MELBOURNE is Australia's
second-largest city, with a
population of around three million -
about half a million less than
Sydney. Rivalry between the two
cities - in every sphere from
cricket to business - is on an
almost childish level. In purely
monetary terms, Sydney is now
clearly in the ascendancy, having
stolen a march on Melbourne as the
nation's financial centre. The state
government, led by Steve Bracks of
the Labor Party, has continued the
work of former premier Jeff Kennett,
who tried and mostly succeeded in
lifting the economy out of the
doldrums in the 1990s, mainly by
severe cutbacks or privatization of
public services and of previously
state-run utilities boards. While
Kennett's fiscal puritanism
definitely scored points by reducing
public debt and improving the credit
rating of the state, critics were
quick to counter that out-sourcing
or privatizing public services did
not necessarily translate into
greater efficiency and even more
importantly that Victoria's economic
growth has been achieved at a very
high social cost - wealth is now
more unevenly distributed, with
increasing numbers of homeless
people and drug addicts on the
streets. In 1999, Kennett
surprisingly lost the "unloseable
election" to rank outsider
Bracks, largely because his
government neglected rural Victoria
- Kennett once memorably described
Melbourne as the vital heart of the
state and rural towns as the
"toenails" - but also
because Kennett's election campaign
focused almost entirely on his
autocratic style of leadership,
which proved a big turn-off for
voters. Since seizing the reins of
power, Steve Bracks has enjoyed a
remarkably high standing in the
polls, and his style is more
inclusive and less confrontational
than his predecessor. He has also
concentrated his party's efforts on
improving the key areas of health
and education, as well as providing
greater funding for rural areas.
However, Melburninans never tire
of pointing out, in all modesty,
that they have the incredible
fortune to inhabit "one of the
world's most liveable cities".
Melbourne may lack a truly stunning
natural setting or
"in-your-face" sights, but
with its subtle charms it is a city
that grows on you, one that is
undeniably a very pleasant place to
live, and enjoyable to visit too.
Magnificent landscaped gardens and
parks in the English style provide
green spaces near the centre, while
beneath the skyscrapers of the Central
Business District (CBD), an
understorey of solid, Victorian-era
facades ranged along tree-lined
boulevards present the city on a
more human scale. The air of
approachability is further enhanced
by the numerous arcades, lanes and
alleyways in which are hidden some
of the country's best cafés, pubs
and speciality shops.
An extensive and ambitious
redevelopment programme, begun
during Kennett's tenure, continues
apace and has markedly changed the
feel of the city - if only by the
sheer magnitude of the projects.
This new Melbourne for the
millennium has meant a host of
public buildings, as well as the new
Federation Square by the
Yarra just south of the CBD, were
completed in 2001 to celebrate the
centenary of the Australian
federation, and the redevelopment of
the Docklands precinct west
of the CBD is planned for the next
decade. From this area of unused
docks and rotting old warehouses a
brand new city will rise, complete
with hotels, office and apartment
buildings, department stores,
marinas and other leisure
facilities. This, if nothing else,
will at long last put Ava Gardner's
much cited - but erroneously so -
remark from 1959 to rest. She came
here to film On the Beach and
reputedly summed up her impression:
"It's a story about the end of
the world, and Melbourne sure is the
right place to film it." A
great line, but in fact the
celebrated swipe was coined by
Melbourne journalist Neil Jillet.
Actually, change came to
Melbourne way before the Nineties.
Large-scale immigration since World
War II has, in a sense, brought the
world to Melbourne, shaking up the
formerly self-absorbed, parochial
WASP mindset for good. Whole
villages have come here from
Lebanon, Turkey, Vietnam and all
over Europe, most especially from
Greece, furnishing the well-worn
statistic that Melbourne is the
third-largest Greek city behind
Athens and Thessaloniki. The European
influence is perhaps most obvious in
winter, as trams rattle past warm
cafés and bookshops, and
promenaders dress stylishly against
the chill. Not surprisingly, the
immigrant blend has transformed the
city into a foodie mecca, where
tucking into a different cuisine
each night - or new hybrids of East,
West and South - is one of the great
treats. Sport too, especially
Australian Rules Football, is almost
a religion here. The Melbourne Cup
in November is a public holiday
celebrated with gusto, and the
city's collection of fine sporting
venues are well used. Melbourne's
strong claim to being the nation's cultural
capital is well-founded: laced
with a healthy dash of
counterculture, Melbourne's artistic
life flourishes, culminating in the
highbrow Melbourne Festival in the
last two weeks in October, and its
slightly more offbeat (and
shoestring) cousin, the Fringe
Festival. The city also takes pride
in its leading role in Australian
literary life, based around the
Writers' Festival in August.
Throughout the year, there are
heavyweight seasons of classical
music and theatre, a wacky array of
small galleries, and enough
art-house movies to last a lifetime.
