Lord Mayoral candidates share plans for the future of Melbourne business
At an event hosted by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Committee for Melbourne on October 9, guests heard directly from “business-focused” Lord Mayoral candidates on their vision for Melbourne.
Six of the 11 candidates, including incumbent Nick Reece, Arron Wood, Phil Reed, Anthony Koutoufides, Jamal Hakim, and Gary Morgan, took to the stage in pairs for three rounds of debate, addressing key issues impacting business in the City of Melbourne.
Mr Hakim and Mr Morgan were up first, with the former introducing Team Hakim’s “bold economic strategy”, which seeks to establish “Experience Improvement Districts” (XIDs) in Melbourne.
The policy builds on the globally successful “Business Improvement Districts” (BIDs) model seen in London’s West End and New York’s Time Square, with Mr Hakim emphasising that this approach places “business in the driver’s seat”, as “business knows what business needs”.
“We need to think big; we need to think bolder,” Mr Hakim said.
Mr Morgan, a familiar face to many in the room as founder and life member of the Committee for Melbourne, boldly asserted that “Melbourne is broke”, proposing that, if elected, he would secure the city’s “fair share” of Victoria’s GST revenue.
When questioned by event MC Alicia Loxley about the practicality of his plan, Mr Morgan was optimistic that he would be able to obtain the funding to inject back into the city.
“We’re going to get three billion [dollars] more this year from the federal government – I am going to get it for you,” he said.
Next saw Mr Koutoufides and Mr Reed discuss how to “turn things around” for business and encourage people to return to the city.
While the former AFL star's proposal to treat city workers to a free coffee on Monday and Friday mornings in a one-month trial has garnered attention, “coffee is not everything” Team Kouta has in store.
Mr Koutoufides has also suggested “manned safety booths” to make the city safer, and $5000 grants for businesses that lease empty offices.
“I walk around the City of Melbourne and see the fear and struggling people, I understand what they're going through,” he said.
We want business back, we want people – we need workers back in the city.
Prefacing that the “bad news” for stakeholders in the room is that the Labor for Melbourne campaign was “unashamedly focused” on keeping local government local, Mr Reed emphasised his commitment to improving the efficiency of government channels to better support local businesses.
“It's bad for business, bad for workers and bad for the community when decisions are not made in a timely way,” he said.
Frontrunners Cr Reece and Mr Wood wrapped up the debate, discussing various topics from Greenline and graffiti, to Melbourne Money and bike lanes.
“All these sorts of promises to fix things are a bit like getting in your homework just before it’s due,” Mr Wood said of Team Reece.
“Unlike Mr Reece, we do a lot of work on our policies. Lots of them sound really familiar because immediately the day after, usually Nick follows.”
Cr Reece responded that the “personal attacks” on him and the city are “not good for business”, and that his opponents should be focused on what “needs to be done to take this city forward”.
“If you want to get a job done, you give it to the person who cares the most – that’s me. I will be Melbourne’s greatest advocate,” Cr Reece said.
While Team Reece’s campaign is focused on a “positive plan” for Melbourne, Mr Wood criticised Cr Reece’s “manic positivity”.
“It’s not talking the city down to talk reasonably about the challenges we face, and then inviting the business community in to solve those challenges – what that’s called is leadership,” Mr Wood said.
Cr Reece also took the opportunity to unveil his 10-point plan for business, including his Corporate HQ Attraction Strategy which will position Melbourne as a key hub for global business.
Guests at the event remarked on the noticeable absence of female candidates, despite three women, including the Liberals’ Mariam Riza, The Greens Roxane Ingleton and the Animal Justice Party’s Eyelem Kim running for Lord Mayor in this election.