‘Sensitive’ Melbourne research must be kept secret: council

An influential political lobbyist has been advising Melbourne council chiefs for two years on ‘potentially sensitive matters’. And the council doesn’t want you seeing the secret research.

Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp.

One of Victoria’s most influential political lobbying firms has been advising the City of Melbourne for more than two years on ‘‘potentially sensitive matters’’ including pandemic recovery, bike paths, parking and community infrastructure.

The RedBridge Group, which boasts about its ability to wield ‘‘influence with integrity’’ and help clients ‘‘manage political risks through research-led communication and advocacy’’, has been employed by the council as a consultant since January 2021.

Full details of the projects, policies and issues RedBridge – a registered political lobbyist with a client list of more than 50 businesses including commercial property firms and developers – has worked on are being kept under wraps by the City of Melbourne.

The council has confirmed RedBridge, founded by veteran ALP strategist Kos Samaras, has pocketed $77,000 in ratepayers’ funds for its services between January 2021 and September 2022.

After spending eight months processing a Freedom of Information request from The Australian for access to RedBridge communications since January 2021, the council blocked the release of 101 documents, saying their release could provoke ‘‘spurious and captious’’ debate.

Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras.

‘‘Engagements included market research regarding Covid recovery, integrated transport plan, and community infrastructure,’’ a council spokesperson said. The Australian has confirmed one of the key issues RedBridge has advised the council on is its controversial rollout of more bike paths and the impact on city parking.

Mr Samaras said RedBridge’s work was focused on research.

‘‘Our engagement with the City of Melbourne has been purely a research one, we have been commissioned to undertake social and community research and that is really the summary of it,’’ he said.

‘‘It is really working out what are the issues bubbling up and whatever the brief they give us, we try and help them in getting that better insight.’’

Lord Mayor Sally Capp did not respond to questions from The Australian.

The 101 secret RedBridge documents are believed to consist of hundreds of pages of briefing notes, data and commercial agreements between the council and consultancy.

The council has claimed releasing the trove of documents to The Australian would ‘‘completely undermine’’ its decision-making.

The council said it had engaged RedBridge to help formulate ‘‘strategies for obtaining the most valid and relevant feedback from the public on matters of community importance (and) therefore enable the council to determine the most appropriate form of action to take in response to that feedback”.

‘‘The disclosure of communications designed to inform those strategies would completely undermine the independence of that process and inhibit the ability of the council to make decisions in a way that balances the views and interests of all affected participants and stakeholders,’’ the council said. The Australian believes that on one occasion RedBridge surveyed public perceptions of the council’s performance.

In keeping the 101 documents secret from ratepayers and residents, the council said 13 documents detailed ‘‘quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted by the council with community stakeholders on sensitive matters’’. “Disclosure would inhibit ability of the council to obtain full and unimpeded advice on potentially sensitive matters affecting the broader community,’’ it said.

The council goes on to claim that making the RedBridge documents and briefings public would ‘‘reveal possibilities considered but not eventually adopted’’ and that would ‘‘be likely to give spurious standing to the documents or promote pointless and captious debate on what might or should have happened rather than what did”.

Such discussion, the council claimed, would ‘‘impede full and frank disclosure between council officers in relation to potentially sensitive matters where there was any perception their tentative deliberations could be made available to the world at large”.

Among RedBridge’s clients listed on Victoria’s Lobbyists Register are the Bruce Mathieson Group, Villawood Properties, Intrapac Property, MAB Corporation, Oliver Hume Property Funds and the Stamoulis Property Group.

Sources familiar with RedBridge’s work for the City of Melbourne say the potential for a conflict of interest if one its clients was also pitching a project to the council had been acknowledged by the firm, and it had been careful to avoid these conflicts.