Mayor says Geelong council not fulfilling obligations, overseas trip voted against

Geelong’s growth means it should engage on trade and investment internationally, its mayor says. One councillor called a proposed 18-day trip out of touch. See reaction here.

Geelong council has voted against sending mayor Trent Sullivan to Belgium, Scotland, Korea and Turkey.

Geelong’s mayor won’t go on a multi-leg 18-day overseas trip, pitched as a way to grow trade and investment for the city, because his colleagues twice voted against it.

The City of Greater Geelong wanted to send mayor Trent Sullivan and a staffer to Changwon in South Korea; Istanbul in Turkey; Kortnijk in Belgium; and Dundee in Scotland during September.

The $25,000 trip was proposed to continue the council’s commitment to Changwon City, South Korea to collaborate on trade and education, and to present about Geelong at a conference for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network which has a membership of almost 300 cities worldwide.

Mr Sullivan was due to visit an aerospace facility in South Korea run by conglomerate Hanwha - which has operations in green energy, defence, finance and space research.

Hanwha is building a $170m manufacturing facility at Avalon where a $1bn military gun contract is due to be delivered.

The company, vying for another defence contract worth a multi-billion-dollar sum, has pledged to deliver it at Avalon if successful.

A Geelong Advertiser poll of almost 550 respondents found 84 per cent were not in favour of the council’s proposed overseas trip.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said Geelong’s size meant it should engage internationally.

“(Our duty) is not only to operate heavily locally but to attract and market ourselves internationally with other like-minded communities,” Mr Sullivan said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

In a statement Mr Sullivan said: “As Mayor, I am deeply committed to upholding our obligations to UNESCO and Korea, both of which bring great economic and cultural benefit to Greater Geelong. We will continue to work on clever and creative ways to bring the world to Geelong.”

Councillor Melissa Cadwell said proposing the trip was “out of touch”.

She withdrew the comment after Mr Sullivan said she could be ejected from the meeting if she didn’t.

Ms Cadwell said: “I don’t believe this trip has any tangible benefits for the city or its residents.”

Deputy Mayor Anthony Aitken said the no vote would impact Geelong’s reputation internationally.

He said the South Korean ambassador, the Changwon mayor and South Korean consulate had requested Mr Sullivan travel to South Korea.

Mr Aitken tried to remove Belgium and Scotland from the trip, and keep Turkey and South Korea but that was voted against.

He said: “You can’t be a part of the world if you are going to shut the door on it.”

Councillor Peter Murrihy said: “With the environment this council has been operating in the past few months, obviously talking about budget cuts which we were told were essential; the timing of this (trip) is all wrong.”

Mr Sullivan, Mr Aitken and former mayor Stephanie Asher voted for the trip.

Councillors Sarah Hathway, Melissa Cadwell, Jim Mason, Belinda Moloney and Peter Murrihy voted against it.

Councillor Eddy Kontelj did not vote on the trip because his employer has a business relationship with Hanwha. Councillors Bruce Harwood and Ron Nelson were not at the meeting.

In August, as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, delegations from Malaysia and New Zealand are due to visit Geelong. The New Zealanders want to learn how council is managing growth.

Originally published as Mayor says Geelong council not fulfilling obligations, overseas trip voted against