He described himself as “New York blunt”, and Bill de Blasio proved to be a man of his word in Melbourne on Tuesday, referring to the United States as being in the throes of an “identity crisis”, having a “Wild West dynamic” and “not being particularly functional right now”.
Tell us what you really think, Bill! Donald Trump, are you listening?
Now, there is no love lost between de Blasio and Trump: the unpredictable president of the United States once called the Democrat the worst mayor in America.
De Blasio, who was mayor of New York from 2014 to 2021 and was known for standing up to Trump, still wears the sledge as a badge of honour and thanked The Age’s Cara Waters, who referenced Trump’s comment as she introduced him at the Melbourne Assembly civic forum on Tuesday.
“Thank you for including [the Trump comment],” de Blasio said.
“It is very seldom someone calls you the worst at something and you say thank you very much.” Touche!
De Blasio’s pointed Trump-related observations about the US were made as part of two presentations he gave as a guest speaker at the Melbourne Assembly.
“I come from a very interesting country, going through a very interesting period of our history ... I mean, there’s a bit of a Wild West dynamic right now because our national government no one is claiming is particularly functional right now.
“So we’re hurtling forward without a real plan and without a structured dialogue or debate, and I think that’s dangerous, and I hope we can soon improve upon that in our country.”
On countries being alert to normalising concerning behaviour, he said the US needed to clean up its act.
“Every city, every country, we have to look in the face the things we have normalised,” he said. “Let me just accept as an American we have normalised way too many things in recent years, and we have a lot of work to do to perhaps get ourselves back to something better.”
He warned against letting “opportunistic forces that want to create division” prevail.
“Again, my country, unfortunately, is a bit of a poster child for this right now,” he said.
“If you do not want to see decline of unity and you don’t want to see social conflict, a lot of work has to go into teaching people, honestly from a leadership level, that inclusive societies are both more humane and compassionate, but also more successful.”
Aware of his directness, de Blasio quipped: “Forgive me, if I’m a little too New York blunt. I hope you find it charming.”
No need to apologise, Bill. We’re happy to say you weren’t and we did.
Reece becomes PM’s punchline
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece got a shout-out from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Melbourne Assembly on Tuesday, but maybe not the type he was hoping for … it was more like a drive-by.
Albanese acknowledged Premier Ben Carroll, de Blasio and urbanist Carlos Moreno’s presence at Deakin Edge at Federation Square and went to add Reece to his list of VIP mentions before clocking he was not there.
“I acknowledge the lord mayor of Melbourne. I was told [he] was going to be here,” Albanese said before making a quick shift.
“OK, there goes Melbourne City Council’s funding,” he joked.
In fairness to Reece, it was due to Albo that he was not there. Reece’s presentation was moved forward in the day after Albanese’s schedule changed following the attack on independent MP Helen Haines.
This meant Reece was part of the morning session and had headed back to his Town Hall duties before the lunch break.
In addressing the Melbourne Assembly, Reece pressed the case for careful planning, a day after swimming in the Yarra River – a pastime he said the city should bring back.
In some blue-sky thinking, he also encouraged redevelopment of Melbourne’s waterfront, suggesting Singapore’s world-leading Marina Bay precinct could be replicated in Fishermans Bend. The City of Melbourne was one of the Assembly’s partners.
As Melbourne’s chief cheerleader, Reece had earlier found himself in a somewhat awkward position when seated in the front row for de Blasio’s keynote that kicked off the day. De Blasio asked for a show of hands from attendees who believed Melbourne had a clearly articulated vision of its future.
Barely a hand went up. CBD spotted just two potential yes votes, with Reece being one of them.
Meanwhile, de Blasio’s attendance at the Melbourne Assembly marked the 65-year-old’s first visit to Australia. Asked why it had taken so long for him to cross the Antipodes off his travel list, he told CBD “life”. Fair call.
Next generation steals the show
The Melbourne Assembly is full of wise heads, but it was a potential young leader of the future who stole the show on Monday night.
As Professor Diane Kerr, known as Aunty Di, finished her Welcome to Country, a young child bobbed up on stage angling for her attention.
And with good reason, it was Aunty Di’s granddaughter who was keen to share the spotlight.
“I have very good peripheral vision; I know what she is doing,” Aunty Di said as the audience responded to the tiny stage-crasher. “She will be here in 30 years.”
That’s proof that the next generation is ready to be part of the conversation about Melbourne’s future.
Wednesday is the Melbourne Assembly’s final day. More information is available on the Melbourne Assembly website.