By Cara Waters
Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s plan to sell the City of Melbourne’s share of the Regent Theatre faces defeat in the new council.
Of the 11 elected councillors, only Reece and two of his team members have publicly backed the sale. At least six councillors – including one member of Reece’s team – say they are likely to vote against it.
Lord mayor Nick Reece and deputy lord mayor Roshena Campbell campaigned on a pledge to sell the Regent Theatre to fund the arts. Credit: Simon Schluter
Another hurdle to any sale is that council documents show the City of Melbourne owns only 50 per cent of the heritage-listed theatre – not the 51 per cent majority Reece said it held during his election campaign.
The state government, which owns the other half, had “no plans” to sell, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Reece, incoming deputy lord mayor Roshena Campbell and Kevin Louey all pledged in their “Team Nick Reece” election campaigns to sell City of Melbourne’s share of the 95-year-old venue to help fund arts in the city.
“I think we can get far more public good done if we sell our share in the theatre and put the proceeds back into the creative industries in Melbourne, where a helping hand is needed,” Reece said.
However, the promise was opposed by many, including candidates who have now been elected.
Incoming councillors Olivia Ball, Davydd Griffiths, Owen Guest, Gladys Liu, Rafael Camillo and Mark Scott all told The Age they were likely to vote against any move to sell the Regent Theatre.
Greens councillor Ball said the pledge to sell the theatre had not been very popular during the election campaign.
“There are commercial theatres that are very successful in Melbourne, and we are very fortunate to have the Regent Theatre survive its decades of neglect,” she said. “It is safe in public hands.”
Labor’s Griffiths said the party had campaigned strongly against selling the Regent, and that was where his starting point would be.
“I have a long track record of opposing privatisation of any government asset,” he said.
Incoming Liberal councillor Guest said he had never supported the sale of the Regent.
“I am going into things with an open mind, but without further information, I don’t see why I would support that,” he said. “Once sold it is forever gone.”
Liu, who ran on Anthony Koutoufides’ ticket, said she had opposed the sale of the Regent during the election campaign.
“If we need the money for the City of Melbourne, we should look into how we should bring more people back to the city rather than selling the Regent Theatre, which is something we are very proud of,” she said.
Camillo, who ran on Gary Morgan’s ticket, said he was completely against any sale of the Regent.
“I would not support that,” he said. “It is not the time for council to sell any asset.”
Incoming councillor Raphael Camillo said he did not support selling the Regent Theatre. Credit: Joe Armao
Scott, who ran on Reece’s ticket, said the pledge to sell the Regent had not been well received.
“I think the issue was misconstrued politically,” he said. “People in the arts are really struggling, and we have to find a way to solve that problem.
“Selling the Regent was one idea, but is probably not something to go ahead with based on the way the community has reacted to it. Right now, I would probably vote against it.”
There are two unknowns on council when it comes to the sale – independents Andrew Rowse and Philip Le Liu.
Rowse said he did not have enough information at this stage to state a position.
Le Liu did not respond but was part of failed lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood’s team, which opposed the sale of the Regent.
In his campaign, Reece said the council owned a majority stake in the theatre at 51 per cent, but City of Melbourne records shows the council owns 50 per cent. Reece declined to comment on why he had said the council owned a majority stake.
“The sale of the City of Melbourne’s half of the Regent Theatre is an election policy that I will discuss with the councillor group,” he said.
Jason Marriner, of the Marriner Group, which operates the Regent Theatre, declined to comment.
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