Lord mayoral hopefuls Arron Wood, Nick Reece declared ‘standouts’ by Victorian Chamber

Victoria’s leading business lobby group has declared lord mayoral hopefuls Arron Wood and Nick Reece “standouts” in the race for the top job — but Mr Wood has edged out his competitor in one key area.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece and mayoral hopeful Arron Wood at the VCCI lord mayoral breakfast forum. Picture: Jessica Hooper

Victoria’s leading business lobby group has declared lord mayoral hopefuls Arron Wood and Nick Reece “standouts” as the race for the city’s top job enters its final week.

But Mr Wood, a former deputy lord mayor, has edged out Mr Reece, the current lord mayor, with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry giving only Mr Wood a tick of approval when it came to providing “financially sound policies”.

Mr Reece’s plans for the Regent Theatre and the Greenline project cost him a tick, according to the VCCI, while the group also questioned Carlton champion Anthony Koutoufides’ credentials.

The scorecard, released on Friday by the VCCI, assessed the ability of all 11 lord mayoral candidates to deliver on “fiscally responsible policies which will impact Melbourne’s economic growth, business conditions, culture and liveability”.

Across 10 issues, candidates could receive a tick, a question mark or a cross.

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry lord mayoral scorecard.

Mr Wood and Mr Reece, who are among the frontrunners, both received ticks for their policies relating to rates, amenity, safety, accessibility, culture, “ease of doing business” and “firing up the city’s economy”.

But VCCI chief executive Paul Guerra said Mr Reece was given a cross for “financially sound policies” partly due to his commitment to the $316m Greenline project.

“With no commitment from the state government and little commitment from the federal government, we can’t see how that’s going to be delivered and not impact the finances of the City of Melbourne,” he said.

“Arron’s team said they’re going to scrap Greenline and … they’ll spend money in other ways, so that’s why he got the tick on that one.”

He said Mr Reece’s policy to sell the council’s 51 per cent share of the Regent Theatre was also “really difficult from a financial perspective”.

Mr Wood received ticks for all 10 issues. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But Mr Guerra said this did not mean the VCCI was endorsing Mr Wood.

“We’re not … endorsing candidates and that’s not what we want to do,” he said, noting that the scorecard was a guide for businesses when they cast their votes.

The City of Melbourne is the only municipality in Victoria where businesses get to vote, scoring two votes each, while residents get one.

Koutoufides and Labor’s Phil Reed received four ticks each across different issues, but the VCCI raised concerns about Koutoufides’ experience.

“While a successful small businessman, we are concerned about limited experience in dealing with government and understanding the machinery of government,” the scorecard states.

“The City of Melbourne needs someone at the helm who can work with state and federal government and understands the roles and responsibilities of each. Some of that lack of knowledge is evident in the election commitments.”

VCCI says it is concerned about Koutoufides’ limited experience in dealing with government. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Businessman and Roy Morgan executive chairman Gary Morgan and the Greens’ Roxane Ingleton received three ticks, with the scorecard stating that Mr Morgan had “limited to no policies in most areas key to business”.

Ms Ingleton was the candidate with the highest number of crosses, with the scorecard rating her down for safety, accessibility and “firing up the city economy”.

But Mr Guerra said the scorecard was a “live document” which would be updated if new policies came to light, with the VCCI wanting to see policies that are “costed, achievable and within council’s scope”.

“If we think the … scoring needs to be changed, then we’ll move it from a question mark to a tick or a cross,” he said.

Mr Wood said the VCCI does “great work” advocating for the Melbourne business community.

“We are proud to have their tick of approval for our suite of policies which will drive Melbourne’s economic recovery,” he said.

Mr Reece’s running mate Roshena Campbell said their campaign was focused on the needs of Melbourne’s residents, businesses and property owners.

“Unlike others, our plans are fully costed and if we win the election we will deliver them in full while maintaining a surplus,” she said.

The Herald Sun understands that an earlier version of the scorecard was leaked and sent to some of the candidates and their teams, prompting chatter about how candidates across the board had performed.

“Nobody thinks the CBD is in the position that we want it to be in, which means the next lord mayor has a really strong task on their hands, which means we need a strong business-orientated lord mayor,” Mr Guerra said.

Voters are required to post their ballots by October 25.

Originally published as Lord mayoral hopefuls Arron Wood, Nick Reece declared ‘standouts’ by Victorian Chamber