Geelong council voted down a motion to send Mayor Trent Sullivan on an international delegation that would cost ratepayers $25,000 on Tuesday night.
After a sometimes fiery debate, councillors Anthony Aitken, Stephanie Asher and the mayor voted in favour of the business trip, while councillors Melissa Cadwell, Sarah Hathway, Jim Mason, Peter Murrihy and Belinda Moloney opposed the proposal.
Cr Eddy Kontelj recused himself due to a conflict of interest, while councillors Bruce Harwood and Ron Nelson were apologies for the meeting.
The trip would have seen Mayor Sullivan and a City officer visit Changwon City in South Korea, travel to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network AGM in Istanbul, Turkey, and then complete the UNESCO City of Design Inspiration Tour at Kortnijk, Belgium and Dundee, Scotland.
An alternative motion, which would have saved $5000 by removing the City of Design destinations, was also defeated, with all councillors voting as they had for the original proposal.
An impassioned Cr Aitken said that a failure to send the mayor on the international trip could jeopardise Geelong’s membership in the Creative Cities Network.
He also warned the move could affect the city’s relationship with its Korean counterpart, Changwon City, and Korean company Hanwha Aerospace, which has invested heavily in a defence manufacturing plant at Avalon.
“It’s disheartening that we’re not understanding clearly the implications of what’s actually occurring tonight, and that is really sad because people’s livelihoods will be at stake and it will have diplomatic implications for us as well,” Cr Aitken said.
“We do have to fulfil our UNESCO responsibilities and attend the AGM and I don’t want to do anything that jeopardises the Hanwha opportunity that my community is going to significantly benefit from.”
Councillors Cadwell, Hathway, Mason and Murrihy were all vocal in their opposition to the proposal, saying the time was not right given the cost of the trip and recent budget cuts.
“It would have been a great opportunity… so I am very disappointed that we’re in a situation where we have severe budget constraints and that we have other critical social issues such as food insecurity and homelessness to contend with,” Cr Mason said.
“(But) I think all is not lost if we don’t go. It’s just that we are not in a situation at this point in time to be involved in international travel.”
