By Luke Voogt
Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle will miss the Geelong Citizens Jury this weekend – thanks to a date with Santa.
The City of Melbourne confirmed Cr Doyle’s appointment with the jolly red man at a Melbourne Christmas ceremony tomorrow (Saturday).
He joins a number of public figures who are unable to attend including Geelong council CEO Kelvin Spiller and former premier Jeff Kennett.
Mr Kennett had the second-most votes on the jurors’ wish list of speakers but had already agreed to speak at a Remembrance Day ceremony in Canberra.
He hoped to speak at the jury’s final meeting on 26 November to address “failures” in Geelong’s local government.
“If the organisers come back with an invitation I’d be very happy to come,” he said.
“I’ve had a great interest in Geelong for many years.”
The group behind the jury, the newDemocracy Foundation, invited the Mr Kennett to make a video or written submission.
But he said the issues at hand were “far too important for just a few glib lines”.
“At this stage I would like to give the jury the benefit of my experience directly.”
The avowed ‘Minister for Geelong’ declined to discuss his potential submission to the jury.
But he said he would discuss his views with the Indy if he was unable to attend the final meeting.
NewDemocracy executive director Iain Walker said the jurors would decide if Mr Kennett would speak at the final meeting and stressed there would be limited time for him to present.
“We’d love Jeff Kennett to turn up on Saturday morning but even without him we’ve got a group of people hearing from a wide array of speakers,” he said.
“They are certainly going to be better informed than somebody filling in a government survey on the waterfront.”
Last month the Andrews government appointed the newDemocracy Foundation to establish a jury of 100 residents to reshape Geelong’s local government.
Six of the eight people the jury shortlisted to speak at the event will not attend but newDemocracy has arranged a number of replacements.
Walkley Award winning journalist and former councillor Stephen Mayne will fly in from Los Angeles for the event.
