Injecting room reveals sharp rift between Lord Mayor, deputy
The fractured working relationship between Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and her deputy Arron Wood has been exposed at a council meeting over the proposed site for a supervised injecting room near Queen Victoria Market — and insiders say the rift has been growing for months.
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The widening split between Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and her deputy Arron Wood was exposed by the introduction of a watered-down city council motion on a proposed supervised drug injection room near the Queen Victoria Market.
The working relationship between the Town Hall leadership duo has been fractured for several months, insiders say, despite both putting on a public face of unity.
The two were thrust together two years ago after former mayor Robert Doyle’s resignation amid controversy, and Cr Capp’s election.
The latest stand-off came after Cr Wood’s response on the injection room plan was sunk, without prior notice, during a council meeting this week.
“I was really disappointed that after working as well as we could have hoped that some shrewd last-minute politics was played with such a significant issue,’’ Cr Wood told the Herald Sun.
“I do question what happened. It doesn’t add up.’’
Cr Capp said she was listening to the ratepayers and businesses of Melbourne on the issue.
Cr Wood had proposed a strongly worded resolution rejecting the State Government’s plan to establish near the market Melbourne’s second safe injection room, a decision that blindsided councillors two weeks ago.
But Cr Capp moved a late, alternative motion, simply calling for further consultation with Spring St and accepting a second facility would be located in the city.
Cr Wood said the revised motion meant the Drill Hall building on Victoria St remained the preferred location.
Cr Wood was elected as Robert Doyle’s deputy in 2016 but he will not run on Cr Capp’s mayoral ticket in the October local council elections. He is considering a run against her. Cr Capp was elected in May 2018 after Mr Doyle resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations.
The government announcement came after the release of an independent report into the North Richmond injection room, which opened in June 2018.
The government wants a second facility to ease demand on the North Richmond centre and neighbourhood.
Cr Wood also questioned whether the CoHealth centre on Victoria St had the capacity for the injecting room.
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