Opinion Editorials and Articles
Capping off a good year Andrew MacLeod began as the new chief executive of the Committee for Melbourne on January 4, replacing Sally Capp, who becomes Victoria’s agentgeneral in London. The committee is made up of 170 members, including ANZ bank, Australia Post, BHP Billiton, the City of Melbourne and the State Government and MacLeod’s aim at the committee will be to develop ideas to maintain Melbourne’s liveability and economic prosperity.
Postgraduate students are measuring the carbon footprint of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens as part of a high-level work placement program designed to generate novel business solutions to enhance Victoria’s economy.
The Melbourne Business Practicum is a partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Committee for Melbourne, a network of leaders drawn from the city’s major companies and organisations.
Four students from the university’s business and economics faculty are taking part in the Botanic Gardens practicum and there are other projects already on the drawing board.
The idea is to have a team of postgraduate students from a variety of business disciplines come together to work on a problem during a 10-day work placement.
In the case of the Botanic Gardens, the aim is to produce an environmental accounting model that might then be applied to other gardens around the world.
Supervising the project is associate professor Brad Potter from the Graduate School of Business, who said the model would combine cutting-edge science, accounting and environmental management practise.
“The students will also be able to draw on the extensive archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens and the considerable expertise of the garden’s staff,” Professor Potter said. The Committee for Melbourne has 170 members who work together to enhance the city’s “liveability and economic prosperity”.
The practicum concept was developed by the Committee’s Higher Education Taskforce.
“A priority identified by [the taskforce] is the need for greater integration between our university and business sectors,” said David Miles, who chairs the government advisory body Innovation Australia and co-chairs the taskforce.
“The practicum also provides an opportunity for highly-skilled international students to gain greater exposure to Australian business culture, which is especially important if they are considering making Australia their permanent home.”
The next project will focus on urban development.
Students will examine the regulation, taxation, cost frameworks and other incentives associated with commercial and housing developments in Australian cities.
The team will be hosted by public policy think tank, the Grattan Institute, and their findings will be used to make recommendations on how market design can encourage commercial and housing development that matched local needs.
Agnes Banyasz, the manager of the university’s Business and Economics Careers Centre, said the practicums would enhance the work of local businesses while giving students hands-on experience.
“Corporate partners only have to provide space for the students and a commitment that the senior staff from the organisation will listen to the students’ presentation at the end of the 10 days,” she said.
The local practicum series is modelled on an international work placement program developed by the careers centre.
Ms Banyasz said almost 100 students had visited countries such as China and Singapore in the two years since the program began.
The program is run during university holidays every February and July.
For the students working on the Botanic Gardens project, plants and trees will pose the greatest challenge when it comes to measuring carbon, Professor Potter said.
“All plants have different carbon absorption characteristics and efficiencies depending on their age – a young tree is much more efficient in carbon offset than an established tree.”
By Joanna Mather, Education reporter
HIS old boss, former deputy premier John Thwaites, describes him as "a doer", and a quick glance at the CV of the new chief executive of the Committee for Melbourne shows the description is deserved.
Andrew MacLeod will begin his new role on January 4, replacing Sally Capp, who will become Victoria's agent-general in London.
The 43-year-old has squeezed plenty into his professional life: a lawyer, an army reservist, work with the International Committee at the Red Cross in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, work with the UN in disaster relief in Pakistan and typhoon relief in the Philippines, adviser to Mr Thwaites, business consultant and Labor Party candidate.
Mr MacLeod said yesterday his aim at the committee - which is made up of 170 members, including the ANZ Bank, Australia Post, BHP Billiton, the City of Melbourne and the State Government - was to develop ideas to maintain Melbourne's liveability and economic prosperity.
"The challenges that continue to confront Melbourne are big," he said. "As our population grows we have got to look at issues like what the footprint of Melbourne is, and what the population density of Melbourne is, and how we balance those off.
