Elsie Lange
Hume council will seek out philanthropic partnerships with large, national and multinational businesses in the region to address local social and economic disadvantage.
At a meeting on Monday, February 13, mayor Joseph Haweil said the municipality had a long history of such “mutually beneficial” partnerships including Fairfax, Visy and the Pratt Foundation.
“I’m disappointed that this partnership arrangement or this approach to philanthropy seems to have dropped off in recent times … I think that these companies and corporations … should be putting back into the city through financial support,” Cr Haweil said.
“I look at companies like CSL, a powerhouse of economic output – a very successful company which we want to be successful, an international company – but I note that their annual grants program is something like $20,000 or $30,000.
“I think for a company that makes many, many, many billions of dollars in annual profit, and operates out of Broadmeadows, they could be doing a lot more to support this community.”
He said many large companies, corporations and developers had internal social responsibility policies making them accountable to shareholders, but as a council they would be best placed.
“[That is] because of our grassroots understanding and localised approach to service delivery to identify these opportunities for them and work with them to materialise and put them into practice,” he said.
Councillor Karen Sherry said with so many funding demands on state and federal governments, proactivity in seeking out opportunities to receive philanthropic support would be well-received.
“I think that shows initiative, many not-for-profit organisations have had to do the same … we can show we have good governance here to be a good partner in any philanthropic venture,” she said.
In his motion, Cr Haweil requested a preliminary report outlining opportunities and timeframes for exploring further philanthropic partnerships be presented to council in April 2023.
