Big ideas for Melbourne’s future will be at the heart of a Town Hall led by a re-elected Lord Mayor Nick Reece – with a new board and visionary summit set to ensure our city’s status as the business, cultural and events capital of Australia remains unrivalled.
The Melbourne 3000 Board, which would be launched after the Lord Mayor election, would include up to 10 eminent Melburnians and help cultivate, implement, and deliver major ideas to the City of Melbourne to ensure we remain a global leader when it comes to culture, events, business and innovation.
Paul Guerra, the CEO of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and a leading business voice and proud Melburnian, will serve as the inaugural chair of Melbourne 3000. Founder and CEO of Lucas Restaurants, and one of Melbourne’s best-known hospitality entrepreneurs, Chris Lucas, will also be on the board, as will incoming CEO of the Victorian Racing Club, and outgoing CEO of Marvel Stadium Kylie Rogers.
Melbourne 3000 will bring together major voices from different sectors, with everyone bringing their unique perspectives and big ideas to the table, with a focus on areas such as:
- Supporting Business: How can Melbourne keep attracting businesses and people to our city – from start-ups to headquarters – delivering more jobs and making our city even more vibrant.
- Major developments: By identifying priority projects or areas that could be redeveloped and revitalised we could make our great city even greater for residents, traders, and visitors
- Events and Branding: As the events capital of Australia, Melbourne attracts millions of visitors every year, but is there more we could do to market our city to the world and attract even bigger events and names.
- Culture: From our restaurants and nightlife, to live music and theatre, culture is part of the Melbourne vibe that we all know and love so much – how do we harness this and ensure we stay ahead of the pack in the years ahead?
The ideas and vision that are developed by Melbourne 3000 Board will feed into the City of Melbourne’s decision-making processes to ensure Town Hall gets the very best advice from a diverse range of voices.
In a move to further harness the creative power of our residents, community groups and businesses, a re-elected Nick Reece will also host a M2050 Summit, inviting 1,000 Melburnians from all walks of life to share their ideas for the city's future.
This summit will tap into the collective creativity and passion of the people of Melbourne to help shape a vibrant and dynamic roadmap for Melbourne's pathway to 2050.
The M2050 Summit will help shape a long-term strategy for Melbourne's future – it will ask the really big questions about what sort of city we want to be, and what are the practical steps to get there.
Melbourne 3000 will hold its inaugural meeting in the first 100 days after the election results are declared, and the M2050 Summit will be held in the first half of 2025.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Nick Reece:
“Melbourne is the best and fairest city in the world, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We know other cities are stepping up their efforts and we need to do the same. As Lord Mayor, I want to bring our city’s people together and work closely with our leaders so we can seize every opportunity for Melbourne in the years and decades ahead.”
“The Melbourne 3000 Board will be a group of people with foresight, ideas and energy to identify and work up priority projects to fire up Melbourne and drive the city’s future prosperity.”
“There is no more passionate Melburnian than Paul Guerra, and I’m delighted he’s agreed to bring his ideas, business experience and genuine love for our city to the role of inaugural Chair of Melbourne 3000.”
“With Chris Lucas and Kylie Rogers also joining the board, the big drivers of what makes this city great – business, hospitality, events and culture will all be represented.”
“Melbourne is now the biggest and fastest growing city in Australia, and we should be thinking big and bold - let's decide what sort of city we aspire to be in 25 years and map out a plan to make it happen.”
“Melbourne has been through some tough years but now we are ready to fly – this will be a moment for our city to regroup and refocus and then boldly reach for that future that we will make for ourselves.”
Quotes attributable to CEO of VCCI, Paul Guerra:
“Melbourne is a global city that punches above its weight on the world stage – the Board and Summit are great ideas and I’d be delighted to make a contribution to future of the city that I live in and love to elevate Melbourne again.”
Quotes attributable to CEO of Lucas Restaurants, Chris Lucas:
“As a lifelong Melburnian I have championed Melbourne’s food culture for decades. It’s long been my view that our city is one the most multicultural and exciting food cities in the world. I’m looking forward to building on our heritage to ensure Melbourne’s special nightlife and food culture is not only protected but can thrive and continue to evolve.”
“Should Mr Reece be re-elected, my view is that having a Melbourne 3000 Board is a great and innovative idea. Establishing a board of successful Melburnians who can assist council and the Lord Mayor with policy and ideas to make Melbourne Australia’s preeminent city will be a game changer.”
Quotes attributable to incoming CEO of the Victorian Racing Club, Kylie Rogers:
“Major events and sport are the beating heart of our great city – they attract people to Melbourne in their millions and I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep us as the envy of the rest of the world.”
