Deniliquin joins fight to save Dhurringile site from sale

The petition has so far garnered more than 800 signatures.

The site is currently for sale internally to government entities in an extended first right of refusal stage, which was entered soon after the prison was decommissioned early last year, after its closure on August 31, 2024.

Ms Cooper said since launching her petition, she had been contacted by former staff, local residents and community members who believed the closure of Dhurringile was a significant loss for both the corrections system and the wider region.

“One former female prison officer who worked at Dhurringile recently contacted me and said she would gladly return to work there if it were reopened,” Ms Cooper said.

“Her comments reflect the strong connection many former staff still have with the facility and its rehabilitation-focused approach.”

Of 15 correctional facilities across Victoria, HM Prison Langi Kal Kal is the only working prison farm.

All prisoners under 65 at the minimum security prison, on 1090 hectares, are expected to work full time if they are able.

“There is concern that opportunities for rehabilitation through agricultural and work-based programs have been significantly reduced,” Ms Cooper said.

Supporters of Ms Cooper’s petition say the Dhurringile facility represents a rare opportunity to provide rehabilitation, vocational training, agriculture and structured work programs that could reduce reoffending and promote stronger community reintegration.

They also suggest it could play a role in prison capacity into the future and would protect regional jobs and economic activity linked to the site, and are calling for investment in evidence-based rehabilitation programs that improve community safety.

“This is not just about a building; it’s about rehabilitation, opportunity and better outcomes for the community,” Ms Cooper said.

State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland last month called the decision to close the prison “short-sighted and premature”.

She said the government’s refusal to reconsider the site raised serious questions about its long-term corrections planning.

“Dhurringile was a successful low-security prison that provided employment, supported local businesses and played an important role in the regional economy,” Ms Cleeland said.

“With incarceration rates rising and prison capacity under increasing strain, Victorians deserve to know why a proven facility remains closed while the government searches for solutions elsewhere.”

The 286-hectare Dhurringile site on crown land includes a 68-room, 148-year-old heritage-listed double-storey mansion, stables and extensive various other established infrastructure, including farmland, agricultural facilities, workshops and training spaces designed to help prisoners gain real job skills and prepare for employment after release.

Greater Shepparton City Council expressed interest in purchasing the site early last year, but withdrew its interest in April, 2025.

Around the same time, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation submitted an expression of interest, but had not been given a definitive sale price by the Department of Transport and Planning a year later, according to GBCMA chief executive Carl Walters.

In October last year, it was revealed that maintenance at the site had cost $2.06 million for the first 12 months after the prison closed, with no income generated from leasing or farming activity.

At the end of next month, the prison will have been closed and unused for two years.

The site was first established as a pastoral property, before becoming an internment camp, then a boys’ home before it was purchased by the government and converted into the minimum-security correctional facility, HM Dhurringile Prison, in 1965.

A government spokesperson said in April that if a sale did not occur from the first right of refusal process with the GBCMA and YYNAC, the site would be progressed to a public sale.

To sign Ms Cooper’s petition, go to: tinyurl.com/bdm8kskm.