Bishop Ronald Mulkearns’ Fairhaven property sold after auction

By Navarone Farrell
Geelong Advertiser
October 29, 2016

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/realestate/bishop-ronald-mulkearns-fairhaven-property-sold-after-auction/news-story/c4b6aa804d2871745c453b4c94f5b606

Bishop Mulkearns' Fairhaven house was passed in on a vendor bid but sold after auction for $2.1 million. Photo by Alison Wynd

Two former Catholic Brothers who only identified themselves as Brian, left, and Kevin were on hand to see the Fairhaven house go to auction.

Great Ocean Properties auctioneer Marty Maher. Photo by Alison Wynd

Bishop Ronald Mulkearns died earlier this year and left his estate to the Catholic diocese of Ballarat, for current Bishop Paul Bird to distribute.

In September, when the property was announced for auction, Bishop Bird said that the profits from the sale of the Mulkearns’ estate would be donated to the victims of child sex abuse.

The majority of his estate, including the four-bedroom cliff top house in the picturesque town of Fairhaven, and $40,000 in cash were left to the church

The four-bedroom house at 56 Banool Rd, last sold in 1986 for $55,000 went for was passed in on a vendor bid. Around 50 people turned out, including members of the Catholic Church, child sex abuse survivors and the general public.

Selling agent Marty Maher, of Great Ocean Property, Aireys Inlet, said he knew the buyer was not likely to bid at auction.

“It was one of the buyers that were there on the day,” he said.

Mr Maher said that the buyers are local to Fairhaven and will be looking to upgrade and rebuild on the 1476sq m block that drops down onto the Great Ocean Road.

When the auction initially passed in at $2.05 million, Mr Maher believed it was to do with the high price of the site, which the estate managers haev deemed only land value.

“It was certainly an affordability issue here, it is an expensive site, obviously the house is a rebuild so you have to have the budget,” he said.

“Generally if you’re going to spend this much money you have to have confidence in investing in the spot, most of them have a history with the area.

“Baby Boomers are starting to retire and they’re in planning. Their expectations are a lot higher for retirement.”

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard hundreds of local children were molested by a nest of paedophile clerics while Mulkearns was bishop of Ballarat from 1971 to 1997.

In February, Bishop Mulkearns admitted to the inquiry that he had failed as a bishop.

“I’m terribly sorry that I didn’t do things differently,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to do or how to do it.”

Bishop Mulkearns developed colorectal cancer toward the end of his life and died on April 3 this year.