For three decades, Melbourne never had a woman leader for the city until 24 May 2018, until people expressed their wills to see a breakthrough and innovations under the leadership of Lord Mayor Sally Capp.
With solid background in law and commerce, Lord Mayor Sally Capp has held many key positions in various private organisations, such as the Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ). She also represents the Council in different committees and bodies such as Queen Victoria Market Committee of Trustees (Chairperson), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation (Honorary Patron, Statutory Appointment). In her current position, Lord Mayor Sally Capp has set a priority to develop the city and people as clearly demonstrated in budgeting and planning.
“Above all else, Melbourne needs to be a city for people. This draft Budget reflects a long-term vision that keeps people safe and connected through world-class transportation. It is the city that offers plenty of open space, parks and festivals to bring people together. … We want Melbournians to enjoy the best parks and gardens, clean streets and new community facilities. Better waste collection, roads, cycling lanes, drainage and footpaths are all fundamental to making Melbourne liveable and sustainable.”
Lord Mayor Sally Capp
From a draft budget totaled $619 million, Lord Mayor Sally Capp allocated $453 million for programmes and services and $166 million for capital work in infrastructures. Her flagship projects include the Queen Victoria Precinct Renewal Programme (to deliver a world-class market precinct), development of a largest community hub that provides 120 places of childcare facility, 500 car parks for market customers, affordable housing and community infrastructure, as well as redevelopment of Lady Huntingfield Children’s Centre to offer 106 places of early education and childcare centre. (www.melbourne.vic.gov.au, May 2019)
Separately, Lord Mayor Sally Capp has a plan to continue working with Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), a subsidiary of Visit Victoria that leads the acquisition and delivery of national and global business events for Melbourne and regional Victoria. This collaboration will help attract more lucrative international conferences to the city.
With the above planning and budgeting, Melbourne is ready to be a human-centric and developed city, tackling potential challenges in advance considering its growing population.