"Melbourne is approximately the third largest city in world by size and we are looking at doubling our population over the next 20 years or so if demographers are to be believed. now you can't double the footprint of Melbourne."
Mr MacLeod said the private sector had a big role in shaping the future of Melbourne - especially where jobs were located, which would affect residential developments and public transport.
It is not just professional challenges that have drawn Mr Macleod back to Melbourne - he is also looking to settle down and have a family.
"The work that I have been doing in disaster zones and horror places of the world means you don't meet someone that you are going to settle down with, and at 43, either I came home now or I wasn't going to come home until I was 50, and would have missed the opportunity of family and kids."
For now, Mr MacLeod is looking forward to his new role and said he would not be afraid to consult Ms Capp.
"Sally and I were actually in the nippers together at the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club when we were kids, so we have known each other a long, long time, which has made the handover a lot easier."
He said that while he was a member of the ALP, his position at the committee was not political, and he was keen to work with Melbourne's Lord Mayor and former state Liberal leader Robert Doyle.
"I am looking forward to working with Robert Doyle, in many ways Robert Doyle is the Boris Johnson [London's Tory mayor] of Melbourne."
by Jason Dowling, City Editor
SALLY Capp's imminent resignation from Collingwood's board presents something of a conundrum to the Magpies' hierarchy - whether to replace the woman who broke into a 107-year-old, exclusively male hierarchy at the AFL's most famous club with another member of her sex.
As another year has passed without the Magpies requiring a board election after three directors' positions were unchallenged by last night's deadline for nominations, Capp's new prestigious overseas posting will almost certainly force one change ahead of time.
A top businesswoman and chief executive of the Committee for Melbourne, Capp has won the prime job of Victoria's agent-general in London. For the former solicitor and banker it is yet another ground-breaking position on a her resume. She will be the first female to hold the agent-general's post that was established in the 1860s and in 2004 became the first woman appointed to Collingwood's board.
Magpie president Eddie McGuire, who recruited Capp as a club director and is acutely aware of the importance of diversity, would not comment yesterday on whether the Pies would specifically set out to add another woman to the seven-person board.
''We have no comment in regards to the Collingwood Football Club board,'' McGuire told The Age.
Capp is leaving Australia with her family in the next fortnight, and while she could conceivably retain her board position at Collingwood, it is considered highly unlikely that she will.
Given she is not up for re-election - Capp was re-appointed unopposed this time last year - the board has the power to hand-pick her replacement.
The Age could not contact Capp yesterday, but earlier this year she expressed hopes that a women would one day fill CEO and presidential roles at AFL clubs. In 2004 she spoke out against an expansion of the AFL Commission for the sole purpose of adding a woman - which it eventually did by enlisting Sam Mostyn - and said a male commissioner should be prepared to step aside for a woman who earned a position on her merits.
Across the AFL's 16 clubs there are 12 female board members.
Apart from the position Capp's move opens up, Collingwood's stable board will remain unchanged after the club received no official nominations by yesterday's 5pm deadline to challenge incumbents Alex Waislitz, who is also vice-president, Jack Kennedy and Paul Leeds.
The trio will all now be reappointed unopposed at the club's annual general meeting on December 16. Capp will more than likely formalise her resignation at the same meeting.
Wealthy luxury-car dealer Nick Theodosi signalled he would mount a case to join the McGuire-led board earlier this year - saying the settled seven-member group needed shaking up - but Theodosi is understood to be ineligible under Collingwood's constitution.
In Adelaide, Lynda Morphett has recently nominated to become the Crows' first female board member but, in announcing her intentions, she has been sceptical about her chances of breaking into what she described as an ''undemocratic'' boys' club.
