Victoria’s GST share is increasing $3.7 Billion for 2024-25 and Lord Mayor candidate Gary Morgan demands the City of Melbourne gets its fair share

Lord Mayor candidate Gary Morgan demanded the City of Melbourne receive a fair distribution of Victoria’s $22.2 Billion GST haul¹ for 2024-25 at Sunday’s City of Melbourne South Yarra Residents Group (MSYRG) Meet the Lord Mayor Candidates Forum.

For Indication of Preferences, download PDF here, or see this image.

Mr. Morgan, the only major business owner running for the Melbourne’s Lord Mayor position, has lived and worked in the City of Melbourne for more than 60 years and has an unmatched understanding of the problems faced by businesses and residents in the municipality.

Victoria’s GST distribution is set to rise by a stunning $3.7 Billion for 2024-25 – an increase almost $3 Billion higher than any other State. This huge increase should fund an increased distribution to Local Governments – and especially the City of Melbourne which is the economic driver of Victoria.

The hugely successful Taylor Swift Concerts at the MCG in February were attended by an estimated 260,000 paying customers and are a shining example of the attraction of Melbourne as a destination. The City of Melbourne by itself is responsible for well over 20% of Victoria’s Gross State Product² as of the latest released figures for 2023 – a huge slice that is unfairly ignored when distributing Victoria’s GST payments.

Instead, the City of Melbourne has been sent ‘broke’ by current management and leadership and needs a change – and an injection of funds. The massive increase in Victoria’s GST distribution this year MUST flow through to the key economic drivers in the State – and first and foremost this means the City of Melbourne.

If elected Mayor, Mr. Morgan pledges to donate his entire salary to charity – the Life Be In It organisation designed to get Australians off the couch and fit and healthy again.

Mr. Morgan is running for Lord Mayor as the standard bearer of Team Morgan – Make Melbourne Safe and heads a team of local residents who have Melbourne’s best interests at heart.

• Deputy Lord Mayoral candidate Liz Ge has been a resident of the Melbourne over the past two decades and has vast experience in the financial services and superannuation industries.
• No. 1 Councillor candidate Rafael Camillo has been volunteering within the City of Melbourne for over a decade and recently celebrated 10 years with Residents 3000 – including six years as President. This is a non-salaried position which requires extensive time commitments and has helped bring the Melbourne CBD community together within this advocacy group which has grown significantly in importance and influence during Mr. Camillo’s time as President.
• No. 2 Councillor candidate William Caldwell is a Docklands Resident with vast experience in finance, real estate and government advocacy providing consultancy in Australia and USA including dealings with the Local City council in Los Angeles California.

As part of his vision to return the City of Melbourne to financial viability Mr. Morgan advocates for uniting the Inner Melbourne Council areas of Yarra and Port Phillip within the City of Melbourne which will result in significant cost efficiencies:

Bringing together Inner Melbourne by including the City of Port Phillip and City of Yarra within an expanded City of Melbourne will unite the north bank of the Yarra River and bring together the Melbourne CBD, Albert Park sporting precinct, the Melbourne foreshore, port facilities and the inner Melbourne suburbs of Port Melbourne and South Melbourne. Uniting these areas within one governance structure will result in significant cost efficiencies and drive effective solutions for all Inner Melbourne residents.

As a comparison, the current City of Melbourne consists of only 150,000 residents compared to the larger City of Sydney (250,000 residents) and the far larger City of Brisbane (1.3 million residents). To truly compete with our northern counterparts we need a united Inner City of Melbourne to represent the over 300,000 residents that call Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra home.

Lord Mayoral Candidate Gary Morgan, Deputy Lord Mayoral candidate Liz Ge and Team Morgan Councillor Candidates Rafael Camillo & William Caldwell.

Reference 1: Australian Government Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC): GST distribution to states and territories 2024-25. March 2024. https://www.cgc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-03/Occasional%20Paper%2011.2%20-%20GST%20distribution%20to%20states%20and%20territories%20in%202024-25%20final%20version.pdf.

Reference 2: id Economy: City of Melbourne economic profile. City of Melbourne as a percentage of Victoria’s GDP 2023: 21.6%. https://economy.id.com.au/melbourne/gross-product.

Indication of Preferences

Gary Morgan is the only major business owner running for Melbourne’s Lord Mayor who knows residential problems – having worked and lived in the City of Melbourne for more than 60 years!

Mr. Morgan is a founder and life member of the Committee for Melbourne which recently announced a merger with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce (VECCI).

Mr. Morgan is the Executive Chairman of Roy Morgan, Australia’s largest independent market researcher and knows the City of Melbourne better than any other candidates for Lord Mayor.

Mr Morgan’s vision for the city will transform Melbourne into a prosperous and bustling metropolis again after the extraordinary challenges of the last four years. 

For further information contact:

Lord Mayoral candidate Gary Morgan: 0411 129 094
Campaign Manager Julian McCrann: 0417 171 378

Additional Links & Policies for Team Morgan:

See here to learn more about Mr. Morgan’s policy for fixing the mess that is the Collins St. bike lanes.
Link: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9702-gary-morgan-for-melbourne-lord-mayor.

See here to learn more about Mr. Morgan’s policy for integrating the Yarra River properly with the City of Melbourne and also completing the Greenline trail project as planned.
Link: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/a-green-yarra-is-an-essential-part-of-melbourne-and-must-be-integrated-to-allow-safe-pedestrian-and-bicycle-access.

See here to learn more about Mr. Morgan’s policy for real-time donation disclosures.
Link: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/2024-gary-morgan-for-melbourne-lord-mayor-press-release.