Property baron Max Beck opens up on friendship with Dan Andrews

Billionaire Max Beck has revealed why he’s sick of people sh*tcanning Victoria, his push to change Sorrento’s name and the “other side” of Dan Andrews the public doesn’t see.

Michael Warner sat down for a no-holds-barred interview with billionaire Melbourne property baron Max Beck.

So what do you want to get off your chest, Max?

I’m just wondering whether it’s possible to get a positive article on Melbourne and Victoria.

I’ve been around Melbourne for quite a while, I came from Holbrook. And in my life around Melbourne I’ve fallen in love with it and I’ve built a lot of sh*t.

Melbourne through the Kennett – I better mention him because everyone thinks I’m a mate of Dan’s – the Andrews and Allan governments, they’ve really built some critical infrastructure over the years and that is a big reason why people want to come here, because our infrastructure is second to none around the country.

And we are heading off into that space again and everyone is saying we shouldn’t be doing it. But should we have done the West Gate Bridge, the Domain Tunnel and the Monash Freeway?

Beck believes Melbourne is better than Sydney “by a far bit”. Picture: Jason Edwards

I think we definitely need to build what’s happening, even if it puts us into a bit of debt. Because our city is going to continue to grow. And there’s only two major cities in Australia where people probably want to live, migrants particularly – Sydney and Melbourne. I just think Melbourne is probably better than Sydney by a fair bit with its culture and sport and other things.

If you look at the infrastructure that was done in horse and cart times, St Kilda Road and the grid in the city, I mean, give me a break, it’s fantastic really and still is today.

So we’re pretty good at all that and we should continue to be. St Kilda Road is one of the great boulevards of the world.

And within an hour and a half of the city you’ve got these other little jewels like the Surf Coast, Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula where I hope I can change Sorrento to Sorrento by the Sea, the same as Carmel by the Sea.

How are you gonna do that?

I went to see the mayor when I was over there.

Yeah, but how would that work?

Well, Carmel by the Sea is on the Monterey Peninsula (in California), where all that good golf stuff is. And I went to see the mayor on the basis that we could become a sister city. I think we’ve got very similar attributes and he’s going to come out here in November and hopefully I can convince everybody that it’s a really good marketing thing for Sorrento.

Beck says Sorrento is one of his favourite places on the planet. Picture: Jason Edwards

The weather in Melbourne is moderate and with climate change, I reckon it’s going to be fantastic. It doesn’t rain anything like it does in Sydney or the Gold Coast.

Sorrento is very close to my heart – one of my favourite places on the planet – and I just think if it is recognised more as being similar to another very famous place, Carmel where Pebble Beach is and all that stuff, that it will do great things for the town.

What do you say about the housing crisis?

We’ve got plenty of broad acres around the fringes of the city (and that’s why we need this infrastructure) that’s not expensive to build on like somewhere like Sydney where you’ve got a harbour that chops up the whole thing. We’ve got very good tradies here. We’ve got good builders and … I just think migrants, when they look at Australia, they probably want to come here.

Tell me about the projects, are you talking about the Suburban Rail Loop?

Yeah, all that.

You support that, despite the reports of the costings?

I’ll tell you what, I just have a problem with the way they run. When we did the Children’s Hospital, we did a PPP, a Private Public Partnership, and … we offlaid the risk to the private sector … It was over a billion dollars and the contract was for 20 years and the consortium, including Lend Lease, they had to build it to the client’s brief … They had to maintain it for 20-odd years and I think in about four years the state gets that whole facility back. So there were no double cost overruns or whatever and the government paid, I don’t know, 40 to 50 million bucks a year for the rent and pleasure.

So you think we should have done something like that?

I think all these projects should have been done on PPP.

And why weren’t they?

I don’t know. I’ve got to deal with the bastards, but the bureaucracy have got no skin in the game at all, so when they put out a brief, there’s so many holes in it, the contractors say, sh*t, how good is this, we’ll come in with a low bid because we know that we’ll be able to up this by 30 or 40 per cent with variations.

Beck wants to rename the town Sorrento by the Sea. Picture: Jason Edwards

Is it too late to introduce a PPP for the SRL (first stage)?

Probably. But they could do it with the other stages. What you’ve got to do is hand the risk to the private sector, because they’ve got skin in the game. It’s exactly what we did with the Children’s Hospital.

Would you encourage the Victorian government to look at a PPP model for the final stages of the SRL?

Definitely. It’s all about getting the risk away from the public sector to the private sector.

But why didn’t they do it in the first place?

Probably because the bureaucracy don’t want to let go. They want to keep their jobs.

Well, Dan was the premier. Why didn’t he ask you about it?

I don’t know, but it’s all swayed by (government) departments. Unfortunately, I can only think private – public is not my mindset. I was just a chippy who put a few nails in and made a few bob. I can’t think of any other way other than having to work hard and take a few risks.

What’s the other infrastructure apart from the SRL that is being questioned that you like?

I think all of it’s pretty good. When we did the West Gate Bridge and the Domain Tunnel, everyone said ‘f**k, what are we spending that for’. Well, imagine Melbourne without that now.

Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan at an SRL site in Clayton in 2022. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

I suppose what people are concerned about is the debt, what do you say to the debt?

I think we went into debt way back then. We had a lot of debt back then under (John) Cain and whatever.

So you don’t think the debt at the moment is more of a concern than it was then?

No. And I think if every now and then you’ve got a stretch. There’s a few premiers between then and now that said ‘oh, we’ve got to have a balanced budget’. But when a city’s doubled in size, you need the infrastructure.

What about land tax? It seems to be a bugbear of a lot of people, especially those who own holiday houses – not as big as yours – in Sorrento?

Look, the problem with all those extra taxes for me is – and I don’t think that Albo will do it – but just whack up the GST and get rid of all those departments that have to manage all that.

It might only be a couple of (percentage) points, but it will simplify life. People will cop it because all these other taxes are upsetting a whole lot of commercial enterprises, and they’ve got to have a whole lot of people administering them. It would effectively cancel a lot of the other taxes out that are actually strangling a lot of industries. Because unless business goes well, we’ve got nothing really.

Beck believes all of Victoria’s new infrastructure is “pretty good”. Picture: Jason Edwards

So even though you’re defending it, you do acknowledge that we could make better changes to people’s lives by sort of less bureaucracy or red tape in there?

Yeah.

So who’s going to lead that?

I don’t know. Well, Trumpy had a go with Musk and now they’re not mates anymore, I bet they still are. They’re pretty shifty, both of them.

What do you think of Trump out of interest?

I think 80 per cent of what he does is good.

What about the current Victorian Premier (Jacinta Allan)?

Yeah, a good bird. She’s very realistic and she’s inherited a lot of stuff that Dan agreed to which I think is all good. But she’s just got to stand her ground and get there with it.

What about Dan, obviously as you know he’s been heavily criticised for the state that he left Victoria and you disagree that he left Victoria in a worse place than he found it?

I think it was probably better. And I’ve had to defend him over the period. Every time people mention that, I say, well, look, would you have liked to have been premier during Covid? And they all say, sh*t, no. We’ve never been there before. It’s affected his family. He’s a good person and he’s got balls. I know the other side of him, you know, because he was the minister for health when I did the kids’ (hospital). And we had to fight for the bureaucracy that wanted to have mainly wards. And we talked about it and he went back and fought hard for single rooms for the kids and we ended up with 85 per cent single rooms.

Beck says Dan Andrews “has balls”. Picture: David Crosling

So you would say he and his legacy are unfairly maligned?

I think so. And imagine what a break that is for a kids’ hospital, when the parents can at least go there and stay overnight with the kids … And how come he got re-elected?

Well, you tell me?

Well he did, because people actually like someone who gets sh*t done.

Is it right that he rents an office in one of your buildings?

No, that’s not right.

Well, tell me if this is incorrect, but it has been said that the night that he fell over, he was at your house at Sorrento.

No, he was up around at a rented place around near the footy ground, nowhere near me. I knew where he was, I called in to see him, but he wasn’t with me, that’s for sure.

When did you call in to see him?

Oh, I don’t know, afterwards or before, I can’t remember. But look, he’s a friend of mine. I’m happy to admit that him and Catherine are friends of mine, they’re good people.

How often would you play golf with him?

Oh, not a lot. But he’s very pleasant to play golf with … A couple of times a year probably.

How’s he hit them out of interest?

He’s off at about 10, I think.

Is it correct that you and Lindsay (Fox) got a lease for 100 years on Essendon Airport for $100m? Is that the deal of the century or what?

Probably, but we didn’t pay $100 million, mate.

Andrew Fox and Max Beck. Picture: SDP Media

What’d you pay for it?

I’m not saying, but nothing like that.

What, less?

Yeah.

Is that the best deal you’ve ever done?

Probably one of the best property deals in Australia, I’d say, because there’s not much better piece of land. But again, it depends what you do with it. I’m a tradie, realistically, who loves building good sh*t. And it pays off. If you go to Essendon and you look at the Hyatt there, I mean, it’s probably the best Hyatt place in Australia, as far as the building goes.

So generally Max, your thesis is that there’s too much pessimism around Victoria and you think that we should be more optimistic and hopeful for the future?

Well, I think that the train’s under way with a lot of this stuff, really. The infrastructure … everyone is sh*tcanning it – it could have been handled better contractually, but I just think it’s all absolutely positive for Melbourne.

You’re 83 now. A chippy made good. But you say that Victoria is a better place than it’s ever been?

I haven’t really thought about that. But I don’t think we’re any worse. And I think someone’s made some hard decisions to improve their community, particularly mobility with all this stuff that they’re doing. And I think that makes a huge difference. I mean have you been to the other side of the bridge in Sydney and tried to get somewhere? And this city is very mobile with ring roads and tunnels from, you know, across the city. And it’s a great city for the size of it – in terms of – better than all the American cities. And we’re just world-class with all our sporting facilities.

I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll write up what you’ve said and I’ll send it to you for your approval.

Well, that’d be good, because my marriage will survive. She’s gorgeous. We’ve been married 58 years … But she says, look, mate, just relax.

Originally published as Property baron Max Beck opens up on friendship with Dan Andrews