Melbourne’s new Lord Mayor Nick Reece vows to take the city forward

Nick Reece has revealed his plans for his first 100 days in office after he is sworn in as lord mayor on Tuesday — for the second time in six months — and he says Melbourne’s “best days are ahead of us”.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece. Picture: David Caird

Melbourne’s freshly elected Lord Mayor should be exhausted after a gruelling four-month election campaign but instead he feels “energised”, ready to lead his beloved city.

In his first sit-down interview since being elected in a self-described “thumping victory”, Lord Mayor Nick Reece tells the Sunday Herald Sun he will not waste a day when it comes to helping “take Melbourne forward”.

“I am very confident that our best days are ahead of us,” he declared.

“Melbourne is a city that does recoveries better than any city in the world and I think the next four years are going to rank amongst the best in our city’s history.”

Speaking from his stately, wood-panelled office in Town Hall, Mr Reece revealed his plans for his first 100 days in office after he is sworn in as lord mayor on Tuesday – for the second time in six months.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece says he wants to make Melbourne a ‘garden city’. Picture: David Caird

The former deputy lord mayor had time to settle into the role after taking over from his predecessor Sally Capp in July following her timely resignation.

Personal photos already adorn a shelf next to a window looking out on to Little Collins St, trams dinging in the distance as they hurtle along Swanston St.

Mr Reece, 50, beams in a photo with his three daughters, but it is hard not to be captured by the photo of a young Nick shaking hands with Barack Obama in 2011 alongside his former boss, Australia’s first female prime minister Julia Gillard.

Now, after years of advising prime ministers and premiers alike, it is Mr Reece’s turn to lead in his own right after being elected to the city’s top job.

“I am so energised and ready to help take Melbourne forward,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve got a day to waste and I’m going to be working hard every single day to deliver on the plan for Melbourne.”

Mr Reece was sworn in as lord mayor in July after Sally Capp’s resignation. Picture: David Caird

Mr Reece does not miss a beat when asked about his top priorities or, in his words, “Nick’s to-do list”.

“My highest priority is city cleanliness and safety,” he said.

At the end of the last council term, Mr Reece was negotiating with major asset owners in the city, including Metro Trains and VicRoads, to ink new agreements that would see council cleaners scrub graffiti off their property for a fee.

“Over the next 100 days, I’m going to be really stepping that up, so you’ll be seeing new agreements with major asset owners around the city,” he said.

He will convene a meeting of the new mayors from Melbourne’s nine inner-city councils to “ask them to sign on to Melbourne’s new city cleaning plan”, which he hopes will set strong cleaning standards across the municipalities.

He will also create a new city safety and cleaning portfolio at the City of Melbourne to ensure the council has a “laser-like” focus on the issue.

And as an early Christmas gift of sorts, Mr Reece said the council in December would open the doors to its long-awaited transitional housing project on Little Bourke St called Make Room.

“This is massive,” he proclaimed.

“This is the biggest homelessness shelter to open in Melbourne in decades.”

The Make Room project can accomodate up to 50 rough sleepers. Picture: Supplied

The transformation of the council-owned building into 50 apartments is expected to save lives by “getting people off the street and providing them with the care and support that they need”.

And in the new year, he will convene the first meeting of the Melbourne 3000 board, led by Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra as chair, to generate “game-changing” ideas for the city’s future.

Mr Reece admits he did not play “small target” during the rollercoaster election campaign, presenting voters with a “bold and ambitious plan” for Melbourne.

“It was a plan that I thought Melbourne needed,” he said.

His policies include freezing rates for one year, placing decorative lighting over laneways and on bridges, deploying 30 “city safety officers” to patrol crime hotspots, installing 200 more CCTV cameras, creating 25 new parks and slashing pool entry to $2.

More controversially, he pledged to sell the City of Melbourne’s share in the Regent Theatre to reinvest in the local arts scene and to also push ahead with the controversial Greenline project, with one of his biggest vows making Melbourne a “garden city”.

“Victoria used to be known as the Garden State, I want to make Melbourne the Garden City,” he said over the campaign.

Mr Reece will be joined on the new council by his deputy lord mayor Roshena Campbell and two councillors from his ticket, but he is realistic about the fact he needs the votes of at least five councillors for his policies to become a reality.

“As councillors, we are all independents. We don’t hold party room meetings,” he said.

“There’s no requirement for people to vote a party line on things and so for every vote, there are 11 people who are voting the way they see an issue.”

But he added: “I think this is going to be a really positive term of council. I think we’ve got a really good, sensible group of councillors.”

Mr Reece, a long-time Labor member, and Ms Campbell, a Liberal, have not always voted the same way during their time as councillors under Ms Capp, but he is confident there is a “high degree of alignment” between them.

“Roshena and I spent a lot of time working together to develop our policies and plan for the election,” he said.

Mr Reece will be joined on the new council by his deputy lord mayor Roshena Campbell. Picture: David Smith

Choosing to run with Ms Campbell on a “unity ticket” baffled some in political circles, but Mr Reece said it would only advance council’s ability to advocate for Melbourne to the state and federal governments – no matter who is in power.

“I’m a person who has always developed good relationships on both sides of the aisle and I’d be confident that I could work with a federal or state government of any stripe,” he said.

“The fact that Roshena has a background in the Liberal Party and has great networks across the Liberals … will only help to serve the interests of the City of Melbourne as we advance our agenda for the city.”

When asked who were the biggest donors to his campaign, he replied: “Well, that’s easy. It was myself and my wife.”

Mr Reece went up against 10 lord mayoral candidates, including Carlton great Anthony Koutoufides, and ended up beating the Greens’ Roxane Ingleton 62-38 after preferences.

He had refused to reveal his donors during the campaign, with the full list of donations – for all candidates – to be disclosed by early December.

“Campaigns are pretty tough. It really did test me and it really did test the family,” he said of his wife Felicity Pantelidis and three daughters.

“They’ve been unbelievably supportive. I’ve promised Felicity that I’ll be stacking the dishwasher for the next year,” he laughed.

Mr Reece with his wife, Felicity Pantelidis, and their daughters at Carlton Gardens. Picture: Josie Hayden

For Mr Reece, a Carlton resident, a perfect Melbourne day starts with a coffee on nearby Lygon St.

“Followed by a walk through one of Melbourne’s beautiful parks, watching the Carlton Football Club prevail over its opponents at a sellout game at the MCG … and wrapping it all up with dinner at one of Melbourne’s world-famous restaurants,” he said.

Ms Capp was lucky enough to see a Collingwood premiership while in office, but her successor was reluctant to predict a Carlton flag during his term.

“But it’s almost like the stars do seem to align there, don’t they?” he laughed.

“I am a born optimist and so I have great hopes for Carlton over the term of my lord mayoralty.”

Mr Reece says his perfect Melbourne day starts with a coffee on Lygon St. Picture: Nadir Kinani

It will not be all business for Mr Reece in his first 100 days and beyond.

He wants to surround himself with all of Melbourne’s people, no matter their circumstances, which will see him volunteer at the Salvation Army’s Magpie Nest cafe in his first week as lord mayor.

“I really think the secret source of Melbourne are our people,” he said.

“I’m so fired up and energised about unlocking the potential of Melbourne and making the most of the people of our city, so I want to be known as the people’s lord mayor.

“I also want to be known as a lord mayor that delivers.”