote to the greed and short-sightedness that passes for much of modern planning policy.
She described herself as a proud NIMBY (not in my backyard),believing that people had not only a right,but an obligation and responsibility,to protect the neighbourhood in which they lived. Of course,she never sought to shift the problem elsewhere,as is implied in the “NIMBY” jibe. She actively helped residents and groups right throughout Melbourne and Victoria.
Her interests were far from exclusively local. She received a Dutch award for presenting samurai swords,associated with the Japanese surrender of Indonesia to the Dutch at the end of World War II,to a Dutch museum. And she campaigned energetically for the return of the Elgin Marbles from Britain to Greece.
She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2009.
Mary led a long and outstandingly productive life. It is often said that in your life you should try to “make a difference”. By this yardstick,Mary succeeded spectacularly.
Kelvin Thomson is the convenor of Planning Democracy (formerly Planning Backlash) and was an ALP member of the House of Representatives for Wills in Victoria from 1996 to 2016.