FEMALE DIRECTORS IN THE AFL
There are 12 across 16 clubs, two on AFL Commission. Linda Nash
Brisbane Lions:
Collingwood: Sally Capp (pictured), to be replaced
Essendon: Beverly Knight and Jo-Anne Albert
Fremantle: Kate Grieve
Hawthorn: Janine Allis
Melbourne: Karen Hayes
Richmond: Peggy Haines
Sydney: Lynn Ralph
West Coast: Deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop
Western Bulldogs: Susan Alberti and Gaye Hamilton
AFL commissioners: Sam Mostyn and Linda Dessau
by Samantha Lane, Sports Reporter
COMMITTEE for Melbourne chief executive Sally Capp has won the prize job of Victoria's Agent-General in London.
Ms Capp, 42, a former solicitor and banker, becomes the first woman to be appointed to the role, established in the 1860s.
She said last night that her focus would be on boosting trade and investment in Victoria, and she looked forward to''leveraging'' the contacts and knowledge she had built up in her business career and during her two years as head of the Committee for Melbourne.
''My role at the Committee for Melbourne has made me very aware of the Victorian Government's priorities, but more than that, the priorities of the wider community,'' Ms Capp told The Age.
''It's a very critical time in our history, because we are going through such major population growth, which crystallises many of the urban challenges we have - not the least of which is jobs.''
Ms Capp will take up her new post before the end of the year, accompanied by husband Andrew Sutherland and their two sons.
She replaces David Buckingham, who is returning to Melbourne after nearly six years as Victoria's representative in Britain.
Ms Capp said the hardest thing about leaving Melbourne would be being away from the Collingwood Football Club, of which she is a board member.
''We're really well positioned, and it's tearing at my heart strings,'' she said. ''I'll be finding the closest pub that shows the games live.''
Premier John Brumby yesterday also announced new appointments to Victoria's trade and business offices in the boom economies of India and China.
Melbourne Airport executive Geoffrey Conaghan will become Commissioner for Victoria in Bangalore, India, and Qantas manager Patrick Stringer will take charge of the state's business office in Shanghai, China.
Mr Brumby said Victoria's 12 overseas business offices had helped generate $1.4 billion of investment in the state economy in the past financial year, including the new Costco store at Docklands, the Toyota Hybrid Camry project and Acciona's $400 million wind farm at Waubra near Ballarat.
''The new commissioners will help to reap further rewards for the Victorian economy, helping to attract investment, jobs and visitors,'' he said.
Written by Paul Austin.
From the Premier
Premier of Victoria, John Brumby said Victoria’s Government Business Offices would continue to secure new investment for the state during these tough global financial times as the government appointed a new Agent-General and two new Commissioners to represent Victoria overseas.
Mr Brumby said Victoria’s Government Business Offices had helped generate over $11 billion worth of investment in Victoria, create more than 25,000 jobs, built export opportunities for our businesses and helped grow our economy for the benefit of all Victorians.
“In the last financial year alone, Victoria’s 12 Business Offices had helped generate $1.4 billion investment in the Victorian economy,” Mr Brumby said.
“These investments included landing the new Costco store at Melbourne’s Docklands, securing Toyota’s Hybrid Camry project and Acciona’s $400 million Wind Farm at Waubra.
"The new commissioners will help to reap further rewards for the Victorian economy, helping to attract investment, jobs and visitors to Victoria.
“They have the skills, qualifications and experience to ensure we continue to attract new investment into our state and help Victorian companies boost their exports,” he said.
The new appointments are:
Sally Capp will become Victoria’s Agent-General in London. Ms Capp is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Committee for Melbourne. She will bring a wealth of experience from the private sector, particularly in services. She has rich knowledge of the Victorian economy and excellent contacts that will be of great benefit to the role as she seeks to promote Victoria and secure new investment and business opportunities for the state.
Geoffery Conaghan will serve as Commissioner for Victoria in Bangalore. Mr Conaghan was a senior executive at Melbourne Airport. He has an excellent knowledge of the needs of international business and will be well placed to assist Victorian businesses exporting to India and Indian businesses interested in opportunities in Victoria. He also has a strong background in training and tourism which are areas of strong interest in the bilateral economic relationship.
