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.
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.
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
Standing on the roof of the Flinders Street Railway Station, author Jenny Davies is remembering Dorothy May Gladstone.
Miss Gladstone was a woman before her time, Davies says, a dance instructor who started a studio in the railway station in 1926 and taught dance classes there for the best part of the next 60 years while building her fortune through property investments in East Melbourne.
Davies calls her "a formidable woman, one of those turn-of- the-century women with a really good head on her shoulders for business".
As she researched her book Beyond the Facade -- Flinders Street, more than just a railway station, launched yesterday, Davies discovered Miss Gladstone in the photographic collection of the Victorian Railways Institute. She was captivated by the picture caption: "Miss Dorothy Gladstone in graceful pose."
Miss Gladstone did not appear to be at all graceful and Davies wondered about her.
Subsequent interviews with the elderly people who danced with her, or were instructed by her, revealed "a shrewd businesswoman" from a poor background who became successful enough to sail to New York or London once or twice a year to bring back new routines, while establishing the Victorian Society of Dance and a national examination.
Under the chairmanship of Harold Clapp, the building also housed a children's nursery from 1933 to 1941 to encourage women to come to the city, which Davies says was an "incredibly progressive" idea at the time. At one stage, a 440-yard (402m) running track was marked out on the roof. A million people pass through or around Flinders Street Station every day. Meeting under the clocks is a Melbourne tradition. It is also one of the places where the homeless congregate.
As it approaches its 100th anniversary next January 22, it is not the public building it once was, Davies laments. It no longer houses characters such as Miss Gladstone, despite several reports by the National Trust and the Committee for Melbourne pressing for it to be revived.
The disused ballroom has been a particular sore point for many years.
Davies thinks it would make "a fabulous small exhibition space" and says the idea of the station being a public building and not merely a series of platforms "is a vision that we can return to".
She received a small grant from the City of Melbourne to write the self-published Beyond the Facade, which took 10 years from concept to publication.
She also pitched it to Connex deputy chairman Bruce Hughes during a meeting at Sunshine railway station.
Mr Hughes said yesterday: "As custodians of Flinders Street Station, we are proud to celebrate the grand dame's proud history."
"GREEN roof" is not a Colorbond shade, but Australians could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Growing plants on top of new office buildings is mandated in several cities in Europe, North America and Japan, but we have few examples of green roofs here and little understanding of their benefits and possibilities.
A competition to design a green roof for a major office building is aimed at showing landlords that green roofs can be affordable, easy to maintain and can save energy and reduce stormwater run-off.
The "Growing Up" competition, run by the Committee for Melbourne's Future Focus Group, is calling for green rooftop designs for one of three city buildings — Monash University's corporate centre on Collins Street, Manchester House on Flinders Lane and 131Q on Queen Street.
The winner, announced on May 7, will get $10,000 and their design will be implemented on the selected building, with the help of sponsors including Melbourne Water.
The committee has had more than 70 registrations from landscape architects and students. Spokeswoman Tiffany Crawford said the competition was about "more than just one rooftop".
"This is about asking Melbourne to rethink its roof spaces and encouraging and creating demand for green roofs, with the hope that in two years we'll see a lot more of them here and they will proliferate naturally."
Ms Crawford said such a proliferation could help reduce the urban "heat island" effect caused by reflected heat from buildings and roads. A report by the State Government last year predicted Melbourne would be increasingly susceptible to the phenomenon.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that most American cities are up to 5.6 degrees hotter than the surrounding land cover. But researchers from the University of Toronto say ambient temperatures could be cut by as much as 2 degrees if 8 per cent of rooftops were greened.
Ms Crawford said building owners weren't disputing this evidence — they just didn't know how to go about greening roofs. "People are keen, they just want to know how … we want to start joining the dots."
Designs must include space for University of Melbourne academics to study the types of plants and soils that can survive on a roof in our dry climate. This research is already under way at its Burnley campus.
Green Roofs Australia spokesman Geoff Wilson said it was crucial that cities develop their own guidelines to determine which plants were appropriate. He said Australia had fallen behind in green roofs compared to cities overseas.
Council House 2 in Swanston Street and Freshwater Place in Southbank are Melbourne's most prominent green rooftops — and RMIT and Australian Catholic University have plans for rooftop gardens on their new buildings.
But most "green buildings" in Australia do not have green roofs — including Lend Lease's The Gauge in Docklands, which recently achieved a 6-star rating through the Green Building Council.
Its architect, Darren Kindrachuk, said concept plans had included a green rooftop, "but when it came down to it, we had to balance design with cost benefits … We were getting higher value in terms of water and energy conservation from other technologies," he said, adding that staff had access to a "green space" in the building's broad balcony.
