Professor Edward Byrne AC

Melbourne is a great city. It is characterised by full engagement of its people in the life of the city. This is manifested in many ways. Melbournians support public functions. Our sporting activities are among the best in the world including grand slam tennis, the Australian Grand Prix and evidently Aussie Rules football! Equally marked however is the commitment of Melbournians to music and the performing arts. Melbourne has an array of superb music venues with regular performances that are truly world class.

Melbourne in many ways resembles some of the great cities of Europe. There is a rich café and restaurant culture and many wonderful areas in the city where one can stroll. Whether wondering down Lygon Street on a Saturday morning, sitting in a Southbank restaurant or walking along the Esplanade at St.Kilda one is more likely than not to encounter a colleague or a friend.

Melbourne has fantastic bookstores. My favourite is Readings in Lygon Street but there are many others.

One of the great things about Melbourne is that it is a city which is truly a melting pot for people from many cultures and countries. The predominately European basis of the city from some years ago has been enhanced enormously by increasing migration from Asia and in more recent times Africa. Melbourne is truly one of the world’s major multicultural cities.

My wife and I have recently returned from some years in London, probably the greatest cultural city in the world at the moment and we feel that Melbourne offers a quality of life in the arts and social engagement at least as good as London in much more pleasant and relaxed surroundings. Melbourne is not as well known around the world as it should be and my experience is that people who visit it regard it as a great discovery and feel rather jealous of those of us who live here! To make Melbourne even more impressive we have some of the world’s great tertiary educational institutions in the city!