‘I know what it takes’: Arron Wood to run for Melbourne lord mayor

He left Town Hall four years ago but his “burning” desire to help get Melbourne “back on track” after the pandemic has been too strong for Arron Wood to ignore. Now, he wants to get the job done.

Four years ago, Melbourne’s former deputy lord mayor Arron Wood departed Town Hall hoping he would never need to return.

But after the dark days of the pandemic, he realised his “burning” desire to help get the city “back on track” was too strong to ignore.

And so, after months of mounting speculation, Wood has exclusively confirmed he will run for lord mayor in the October local council election, having served as deputy lord mayor and acting lord mayor from 2016 to 2020.

Wood this week laid out his five-point plan for Melbourne’s recovery to the Sunday Herald Sun, with assurances he knows “what it takes” to lead this great city and get the job done.

“I think we absolutely need a fresh start. We can’t have more of the same,” he said of the present leadership at Town Hall.

Former deputy lord mayor Arron Wood with his wife, Stephanie, and children Addison and Sam. Picture: Jason Edwards

Looking out over the Yarra River, towards Flinders Street Station, from a secluded Southbank cafe, Wood reflected on his time away from local politics.

“I’ve watched the last four years and I think, to be honest, my greatest hope would have been that … the current leadership of Town Hall got it right because that would have been a great thing for the city,” he admitted.

“And in many ways, I would have happily kept going with my life.

“But there’s like something burning inside me.”

Wood, 48, ran against former lord mayor Sally Capp and her deputy Nick Reece at the previous local council election in 2020, falling short after the distribution of preferences.

Now, Wood finds himself battling Reece, who stepped into the top job after Capp’s resignation, after he announced earlier this month that he would run for lord mayor.

“I think there’s a real appetite for change across the board,” Wood continued.

“People are, sadly, doing it tough and so I think they’re going to be asking: ‘Can we do another four years of this or do we need something a bit different?’”

He described his decision to run – for the second time – as one of the big decisions of his life because despite his passion for leadership and public service, he wished Melbourne had no “foundational issues” to fix, especially when it came to city cleanliness and safety.

Wood says he ‘knows what it takes’ to lead Melbourne. Picture: Jason Edwards

But he said his wife Stephanie, a former advertising executive, and their two kids Addison, 10, and Sam, 7, had thrown their support behind him.

“I’ve been agonising about this decision for like six months,” he said.

“I kept almost wanting my family to say: ‘No, we don’t want you to do it’.

“But they’ve kept saying they’re 110 per cent behind me.”

He added: “If we don’t get strong leadership at Town Hall, I worry within the next couple of years where our city ends up.”

At the top of his five-point plan, he pledged to do what he could to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, pointing to his track record when he fought hard in 2020 to get the council to freeze rates.

“It’s a lever that you can pull, which might make things a bit easier for people in the city,” he said.

But he wants to not only look out for ratepayers, but anyone who comes into the city.

“You can absolutely review fees and charges and make sure that they’re appropriate,” he added.

Next, the environmentalist plans to create a “safer, cleaner, greener and more accessible city”, revealing that even he feels unsafe at times when he walks the city streets at night.

“How do you attract people back to the city? You make the city safe, clean and accessible,” he said, when asked whether he wanted to see more office workers back.

Wood served for four years as a councillor prior to becoming Robert Doyle’s deputy in 2016. Picture: David Geraghty

He stopped short of making any commitments, but said despite pledging a greener city he would be looking “very closely” at the Greenline project, if elected.

“What I think Greenline has done is suck very precious ratepayer dollars into a very, very big project,” he said, noting it could cost more than $500m.

“There are so many things our city needs and we’ve got to be very careful about big passion projects that potentially consume those precious ratepayer dollars.”

He also plans to revitalise Melbourne’s economy, revive its “cultural heartbeat” and support local communities, partly by getting the council’s budget under control, which currently has a modest $101,000 surplus.

“We will run a budget, which is much more prudent, which doesn’t have an on-paper surplus, but a genuine surplus that allows us to invest in the services our community needs,” he said.

He had no specific policy announcements to make on the first day of his campaign, but said he is unwilling to roll out extravagant policies he cannot deliver.

“The last four years have given me the opportunity to hear directly from residents and businesses about the real issues they face,” he said.

“Melbourne has the ability to return to its pre-pandemic greatness and I want to make that happen.”

Melbourne last month slipped to the world’s fourth-most liveable city, but Wood aims to restore the city to the top spot not for the title, but for the community.

Wood says he is prepared to stand up to the state government. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Speaking further about his family, Wood revealed they moved out of the family home in Kensington – where he has lived for 20 years – post-pandemic and temporarily relocated to Macedon for his children’s wellbeing.

“I split my time between Docklands and Macedon,” he said, adding he spent most of the week living and working in the city as the chief policy officer at the Clean Energy Council.

“But we’re moving back to the family home in Kensington.

“We always intended to come back.”

At one point, he apologised.

“I can’t talk about family very well, because I do get emotional,” he said, pausing, before describing how much his children bring him joy.

“My daughter thinks she’s the next Matilda and that’s really awesome, and I’m pretty sure my son thinks that the next step after under-9s is to play for the Bombers,” he laughed.

Arron Wood and his family in 2018. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Prior to politics, Wood founded acclaimed environmental education program Kids Teaching Kids, which he ran for 20 years.

Wood served for four years as a councillor prior to becoming Robert Doyle’s deputy in 2016, which saw him become acting lord mayor two years later when Doyle stepped down in disgrace following allegations of sexual harassment.

Wood was left to steer Town Hall during a tumultuous six-month period he describes as “tough” for not only the administration, but its people.

He returned to the role of deputy after Capp won the mayoral by-election in 2018, which he did not contest due to the recent birth of his son.

Arron Wood served as acting lord mayor for six months. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Rumours have been swirling that Wood has picked bikini entrepreneur Erin Deering to run on his independent ticket as his deputy, but he remained tight-lipped when asked.

Wood not only joins Reece but pollster Gary Morgan, Labor’s Phil Reed and the Greens’ Roxane Ingleton in the mayoral race, with the Liberals yet to announce their candidate.

When the Sunday Herald Sun wrapped up the interview by asking a question “to cap off”, Wood flinched.

“Capp? Don’t say Capp,” he joked.

He believes he will be able to stand up to the state government in a way Capp and Reece have not.

“I think the relationship with the state government needs to be reset,” he stated.

“I feel like local government now is a passenger in the vision for the city.

“You have to be prepared to actually stand up to the state government on issues that matter to the city, where you might have differences of opinion.”

He reiterated his desire to return to Town Hall.

“The burning passion or calling is still there,” he concluded.

“And I know I can do the job, so now I’ve just got to win the election.”