Super chance for city

Hamish Heard
Retaining a bigger slice of residents’ $9 billion in super funds has been identified as a key to Geelong’s economic development.
Regional Development Victoria chief Dan O’Brien has told a Partnerships for Progress convention that only a tiny fraction of Geelong super funds were invested locally.
He estimated Geelong people would own approximately $9 billion in superannuation and other investments.
Mr O’Brien was speaking at the launch of Partnerships in Progress, a new accord to encourage teamwork between local business and public sector leaders to foster progress in the region.
Mr O’Brien told about 75 guests at the launch that Geelong needed to start attracting pooled investment funds with local people as stakeholders.
Geelong Mayor Peter McMullin agreed with Mr O’Brien, saying it was time for the city to stop punching below its weight.
“This goes to show Geelong is playing in the big league against international competitors,” Cr McMullin said.
“This requires increasingly sophisticated representation, collaboration and strategies,” he said.
A resolution to combat competing interests through community and business leaders “funneling their objectives and strategies into a central civic discussion” was a key outcome of the convention, Cr McMullin said.
“As a community we have more plans than we can poke a stick at and the convention overwhelmingly agreed that it was time for action and to put some rubber on the road,” he said.
The convention drove home a need for Geelong leaders to take a holistic approach to problem solving in the region.
“For example, we cannot promote environmental controls without considering the potential impacts on jobs,” Cr McMullin said.
“We cannot talk about development without talking about safety and community connectiveness.”
Cr McMullin cited a suggestion that increasing job opportunities in Geelong would relieve traffic congestion on the Westgate Bridge as a “fantastic example” of the benefits of looking at issues from a broader perspective.
The convention wound up with the formation of a six-point course of action.