Pollster Gary Morgan promises to crack down on council junkets if elected Melbourne Lord Mayor

HIGH-profile Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Gary Morgan says he will fix the city council’s boozy, junket-driven culture if elected.

REPEAT lord mayoral candidate Gary Morgan has vowed to crack down on overseas junkets and cut the number of council middle managers if he’s given the keys to Town Hall.

Mr Morgan said the council’s culture, amid the sexual harassment scandal that led to the resignation of former lord mayor Robert Doyle, was shocking.

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“You need someone with experience on how to change the culture in the Town Hall,” he said.

“You’ve had these booze-ups after council meetings, it’s just a shocking culture.”

A recent City of Melbourne report on the harassment allegations against Mr Doyle found certain incidents happened in the context of him “having consumed substantial amounts of red wine”.

Mr Doyle has denied all harassment claims.

Former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. Picture: AAP

Mr Morgan, who runs polling firm Roy Morgan Research, said if he won the May lord mayoral by-election he would make the council more accountable.

“They have people going all over the world, councillors getting trips overseas — there seems very little benefit,” he told the Herald Sun. “There’s no reason to keep sending people overseas unless there’s something that’s going to be gained.”

Mr Morgan, who ran unsuccessfully against Mr Doyle three times, said the council had too many managers, with about 160 staff on salaries of more than $142,000.

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