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SPECIAL BREAKFAST MEETING WITH OUR LORD MAYOR – TUESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2018 WELCOME President Neville looked out on almost a packed house as he welcomed a number of visitors. They included DG Bronwyn Stephens, Batman Cluster Presidents Gabe Hau (E Club) and Mary Zindilis (Nth Melbourne), and Rotarians Ruth Nambowa and Daniel Kasozi from Uganda. Also in the audience were the Lord Mayor’s husband, Andrew Sutherland and father, Brian Capp. GUEST SPEAKER – LORD MAYOR SALLY CAPP We were privileged to have our newly appointed Lord Mayor of Melbourne (the 104th) speak to us this morning at our first Special Breakfast for the year. The Lord Mayor covered off on a number of topics: How she got to be Lord Mayor. She had a very relevant CV which included Agent General for Victoria based in London and CEO for the Committee for Melbourne, a passion for Melbourne and sought the position due to the circumstances of last year. Her campaign was based on “Independence, Authenticity and Substance (data and evidence needed plus doing what is right)”. The LM applauded Rotary for its practical and inspiring leadership in action. What do we need in 2018? She referred initially to Melbourne’s fantastic legacies from the 19th century, its street layout/grid, its parks and gardens and its heritage buildings from the gold rush days. She then stated that Melbourne now needs a bold plan again to cope with the rapid population growth. We are the fastest growing city in the developed world and because of that, we have recently lost the mantle as the most livable city in the world to Vienna, a beautiful city but with less than 40% of Melbourne’s population. We now must find a balance between growth and livability. Key features of this bold plan, according to the Lord Mayor, included firstly open space to grow...we have that in Fisherman’s Bend and Arden/Macauley and, secondly, significant growth in Research & Development and Intellectual Property. Melbourne is recognized for this expertise but we don’t take it from “start-ups” to “unicorns”, we let this value go offshore. One of her criticisms was that we lack the cohesive collaborative approach across levels of governments and do not always successfully include the private sector. The Lord Mayor concluded her speech by stressing that “Town Hall” is becoming a more approachable place and that she would work to ensure that Melbourne continues to be an inclusive and successful city. JUST BEFORE WE CLOSED... President Neville: Announced that an outstanding young volunteer for the Steps Ministry, Elija Ho, had been nominated by our Club for the Sir John Reid Community Service Award, managed by the Rotary Club of Melbourne, for his continuing volunteering work. Presented Club member, Suvam Ganguli, with a Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) Certificate of Graduation in recognition of completion of the 4 part RLI Course of Study in Rotary Knowledge and Leadership Skills for Rotarians. Introduced his partner Suzette who spoke of her initiative to build the connection amongst friends of Rotary and the need to respond to her email of 17 September. Closed the Special Breakfast/meeting by firstly advising that the raffle raised $700 and that we find a way to be an inspiration to at least one other person.
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GUEST SPEAKER
