The ‘blunt and straightforward’ question that stumped a room full of Melburnians

“How many of you believe today there is a clearly articulated, broadly understood, strategic vision for the future of Melbourne?”

That was the “blunt and straightforward” question former New York mayor Bill de Blasio asked a packed room full of Melburnians at The Edge in Federation Square last week. They were there to participate in a conversation about the kind of city we want Melbourne to become, as part of the Melbourne Assembly, a special event presented by The Age in partnership with the University of Melbourne.

After an awkward pause, a tiny cluster of hands shot up near the front of the room. Three of them belonged to two people: Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece (both hands) and former premier Steve Bracks.

Hundreds more hands remained in their owners’ laps.

“I’m glad there are some,” de Blasio smiled over a chorus of laughter. “If they know it, that’s a start.”

It was a lighthearted moment that was perhaps more illustrative of the challenge we face than de Blasio had imagined. People who have led our state and local governments were clear on the vision, but those two men were alone in a room full of highly engaged civic leaders and extremely well-informed Age subscribers.

That question got to the heart of why The Age wanted to lead a public discussion about our city. Within the halls of power, these matters are discussed ad nauseam. They are rarely debated in the open. It is rarer still that members of the public are invited to provide their input and ask questions. Discussions about strategic visions for Melbourne are seldom heard outside the “three Cs” of council chambers, cabinet confabs and corporate conferences.

There are a few exceptions. Notably, Reece and the City of Melbourne’s effort to seek community input through last year’s M2050 Summit. But it was clear from the lacklustre show of hands at the Melbourne Assembly that such efforts haven’t yet resulted in widespread public engagement.

Full marks to Bracks and Reece for standing in front of that room and sharing their ideas with the audience (you can look at some of the ideas raised here and vote on your favourite). The same goes for Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Premier Ben Carroll, who shared their vision for the state and allowed the audience and our state political editor Chip Le Grand to ask probing questions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shared his views with the audience, as did Carlos Moreno, pioneer of the 15-minute city concept.

It is my sincere hope that the Melbourne Assembly’s three days of debate and discussion helped democratise the discussion of Melbourne’s future. At The Age we feel keenly our responsibility to show leadership in this regard and bring as many people as possible, from all walks of life, into this crucial conversation.

We will continue those efforts, with a particular focus on bringing new and voiceless people into the discussion.

It is too important to be left to politicians alone. Or media outlets like ours, for that matter. We need a true civic conversation about where Melbourne is going, and a collective effort to get us there.

De Blasio puts it this way: “If you are in a conversation and no one ever asks what you think, you tune out. Buy-in makes all the difference and a public process is necessary – a patient, thoughtful process to create buy-in, to create vision that people feel in their hearts.

“The world is coming at you fast and hard. Do not miss this moment to create that vision.”

It is with de Blasio’s quickly spoken words ringing in our ears that The Age newsroom now turns its attention to the state election, which will officially begin next week.

During that campaign, a huge portion of our reporting resources will be devoted to keeping you informed on the competing visions for the future of Victoria.

You are in good hands with our state politics team, led by Chip Le Grand, who are in fine fettle. This excellent scoop by Kieran Rooney on the Suburban Rail Loop, published on Friday morning, is a taste of what’s to come.

I am pleased to confirm our popular “Hot Seats” coverage will be returning for this election campaign. For those of you unfamiliar with this special initiative, it is a new way of covering elections that was introduced to The Age by my predecessor, Gay Alcorn, and further developed by our reporting and editing teams.

The concept involves looking closely at the “ground game” in key seats as a way of telling the story of the broader campaign. It tells the story of the election from the places those contests are won and lost; the high streets, polling booths and train stations where democracy happens.

We will take you deep into the campaigns for the electorates of Ringwood, Hawthorn, Sydenham and Shepparton, with regular updates from dedicated reporters posted in each of those electorates.

It’s been a big few weeks at The Age. Not only have we successfully staged the Melbourne Assembly and prepared for an election campaign, we’ve published some stunning investigative journalism and had reporters covering extraordinary events around the world, including Matthew Knott’s reporting from the Israeli election.

Since I last wrote to you we staged The Age Good Food Awards, a stunning celebration of our state’s superior hospitality scene, and published a comprehensive list of all the restaurants awarded one, two or three of the Good Food Guide’s coveted hats. Congratulations to Sarah Norris, Emma Breheny, Frank Sweet and the whole Good Food team for their excellent work on this year’s guide.

On Saturday, we begin our three-part series on Melbourne’s most beautiful homes. On Saturday morning we will reveal the top 10 heritage houses, decided by our expert panel. That will be followed by the top 10 modern homes on Sunday morning and the top 10 apartments and townhouses on Monday. A lot of work has gone into the research and presentation of these features and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Lastly, I wanted to bring your attention to a new feature on our article pages: gifting. Yes, subscribers can now share a set number of articles with friends, whether they are subscribers or not. Click here for more detail on how it works or look for the gift icon at the top of our article pages.

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