10.12.2020From the CEO – 10 December
As this extraordinary year, 2020, draws to a close, the message I would like to convey from the Committee is one of gratitude and hope.
Gratitude to our members who worked with us for Melbourne’s Road to Recovery. Gratitude to all the wonderful leaders, experts, officials, community representatives, businesses and individuals who made thoughtful contributions to our forums, discussions, reports and submissions on Melbourne’s recovery and future.
Our particular thanks go to our Patron, Her Excellency the Governor of Victoria, The Hon. Linda Dessau, AC, for her inspiring address to our members which you can read here, and to our Road to Recovery Taskforce chairs who have rolled their sleeves up to develop and advocate for good governance, collaboration and bold projects to drive Melbourne’s recovery. We have shared the recommendations of our task forces with you over the year. You can read more about their work in this edition of Communiqué.
We are grateful to all the organisations which nominated some wonderful individuals and organisations for our Annual Melbourne Achiever Award and were proud to recognise inspiring leadership from this year’s winners Professor Sharon Lewin AO, inaugural director of the Peter Doherty Institute and the RMIT for their lasting contribution to Melbourne and the world.
Another special thank you to our Treasurer, Tim Pallas, who initiated our first in person forum since the pandemic struck at Melbourne’s premier events venue, MCEC. We look forward to working with the Treasurer and other organisations in 2021 to advance Melbourne and Victoria’s sustained recovery from this extraordinary economic crisis.
We are grateful to our Board of Directors for their continued commitment to the work of the Committee and its mission to shape Melbourne’s future. We recall that the Committee was born during Melbourne’s last great economic crisis in the 1980s. Our mission remains more important than ever and has been replicated by more than 20 networked “Committees For” in Australia and NZ.
We have lots more in store for you next year, including a series of forums on Artificial Intelligence, Housing, Investible Melbourne, infrastructure priorities, activation of the Yarra and an eastern seaboard dialogue with Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Keep an eye out for the amazing Future Focus Group projects which will leave a lasting legacy for Melbourne. The FFG offers your emerging leaders a unique opportunity to play a part in Melbourne’s recovery, so go ahead and enrol your emerging talent in the class of 21/22.
We thank our readers, members, and supporters for engaging with the Committee in 2020 and really look forward to “Melbourning Again” with you in 2021.
We wish you all a wonderful festive season with friends and family, in this wonderful city and state.
Happy Reading
