Portfolio — 29 August 2026

The dominant arc in St Albans over this fortnight is a sustained push by the Member for St Albans, Ms Suleyman, across three interlocking themes: environmental remediation, community safety, and local infrastructure investment. The most significant single development is the EPA's revocation of Barro Group's operating licence for the Kealba landfill — a permanent closure of a facility that had generated persistent odour problems and underground fires affecting residents [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s037].

Ms Suleyman stated in the Assembly that she made consistent representations to the EPA and forwarded community petitions to the Minister for Environment to secure the outcome [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s037].

On community safety, Ms Suleyman announced that additional Public Safety Officers will patrol St Albans shopping strips and the station as part of the Victorian Government's crime prevention strategy [TA-260813-vichns-ff06af361824:s034]. She hosted a second roundtable with St Albans traders and announced a $10 million local safety infrastructure fund available to Brimbank City Council [TA-260827-vichns-1d37da03d766:s018].

The repeat engagement with traders — a second roundtable in the window — signals sustained dialogue with local business rather than a one-off announcement.

Ms Suleyman also paid tribute in the Assembly to Van Viet Truong, owner of Hồng Hương Asian Grocery in Sunshine, who died after intervening as a good Samaritan to help a neighbour [TA-260813-vichns-ff06af361824:s033]. The tribute sits alongside two infrastructure commitments that reflect the district's multicultural character: a $13 million investment in the new Brimbank Tech School in Sunny North, directed at hands-on vocational training for secondary students across Brimbank [TA-260827-vichns-1d37da03d766:s017], and a $4 million government investment in Quang Minh Temple, which Ms Suleyman described as serving a community support role beyond its religious function [TA-260827-vichns-1d37da03d766:s019].

The third-party lane adds a complementary cultural dimension. The Minister for Health attended the Macedonian Australian Community Organisation's annual Ilinden celebration in Sunshine alongside the Member for St Albans and the members for Mill Park and Thomastown, acknowledging the Macedonian community's century-long contribution to Victoria's social, cultural, and economic life [TA-260813-vichns-3cfdce8de236:s009].

The convergence of ministerial and local-member attendance at a major community event in Sunshine reinforces the cultural recognition thread visible across Ms Suleyman's own contributions in the same period.