Woods Bagot landscape architect Tim O'Loan wrote in a recent paper that the cost of a green roof in Australia would be "approximately four times that of a simple lightweight roof structure" and that even the simplest "extensive" living roof, which has a shallower surface, would cost about $50 a square metre, not including the supporting concrete slab.
The construction budget available for the green roof design winner is $200,000 cash, as well as in-kind support. That equates to a budget of between $465 and $1000 a sq m, depending on the building chosen.
Ms Crawford agreed that the cost of green roofs in Australia was higher than overseas. "But we're trying to bring costs down by developing the industry and creating more demand.
"While the higher initial investment may reduce the short-term economic return, the long-term returns can be excellent, with green roofs improving tenant amenity, reducing maintenance and running costs, significantly extending roof life and potentially increasing the lettable area, value and marketability of a property."
John Stephens, a green roof valuation consultant based in Brisbane, said the credit crunch could have an impact. "We've got a few green roof projects here but I'm fearful that they're going to be shelved because of the economic downturn."
Woods Bagot architect and sustainability director Mark Kelly was blunt in his assessment. "Good-quality soil and insulation and appropriate planting is a bloody efficient way to keep the heat off the architecture (and) provide additional amenity space."
Green rooftops would help make our cities denser, he said, reducing our transport energy use. "Don't forget this is something that can improve the quality of people's lives. We need to really encourage building owners to do it."
Anyone who has boarded a crowded train to travel to work in the CBD recently will realise that our way of living in Melbourne is not sustainable. Sure, Melbourne is one of the world's most liveable cities, thanks largely to the great planning of our founding fathers - Hoddle and La Trobe in particular - but the challenge is how to maintain that amenity.
The global economic crisis, climate change, dwindling natural resources and growing social issues are all urging us to consider how we want to live and work in the future. What will Melbourne look like in 20 or 50 years?
We have an opportunity to rethink the ways we have traditionally lived and worked in Victoria and create a future that is liveable and economically prosperous for us and the generations to come.
In December, the State Government released its Melbourne@5 million policy that creates the foundation for the next stage of our growth. This policy outlines the way we will work in a "polycentric city" and the way we will live with "densification".
What are polycentric cities? In their simplest form, they are cities with more than one main activity and business district. In Melbourne@5 million, the Government proposes six new centres for Melbourne, in addition to the CBD. These new centres are Frankston, Dandenong, Ringwood, Box Hill North, Broadmeadows and Footscray.
Demographers tell us that future generations will no longer be willing to travel to work, and that jobs will have to be located where people live. Traffic congestion issues, fundamentally driven by our radial road system and the concentration of employment in the city and the east, must also be considered.
For these reasons alone, taking employment to hubs on the fringe of greater Melbourne makes sense.
But to make them work, substantial investment will be needed. Is this level of dispersement sensible for Melbourne - and how will it work? Which industries will be providing employment for our grandchildren and will these industries be willing to locate to the new activities centres?
Coupled with this focus on new central activities districts, we need to also focus on containing our urban growth boundaries. A major rethink is needed of what constitutes "the great Australian dream". Historically, this was a home of our own but today it can mean a mini-mansion on sprawling blocks with our city bulging at the seams.
And, for some, this dream becomes a nightmare as residents discover the cost of living and the impact this dream has on their lifestyle.
People often need to drive long distances to work. They have to travel further for services and pay more for goods. Our quest for affordable housing has, at times, overlooked what we should all be focused on - affordable living.
And, it is not only residents, but all Victorians who pay for this urban sprawl through taxes. Each time we create suburbs, we need to build new economic and social infrastructure. And we have to pay for it - all of us.
The alternative is to consider and support increasing the density of our existing suburbs so that we provide affordable living closer to the new centres for more people.
In Melbourne, the way to do this without damaging the ambience of our existing suburbs is to build up along our existing transport routes - road and rail.
By building around existing economic and social infrastructure, we leverage existing facilities without the need to create new ones.
The Committee for Melbourne's climate change report, FutureMap: Melbourne 2030, called for substantial amendments to Melbourne's planning schemes to facilitate an increase in densification, including six-storey development along nominated public transport routes. It is clear that the present processes for development in Melbourne are flawed. Discussions largely occur in a polarised way. Those who are anti-development, oppose development - especially in inner suburbs - at any cost. Consequently, the developers ask for extreme privileges and eventually wear our councils down or worse, bypass them and head straight to VCAT, where they usually expect a more positive result.
If we could agree on the future direction of our city - the proposed activities centres and greater urban density along existing transport routes - we could all be more constructively involved in these discussions.
Planning governance needs to be reviewed to identify what model will promote local considerations and expeditious decision-making to construct these central activities districts and increase urban density successfully.
The State Government's former Melbourne 2030 policy failed for several reasons, but it did demonstrate the difficulties of attempting to implement metropolitan policy through the co-operation of local authorities.
