By Cara Waters
Arron Wood thinks he might be “slightly looney” to be running for lord mayor of Melbourne again, but he’s back and promising a rate freeze if elected to town hall.
The former deputy lord mayor and acting lord mayor said addressing cost-of-living pressures was his top priority, and if elected in October he would freeze rates for residents and businesses.
Arron Wood is running for Lord Mayor again and promising a rate freeze for businesses and residents. Credit: Jason South
“Melbourne’s really in a crisis of confidence,” he said. “We haven’t bounced back after COVID, like a lot of other Australian cities, and so we need strong leadership at Town Hall to help Melbourne recover. That’s been my big call back.”
Wood, 48, said if elected he would freeze rates for one year, and after that would aim to keep them as low as possible.
“I’ve just been staggered when Town Hall is talking about the things that they’re doing for the city, cost of living hardly rates a mention, and yet it’s the biggest issue facing families and businesses,” he said.
The City of Melbourne this year increased rates by the maximum 2.75 per cent allowed under the state government’s rate cap.
Many councils across Victoria have complained they are hamstrung by the rate cap, with inflation often surpassing the cap and leaving them struggling to keep up. However, Wood said this was not the case for the City of Melbourne, which has a $781 million budget.
“I’m not making any bones that it’s not a big challenge,” he said. “The mismanagement from Town Hall leadership and the expenditure particularly on large projects like Greenline, where we’re heading towards $30 million spent without a sod being turned, they are real issues to contend with.”
The Greenline project is a proposed four-kilometre linear park running along the Yarra River’s north bank, with an estimated total cost of $316 million.
Wood said he would also review the council’s “blunt” waste charge, which is $330 for properties valued above the median and $145 for properties valued below the median, cut the cost of primary residential annual parking permits by $10 in 2024 and freeze pool, gym and recreation centre fees at current rates through to 2026.
“I’m really confident that through sound budget management we can deliver this rate freeze, while still investing in all the services and the facilities that are sorely needed by ratepayers,” he said.
Rate caps in Victoria since they were introduced in 2016
- 2016-2017: 2.5 per cent
- 2017-2018: 2 per cent
- 2018-2019: 2.25 per cent
- 2019-2020: 2.5 per cent
- 2020-2021: 2 per cent
- 2021-2022: 1.5 per cent
- 2022-2023: 1.75 per cent
- 2023-2024: 3.5 per cent
- 2024-2025: 2.75 per cent
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said he backed a rate freeze, which would be “well received” by Melbourne’s business community.
“Prudent financial management is crucial at this juncture of Melbourne’s history, and it’s imperative that business is prioritised to ensure the city’s recovery,” he said.
Wood departed Town Hall four years ago after serving as deputy lord mayor and acting lord mayor from 2016 to 2020.
He ran against former lord mayor Sally Capp and incumbent Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece in the 2020 council election, but was defeated in a vote of 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent.
Wood is the chief policy officer at the Clean Energy Council, was Young Australian of the Year in the environmental category in 2001, was the 2007 Prime Minister’s Australian Environmentalist of the Year and has been awarded an Order of Australia for services to local government and the environment.
Arron Wood, pictured with wife Stephanie, son Sam and daughter Addison, is contesting Melbourne’s lord mayoral elections this month.Credit: Eddie Jim
He appeared on SBS reality television program Filthy Rich and Homeless in 2020 when he participated in a 10-day immersion in the world of homelessness.
Wood lives in Macedon with wife Stephanie and two children Sam and Addison, and is relocating to his previous home in Kensington with his family to contest the election.
He will run against Reece, the Greens’ Roxane Ingleton, independent Jamal Hakim and Roy Morgan research owner Gary Morgan.
Labor’s Phil Reed and former Carlton Football club great Anthony Koutoufides are both speculated to be mayoral contenders but have yet to declare their candidacy.
The Liberal Party will also endorse a candidate.
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