The business trip to Asia has sparked criticism regarding the cost and its necessity.
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Nick Reece, along with three City of Melbourne councillors, will fly business class to Asia as part of a business delegation at an estimated cost of $81,880 to ratepayers.
The delegation will include Mr. Reece and Councillors Kevin Louey, Philip Le Liu, and Gladys Liu, who will visit “priority partner cities” in China, including Chengdu, Nanjing, and Tianjin, as well as Osaka in Japan. The trip will also include stopovers in Hong Kong and Tokyo, from September 16 to 29.
The cost estimate does not include the expenses for additional City of Melbourne staff members who will be attending, and it’s unclear if they will also fly business class using ratepayer funds.
Councillor Owen Guest expressed concerns over the trip, stating that he was not convinced of the value of sending such a large delegation and questioned whether the trip was excessive. “I want to see hard evidence of the value it will bring back to Melbourne,” he said, adding that simply talking about multiculturalism was not enough to justify the expenses.
However, Mr. Reece defended the trip, emphasizing the importance of the delegation’s representation. “Having a strong delegation, including councillors of Chinese heritage, shows the multicultural strength of Melbourne and our commitment to international trade,” he said.
Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell described the trip as “an extraordinarily good use of ratepayer money,” despite some criticisms.
This news comes on the same day the Herald Sun revealed that Mr. Reece had billed ratepayers more than $114,000 in travel expenses since 2020, when he was elected Deputy Lord Mayor.
A City of Melbourne spokesperson stated that these expenses reflect the significant demands placed on the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor to attend engagements representing and advocating for the city.