Patrick Stringer will serve as Commissioner for Victoria in Shanghai. Mr Stringer is currently Group General Manager–Strategy & new Business for Qantas Airways, based in Vietnam. Previously he was Minister Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi and has also held senior executive roles with Volvo Commercial vehicles, BAE Systems Australia and Ansett Transport Industries.
Mr Brumby congratulated the new Agent-General and Commissioners on their appointments and said he looked forward to their contributions to continued success of the overseas offices.
The new appointees will take up their positions before the end of this year.
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/component/content/article/8562.html
A VENICE-inspired docklands, a Prime Minister's residence over the Jolimont railyards and rooftop gardens on CBD office blocks.
These are some ideas from prominent Victorians as the 10th anniversary of Labor getting into power approaches.
Labor has ruled out a party to celebrate greenhorn Steve Bracks' shock defeat of the apparently unbeatable Liberal premier Jeff Kennett on September 19, 1999.
But to mark the win, the Herald Sun has asked prominent Victorians what they would like done to make our state an even better place.
The big decision makers also wanted safer streets, better train and tram services and an inner city hub over the Jolimont railyards.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has called for an Australian Venice in the Docklands with buildings linked by bridges and gondolas.
He expects it to take up to 20-30 years to be completed.
Labor won power in 1999 after making four key promises - open government, reduced waiting times in hospitals, more police and smaller classes of at most 21 students.
A decade on, the CBD's violent streets are littered with blood and vomit on weekends and the health system is crumbling under huge demands.
There are also complaints class sizes are too large and accusations of secret deals with Crown casino over extra gaming tables. The creaking public transport system is also a problem and fears are growing Melbourne could run out of water before the over-budget $3.5 billion desalination plant is built at the end of 2011.
Some of Victoria's most prominent citizens demand a better future.
Victorian Major Events chairman Sir Rod Eddington is worried that Melbourne has lost its way.
"I chose to move back here and live because it is such a great place but we must win back the tag of the world's most liveable city. The success of Melbourne as a city depends on a thriving and safe inner city precinct," he said.
His greatest wish is stopping the late-night violence plaguing Melbourne.
Former Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson led a chorus demanding "better and safer trams and trains" in the city.
Committee for Melbourne chief Sally Capp said roof gardens on office blocks and environmentally friendly buildings could make Melbourne a cutting edge city.
University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Prof Glyn Davis is pushing for a new Melbourne Conservatorium.
He said this would mark the city as an "internationally acclaimed location on the music education" scene with more opportunities for young musicians and opera singers."
STATE Government plans to massively expand Melbourne's urban boundary have been attacked for a lack of consultation and making climate change even worse.
Federal Labor MP Kelvin Thomson said Melbourne's urban growth boundary "should not be expanded".
"Expanding the urban growth boundary will mean increased congestion and increased reliance on fossil fuels and motor vehicles. This will result in increased carbon emissions," he said in his submission on the proposed expansion.
"Melbourne is now at a fork in the road. We need to decide whether we want to continue expanding our urban waistline to accommodate more people, or whether we want to draw the line on urban sprawl and protect our city's liveability and amenity."
The Committee for Melbourne, while recognising "the need to accommodate new growth areas", has called for the establishment of a "final boundary to be established for Melbourne" and for any further population growth for the city to be managed "through increasing density within the boundary".
"The Committee therefore calls for an overarching urban planning policy for Melbourne of increasing density along arterial transport routes as a matter of right, with height limits sensitive to neighbourhood planning and with appropriate protections to preserve the character and liveability of existing suburban communities encased within the arterial boundaries," its submission said.
Planning Minister Justin Madden announced on June 17 plans to expand Melbourne's urban boundary by 41,000 hectares. Submissions on the proposed boundary changes closed on Friday.
