By Luke Voogt
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood has defended his recent council-funded European trip amid criticism from ratepayers.
But he admitted the trip lacked tangible benefits for Geelong ahead of presenting his findings to council next Tuesday.
“That wasn’t the purpose of the trip; to go and sign up businesses or (memorandums of understanding),” he told a media briefing on Wednesday.
The briefing followed Ratepayers Geelong slamming the 18-day, $18,000 “junket” and demanding that Cr Harwood produce “tangible outcomes“.
But the trip gave international exposure to Geelong industries such as bio-science and education, he said.
“These are things Geelong needs to tell the world about.”
Cr Harwood gave a three-minute speech to 51 mayors at the UNESCO Creative Cities Network’s annual general meeting in Poland, including a one-minute video showcasing Geelong.
Later he connected with people from across the world during a day of “constant discussion”.
“You can’t do that waiting for the phone to ring or staring at the computer screen,” Cr Harwood said.
“It’s like doing business with Asian communities, which I’ve done much of in my business life. The only way Asians build relationships is across the table.“
Cr Harwood said he gained invaluable insight into waste management visiting Dundee, Scotland, and Turin, Italy after Poland.
Both cities had been in a similar position to Geelong following the decline of their manufacturing sectors.
Cr Harwood said the average ratepayer would understand why he went overseas “given the right information and the right learnings”.
He declined to rule out attending next year’s annual general meeting of the UNESCO network but forecast he would stay home in the near future.
“The community will let us know what they think and I’m fine with that,“ he said.
He had “travelled quite a bit on different things“ as a councillor, including a controversial trip close to a council election, he said.
But a month later ratepayers re-elected him, he added.
Cr Harwood also answered public criticism for two visits to Kuala Lumpur, the first on his return from Europe.
AirAsia X executives invited him to the launch of the airline’s international service to Avalon Airport a fortnight later, three hours into his first visit, he said.
“I thought, ‘Crikey, I’ve got to go back in two weeks. This won’t go down well’.”
But the importance of promoting Geelong and supporting the service justified the trip, he said.
