Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s eye-watering campaign donations revealed

Newly elected Lord Mayor Nick Reece received just shy of $1 million in donations towards his 2024 bid for the City of Melbourne in what is the largest amount of money generated for an election campaign in the city’s history.

From unions to Melbourne high-flyers, Team Reece pulled in more than $950,000 according to the election donation registry which was viewed by CBD News at Town Hall on December 12.

The Lord Mayor’s winning campaign pulled in nearly double the amount that was donated to rival candidates Team Wood and Team Kouta, with Cr Reece personally contributing the largest donation of $62,000.

This was closely followed by a $60,000 donation from the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), which recently had its application to rezone its North Melbourne headquarters considered by the newly elected council on December 3.

During the meeting, the Lord Mayor, his deputy Roshena Campbell and Team Reece councillors Kevin Louey and Mark Scott left the chamber after declaring a conflict of interest in relation to the ETU application, which was ultimately endorsed.

The ETU’s donation was made on October 10, months after the previous council originally supported its request to rezone its land on Arden St from residential to mixed-use.

Cr Reece was among those councillors who voted unanimously at the March 19 Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting for the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny to authorise and exhibit the planning scheme amendment.

The donation registry also revealed that the Team Reece campaign received $25,000 from the Marriner Group, which operates the Regent Theatre and a string of other theatres in the CBD.

Cr Reece came under scrutiny during the election campaign for this pledge to sell the council’s 50 per cent stake in the Regent Theatre, which he announced a week after he received the Marriner Group donation according to the registry.

The Marriner Group also donated to the Team Wood and Team Hakim campaigns, which opposed Cr Reece’s proposal to sell the council’s share in the Regent Theatre.

Throughout his campaign, the Lord Mayor had repeatedly emphasised a self-imposed rule to not accept donations from property developers in the City of Melbourne, as well as tobacco or gaming interests.

However, the registry revealed that Team Reece did receive donations from developers based outside of the municipality, including $20,000 from SIG Group and a small donation from Anu Corp Developments.

Cr Reece also received support from companies and c-suiters who are, or have been, affiliated with projects within the city.

Spring Street Advisory, which operates out of an office on Collins St and offers strategy development and implementation services to property development companies, donated $20,000, while Harry Stamoulis, the head of Stamoulis Property Group, contributed $2100.

Other significant donors include $40,000 from the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union (PPTEU), while Maurice Blackburn Lawyers – of which Cr Reece’s wife Felicity Pantelidis is its deputy chief executive – gave $10,000.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood’s and former Carlton Football Club legend Anthony Koutoufides’ respective campaigns were also backed by well-funded supporters.

Mr Wood’s Deputy Lord Mayoral candidate and swimwear entrepreneur Erin Deering contributed $152,000, while Cr Phil Le Liu, who was re-elected via Team Wood’s number one councillor spot, contributed $93,000. Mr Wood chipped in $70,000.

Team Kouta’s Deputy Lord Mayoral candidate and property developer Intaj Khan contributed a staggering $325,000, while Mr Koutoufides only coughed up a mere $1500.

Team Kouta councillor candidates Gladys Liu, who was elected, and Zaim Ramani each contributed more than $40,000 each.

The high-performing Liberal Party ticket which was successful in electing its number one councillor candidate Owen Guest was also a recipient of large campaign donations.

The bulk of its support came from the Liberal Party’s Victorian branch, which contributed between $150,000 and $200,000.

With Cr Reece’s donations coming in at three times that of what former Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s 2020 campaign received, it’s an unprecedented amount that is reflective of how competitive this year’s election was.

Cr Reece told CBD News that the campaign was “hard-fought” and one of the “toughest” in Melbourne’s history. However, he said he remained open to potential reform surrounding campaign donations. 

“I support reform of campaign finance arrangements for local government. I am committed to working with my newly elected fellow councillors and the Victorian Government to achieve this,” the Lord Mayor said.