Lord Mayor Sally Capp defends attendance at ‘Invasion Day’ event
Lord Mayor Sally Capp was slammed for going to an “Invasion Day” event, but says she wants to give Indigenous groups more say in council decisions.
Victoria
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Lord Mayor Sally Capp has defended her attendance at an “Invasion Day” event and revealed that Indigenous groups will be consulted about how Australia Day should be marked in the future.
And the first directly-elected female head of Town Hall has left open the possibility of running for a third term, despite hating campaigning.
Ms Capp drew significant criticism for attending a “dawn service” which highlighted atrocities against Aboriginal people while the official Australia Day Parade was cancelled by the state government.
“We acknowledge as an organisation, and I do as Lord Mayor, that for our Aboriginal community it’s a sombre day, it’s a day of mourning,” she said.
“And to me the dawn service was a time to reflect and respect, and it was important for me to go.”
The City of Melbourne has been consulting Aboriginal groups about Australia Day, Melbourne Day and other issues, and is due to report findings soon.
“It’s a really important debate that we are having, like on so many things, it’s a time of change,” the Lord Mayor said.
“From my perspective we represent a diverse community, there are lots of different ways that people reflect and celebrate, and the sorts of activities on the day mean different things to different people.”
Ms Capp said things like “changing the date” were not her call to make, it was an issue for the federal government to discuss.
“What we are all battling with is how do we reflect all those various parts of the Australian community, our Australian history, our Australian identity,” she said.
“Whether it’s the activities on the day, whether it’s a different day, all of those things are up in the air.”
Ms Capp, who was reelected for a second term at the October election, said council’s main priority was economic revitalisation, and efficient delivery of programs and projects.
“It’s really important that projects like Queen Victoria Market (redevelopment) and Greenline (linear park), which are city-shaping projects, that they proceed, that we deliver those well,” she said.
“It builds up that sense of confidence that the City of Melbourne can deliver on commitments.”
Also on the council’s agenda is bringing not only workers back to the inner city, but also attracting creative and cutting-edge people and businesses.
“When we are talking about creative organisations it’s everything from artists themselves through to strategic and innovation companies,” the Lord Mayor said.
“It’s cultural organisations that might promote different forms of the arts, but they might also represent different cultures and backgrounds”
“It’s commuity organisations, we are really focused on start-ups and social entrepreneurs.”
Ms Capp said the pandemic had had a curious effect on city trends, such as accelerating debate over cars as bicycle sales went through the roof.
“Demand for public transport will naturally go up as Melbourne Metro comes on line, and even when I was head of the Property Council developers were already looking at the future of big carparks in the city,” she said.
“Pre-COVID we were focused on how to manage growth...we were one of the fastest growing cities in the world, it was pushing us forward and we were trying to guide and manage it as best we could.”
“COVID has created this interesting situation of accelerating some parts of the city’s progress, but also stopping others.”
But as the city slowly recovers from brutal shutdowns and the absence of workers and visitors, Ms Capp said the focus had to be on getting the basics rights.
“The cleaning of graffiti and rubbish bins being emptied, all of those elements of roads, rates and rubbish have a really important foundational base to bring back that buzz,” she said.
“It’s important listening to our shopkeepers of little retail outlets down laneways, owners of hospitality businesses that might be third-genration.”
“For some who had just opened up as we entered the pandemic, and for them getting the basics right and doing everying we can to attract workers and visitors back into the city, that’s the critical element.”
Ms Capp said it was also crucial to offer economic opportunities to vulnerable groups to ensure we had “a fairer Melbourne.”
“It could be the long-term unemployed, it coud be newer migrant groups, it could be people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,” she said.
Elected half-way through the last council term following the resignation of Robert Doyle, Ms Capp said then she wanted to be Lord Mayor at least until 2024.
She has now left open the possibility of running again after that.
“A lot of people have asked me because last year was so exhausting, so unrelenting,” she said.
“The fact is these roles are an honour and a privilege, and they are completely exhilirating and exhausting at the same time.”
“But they are incredibly purposeful, drive a huge amount of satisfaction and motivation, even on the toughest of days.”
“I can assess (whether to run again) as we get closer to the end of the term - which is my least favourite bit, the campaigning and the election stuff.”
In the meantime, the Lord Mayor said she would tackle the job with the rule that “every single day matters”.
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