Local councils cannot be expected to make strategic changes in the shape and density of their municipalities. If we ask a local community where the new growth should go, the answer is usually "somewhere else, not here". Local councillors are often elected on a no-development, no-change platform and often individual councils do not have sufficient resources to plan effectively. So, the question is who will be responsible for managing overall planning issues as our city moves forward?
Melbourne 2030 set metropolitan goals, but did not provide metropolitan powers and skills to implement policy. Melbourne@5 million needs to tackle this issue. A highly skilled metropolitan authority is needed to lead, co-ordinate and decide on the shape, density and urban services needed for our city.
These ways of living and working are fundamentally different to how we have been sprawling to live and converging to work, but now is the time for a paradigm shift.
Ask yourselves: What are the 10 decisions we need to make now to ensure we get our future right? That's what our members will be asking themselves this year.
This time of economic upheaval should encourage us to take control of our future and be involved in the decision-making that will impact on our lives.
Sally Capp is Committee for Melbourne chief executive.
Melburnians can show their support for bushfire victims and pledge to help out at a special rally on Friday week.
In an act of solidarity, city people will come together at Federation Square on February 27 in an event called "The City Cares". City workers, visitors and residents will be encouraged to pledge time or skills to help those affected by the bushfires, or record their own personal messages of support.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the the bushfires were an unrecedented national tragedy that had shocked the world.
"The City Cares Day on the 27th is a great way for us all to express our willingness to show our ongoing help and support," Cr Doyle said.
Committee for Melbourne chief executive Sally Capp said businesses would be asked to allow their employees to participate.
All proceeds will go towards the Victorian Bushfire Fund.
An open-skies policy would provide a big boost for Victoria, writes Sally Capp.
THE Committee for Melbourne recommends the move to open skies to improve accessibility, leading to greater economic activity and therefore prosperity, for Australia. In the meantime, we encourage Victorians to do what they can to fly directly out of Melbourne at every opportunity.
In these times of economic hardship, with our population facing increasing unemployment and business and government managing one of the worst economic environments since the Great Depression, we must focus on aspects that will help sustain Melbourne's liveability and prosperity.
Our transport system can have a vital impact. In the recent heatwave, attention was on the public transport system, but the heat should also be on the national aviation landscape.
Direct international flights into Melbourne are vitally important for business growth in Victoria, yet our airports are affected by unnecessary and costly regulation that means international flights predominantly land in Sydney.
We have the population and we have the economy.
We need to not just protect, but also increase our capacity to service tourists and business travellers to Victoria.
Since the privatisation of Melbourne Airport and the opening of Avalon Airport, the number of airlines offering direct services between Melbourne and overseas ports has increased and international traffic growth for Melbourne has been greater than Sydney.
Twenty-three overseas air carriers now provide services to Melbourne, but there are still gaps. For example, there are no direct flights between Melbourne and Japan. Melbourne's airports have few, if any, restrictions on growth and yet, despite this, the number of direct international flights from Melbourne is significantly less than the number of direct flights from Sydney.
And what's more, Victorians are adding to the problem. Most of us are still actually choosing to fly to Sydney and change terminals rather than transfer more efficiently at international gateway ports such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi or Dubai.
We need to encourage more direct services by boosting passenger demand. The State Government can lead the way by directing its MPs and officials to fly directly out of Melbourne to overseas destinations wherever possible, but all Victorians can play their part when travelling.
The Committee for Melbourne also advocates extending Australia's international air policy to an open-skies environment, enabling airlines to freely transport passengers into and out of Australia.
We have seen the benefits of deregulation in Australia's domestic aviation industry. More airlines now provide more services, with lower fares and more direct connections. This amounts to far more choice for consumers.
The variety of services offered domestically is also greater, ranging from cheap, "no-frills" services, to full-service airlines with lounges and on-board meals.
But in contrast to the domestic aviation industry, international travel is still quite regulated and access is restricted between Australia and the US and between Australia and Asia.
This is unusual in an environment where, increasingly, international free trade is being promoted. The Committee for Melbourne questions the need for this "special treatment" of international air travel.
Melbourne has a major strategic advantage with no curfew on flight times, meaning international travellers departing on direct flights to Europe can leave in the early hours of the morning and still arrive at their destinations on the same business day.
If demand continues to increase, Melbourne has the capacity to accommodate more direct flights with its $330 million international terminal expansion project due for completion in 2012.
Deregulation, which leads to increased services at lower prices, has positive economic implications for Victoria.
Lower flight costs and improved availability benefit the economy as a whole in the form of greater efficiency for business, more tourism visitors, more business tourists and more business events.
Sally Capp is chief executive of the Committee for Melbourne, a network of leaders of Melbourne's major corporations, institutions and organisations.
