Council Elections – QVM Wins and Loses

Michael Caiafa’s election to the Melbourne City Council is a great result for the market, and small business generally. The voice of small business is now clearly identified in the council’s make-up. 

But Councillor Stephen Mayne missed out in this election and his departure could be a significant loss, particularly for The Queen Vic Market. Many traders may not be aware of Mr Mayne’s contribution to market matters. 

Cr.Stephen Mayne was elected to Council in 2012 and introduced a process of local government accountability and transparency particularly through his role as Chair of the Finance and Governance Committee. These are some of the measures that have related directly to QVM –
- Speed and efficiencies in council agenda notifications, minutes and audio recordings of Council meetings.
- More open selection of subsidiary company directors including QVM.
- Setting up a funding vehicle for QVM renewal.
- Release of State Government QVM land swap contract.
- Establishing transparency on the $76m Munro Site purchase and development.
- Improving financials reporting for QVM.
- More public disclosure of QVM financials.
- Release of confidential QVM resolutions and voting records within Council.

Lack of trust is a key issue for many traders and we can only hope that Stephen Mayne’s departure from Council will not see the erosion of any of the important innovations he introduced to give us greater transparency and understanding of market issues.

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