The Age has reported that plans to build another 134,000 houses on Melbourne's urban fringes would cost Victorians $40 billion more in the coming decades than building the additional homes in established suburbs, because of the extra costs of new infrastructure such as power, water, transport, health costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The plans to extend Melbourne's urban boundary by thousands of hectares east of Melbourne have been savaged by Casey Council.
The council's submission argues that "the process to develop the proposed (urban growth boundary) is rushed, ill-conceived and disparate in nature, ignoring established 21st century best practice for urban development", and "ignores Casey's ongoing concerns about congestion and safety on the roads due to the lack of road and transport infrastructure".
The council is also concerned about the threat to farmland from the urban expansion.
The Municipal Association of Victoria's draft submission highlighted concerns over the process for extending Melbourne's urban growth boundary.
"The speed and lack of consultation by the State Government in reviewing the urban growth boundary has taken many councils and communities by surprise," it said.
It said there had been an "oversimplification" in the Government's response to Melbourne's projected population growth and housing affordability. "A continuation (or acceleration) of Melbourne's sprawl will perpetuate a range of existing planning challenges and further disadvantage residents in Melbourne's outer suburbs, as well as permanently alienate productive agricultural land," the MAV's draft submission said.
But Brian Welch, executive director of the Master Builders Association of Victoria, said Melbourne's urban boundary should be expanded to accommodate Melbourne's increasing population.
by Jason Dowling
The ‘Growing Up Competition' was recently held and run by the Committee for Melbourne ‘Future Focus Group'.
The competition called for a design for a roof top garden for one of 3 buildings in the Melbourne CBD. The competition was open to all registered Architects, Members of AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) and AILDM (Australian Institute of Landscape Designers and Managers) members.
In our current climate, green roofs are proven to provide significant reductions to the urban heat island effect, aid storm water management, provide important habitat links, reduce the energy demands of buildings as well as providing social and amenity value to buildings. However, there are very few roof top gardens in Australia.
The ‘Growing Up Competition' encouraged designers to demonstrate innovative and cost effective ways to retrofit roof gardens in Melbourne.
With this in mind, Botanical Traditions sought to transform the wasted roof top space into a unique garden space designed along sustainable lines, which would provide communal garden areas where friendships could be formed and neighbours met. The rooftop would become the social hub of the building allowing neighbours who usually might only pass in the hall to actually get to know each other.
The design, ‘Beyond Expectations' of Manchester House on Flinders Lane, designed two distinctly separate spaces. The Southern Area utilized the warm sunny climatic conditions to create a large social gathering area complete with covered pergola, Raingarden and Kitchen. A Raingarden is a specially designed garden area that filters stormwater to remove nitrogen, phosphorous and suspended solids. Large planter boxes defined this space, function as seating areas and provide small more intimate seating areas for residents to enjoy the views of the bustling city below.
To the North, a communal productive vegetable garden and open pergola were designed to give residents the opportunity to grow and nurture their own fresh produce. The area can support fruit trees, herbs, vegetable and productive vines. The iconic garden shed is also included.
Between the two areas an elevated area which could be used by Researchers and Melbourne University to test different plants species for their suitability for roof top gardens.
The designers Ruth Czermak and Fiona Hurse, have a strong interest in sustainability and believe that huge environmental and other benefits can be gained through well planned landscaped areas.
They think that a good landscape design looks at the clients needs and the environmental needs of the site, doesn't conform to the latest fad and where possible include rainwater harvesting, treated greywater systems, raingardens, recycled products, social areas and productive garden spaces should be part of most garden settings. They would like to see roof gardens installed on every new building - not only office or apartment builders but also new homes.
Key sustainable features which they included in the competition entry were an Integrated Water Management Strategy to capture all stormwater off the roof surface, solar hot water, photovoltaic cells, large productive areas and composting systems.
by Ruth Czermak, Principal Landscape Architect, Botanical Traditions
