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Lord Mayor cops Deputy’s criticism over advisory group

Lord Mayor cops Deputy’s criticism over advisory group

By David Schout

Lord Mayor Sally Capp was publicly criticised by her deputy Arron Wood for the second time in five weeks after he raised “governance” issues surrounding her high-profile advisory board.

The Bringing Melbourne Back Better advisory group, which features the likes of Lindsay Fox and Elizabeth Proust, was established by Lord Mayor Sally Capp last month to look at ways of reactivating the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cr Wood said the public wrongly perceived the Cr Capp-assembled “Bringing Melbourne Back Better” as an official board of the council, and called her behaviour “worrying” not long after accusing her of “playing politics” in relation to the CBD injecting room debate.

His latest comments have only heightened speculation of a likely run for Lord Mayor at the upcoming local government elections on October 24, however he is still yet to publicly reveal his intentions.

Despite Cr Wood’s criticisms, other councillors defended Cr Capp, with some commending the Lord Mayor for openly assembling a “captains of industry” economic recovery group to lead Melbourne through and beyond the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The tense encounter took place at a July 28 council meeting, where councillors unanimously voted to formally establish the City of the Future/Recovery Taskforce.

Speaking in favour of the council’s official taskforce, Cr Wood used the opportunity to raise what he called a “serious issue” with the Lord Mayor’s esteemed group.

“The danger comes when the appearance of what is an unofficial advisory group for an individual councillor, is given the idea that it is actually an official board of council,” he said.

“And that’s what I don’t think the intention was, but I do want to make that clear.”

Cr Wood raised Mr Fox’s connection to the Lord Mayor’s byelection campaign in 2018.

“I’m not in any way talking down the high calibre of people that the Lord Mayor is canvassing with, they are absolutely eminent and amazing. But governance is critical, governance is important. Lindsay Fox is amazing, but he’s also a donor to the Lord Mayor’s campaign. These things actually matter.”

Cr Capp assembled the group of prominent figures in mid-July and, along with Fox and Proust, also includes the likes of National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) director Tony Ellwood.

The group has since met weekly, and in broad terms has aimed to canvass ideas for attracting investment within the inner-city in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Cr Rohan Leppert said that, contrary to the criticism, the Lord Mayor had done everything above board and should be commended.

“First of all, can I just say that any Lord Mayor would consult with anyone that they wish and that includes captains of industry, prominent Melburnians and a range of people,” he said.

“The difference here is that you’ve convened that group and told the world who they are, whereas previous Lord Mayors might not have. I think you should be commended for that, not chastised.”

Cr Nicolas Reece said both the official taskforce and the Lord Mayor’s advisory group “were all good initiatives”.

“I think the individuals you’ve been able to attract to your advisory group are second-to-none,” he said.

“People like Lindsay Fox, Elizabeth Proust; I mean Lindsay Fox is just a titan of industry in this town. And also, a very creative businessman who has lots of ideas to offer up. Someone like Elizabeth Proust, she was a central figure in the recovery of Melbourne from the 1990s recession. To get advice like that would be very valuable.”

Cr Capp did not directly address the criticism from the Deputy Lord Mayor, but said the city benefited from having key voices contribute to its future.

“To those that have mentioned my advisory group, thank you for acknowledging them, their efforts and their ideas, and the contribution they’re already making. They are giving their time and their intellectual capacity like so many groups are,” she said.

“For many of them, like lots of other people around town who are very busy … they don’t always want to be on formal committees. They can’t always make that commitment. It doesn’t mean that people in those situations don’t have a genuine commitment to the city.”

City of Melbourne CEO Justin Hanney clarified the matter, stating that the council’s official taskforce would receive advice from various channels, one of which would be the high-profile advisory group, via the Lord Mayor.

“The City of Melbourne is not resourcing [it, the Lord Mayor’s advisory group]. It’s not a board, it’s an advisory group to the Lord Mayor of people who are committed to city recovery and who are giving the Lord Mayor advice,” he said.

The City of the Future/Recovery Taskforce was initially established in April in response to the COVID-19 crisis and will now expand its remit to include external advisory groups to assist decision-making going forward.

Mr Hanney said the following key stakeholders would be represented:

Felicia Mariani, CEO Victorian Tourism Industry Council;

Paul Guerra, CEO Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

Cressida Wall, Victorian Executive Director Property Council of Australia;

Danni Hunter, Victorian CEO of the Urban Development Institute of Australia;

Martin Bean, RMIT University vice-chancellor;

Duncan Maskell, University of Melbourne vice-chancellor; and

Barbara Cullen, Director of Small Business Victoria.

Mr Hanney said it would also include representatives from:

Victorian Government;

Australian Hotels Association;

Australian Retailers Association; and

Private sector organisations (“large employing groups”) •

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