Ann Peacock tipped to nominate for Melbourne lord mayor gig

THIS glamorous and well-connected woman is tipped to run for the city’s lord mayor after the job was vacated in a sexual harassment scandal.

THE woman tipped to take over Melbourne’s lord mayoralty is a political purebred and glamorous PR maven.

Melbourne identity Ann Peacock’s name has been floated several times in discussions surrounding the downfall of former lord mayor Robert Doyle.

And now that the embattled leader has officially resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct and a spell of ill health, speculation is building.

The latest hint came from Melbourne radio shock jock Neil Mitchell who told listeners this morning he had been informed by two sources Ms Peacock was “considering standing”.

Ann Peacock is one of the most well-connected women in Melbourne. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Ms Peacock is already well known in Melbourne as the public face and voice of Crown Resorts and daughter of former Liberal leader Andrew Peacock and late socialite Lady Susan Renouf.

She first became known to the public as the young daughter of the high profile couple. Her father took over the Liberal seat of Kooyong from former prime minister Robert Menzies the year she was born, and went on to become foreign minister and later opposition leader.

Her mother, then a well-known socialite and television personality also helped to thrust young Ann into the spotlight as a girl.

But Ms Peacock quickly built a public profile in her own right beginning her career in radio and becoming a weather presenter on Channel 9 in the eighties.

More than 20 years ago, she became James Packer’s right-hand woman managing communications for his Melbourne-based Crown Casino business, a position she maintains to this day as well as managing Crown’s charity arm.

As well as being recognised and admired, frequently pictured in the city’s social pages, Ms Peacock has also weathered many public storms both in her PR role and public life.

Her parents’ 1978 divorce was highly publicised, as were the various political upheavals and scandals her father and mother were both involved in.

Ms Peacock has been in the public eye since she was a child. Pictured left at age 8 with father Andrew mother Susan and their children sisters Jane, 6, and Caroline, 9.

Her high profile marriage to Michael Kroger lasted 10 years.

Her marriage to Victorian Liberal leader Michael Kroger had been documented by the press as were the births of their two boys, and the couple’s 2009 split was also splashed across newspapers and magazines.

Ms Peacock is often feted as one of the most well-connected women in Melbourne in political, business and celebrity circles.

Her annual Women in Media Lunch, Ladies Lunch, and various other events she hosts at Crown attract some of the nation’s biggest names. She’s also frequently pictured partying alongside celebrities such as Karl Stefanovic and Shane Warne, and has international names including Mariah Carey and Liz Hurley at Crown.

With fellow socialist and PR queen Roxy Jacenko. Picture: Instagram

Shane Warne with Ann Peacock. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Ms Peacock signalled a leap into politics in a 2011 interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” she said when asked if she would one day follow in her father’s political footsteps.

“I have a firm sense of giving back to the community and the need to look after our own backyard, so maybe one day.”

Ms Peacock has not publicly addressed speculation she could throw her hat in the ring to become lord mayor.

According to the Herald Sun, the field of potential candidates could include Melbourne businessman and former footballer Phil Cleary, Property Council boss Sally Capp, and current acting lord mayor Arron Wood, who served as Mr Doyle’s deputy until he stood aside in December.

Former Western Bulldogs vice-president Susan Alberti, another high-profile Melbourne woman, has also been floated as a possibility to take Town Hall’s top job.

News.com.au has contacted Ms Peacock for comment.

Ann Peacock and her late mother Lady Susan Renouf at home in Toorak in 2013.