Anger at City of Melbourne plan to sell off more assets
Lord Mayor Nick Reece has floated selling the remaining parts of its Citywide business, which includes road repair, maintenance and landscaping, in a move that’s been criticised as “lazy and shortsighted”.
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Lord Mayor Nick Reece is considering privatising more City of Melbourne assets to repair Town Hall’s parlous finances.
The Herald Sun understands that Mr Reece has floated selling the remaining parts of its Citywide business, which includes road repair, maintenance and landscaping.
It comes after the finalisation of the council’s sell off Citywide’s waste collection services to ASX-listed Cleanaway was completed on July 1.
The council sold the waste collection part of Citywide for $110m but the remaining parts of the business, which the council still owns, is likely to fetch less. The 2025-26 council budget shows Town Hall has racked up $212m of debt.
Australian Services Union Victoria and Tasmania secretary Tash Wark slammed the plan to sell off more assets.
“Privatising what’s left of Citywide is a direct attack on job security for the workers who have dedicated their careers to serving the City of Melbourne,” she said.
“These aren’t disposable roles. They’re good, secure jobs that have kept this city running.”
“Our members at Citywide are the people who fix footpaths, care for our parks and gardens, and maintain our roads, and they do it with skill, pride and commitment.
“Selling those services off to the private sector will mean one thing: higher costs for ratepayers and lower quality work.”
Ms Wark said the union would fight any further sell-offs, just as it did the sale of the waste collection business.
“While mayor Reece was happy to stand beside Citywide workers for photo ops, when it comes to standing up for these workers’ jobs he just couldn’t care less,” she said.
“We’re calling on mayor Reece to immediately rule out any further privatisation of Citywide services, including parks and gardens, road maintenance and footpath repairs.
“If he won’t, he can expect strong and united opposition from the ASU.”
Ms Wark said selling the rest of Citywide was a “lazy and shortsighted way to fund his pet projects at the expense of good union jobs and quality services”.
The Herald Sun put questions to Mr Reece about the potential privatisation of more ratepayer assets but he refused to answer.
Instead, a City of Melbourne spokeswoman said: “Council informs the community of any potential asset sale as soon as it is appropriate to do so.”
“Some details – such as those related to the recent sale of Citywide’s waste business – must remain confidential during the process. This ensures potential buyers present their best offers.”
Originally published as Anger at City of Melbourne plan to sell off more assets
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