Rotarian Richard Dent was MC and opened the meeting with acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which Rotary Melbourne meets. Barbara Yerondais delivered the weekly reflection and a transcript is included later in this Bulletin.
President Catherine proposed the loyal toast and after the meal service adjournment welcomed all present to our 35th Meeting of this Rotary Year and our 5072nd Club meeting in our one hundred and fourth year.
She also thanked Vice President Mary Barry for stepping in last week. She announced the guest speaker at this meeting would be Jacob Caine, REIV President and CEO Ray White CBRE speaking on ‘Leading with Vision: Realising Positive Change in Challenging Conditions’ and Darren Templeton, Founder of Run the Tan, hosted by Stephen Rando.
Stephen Rando then came to the podium to give a brief presentation, with our guest, Darren Templeton on the morning of Sunday 27 April Run the Tan event to be held around the Botanic Gardens and Rotary Melbourne Peace Park precincts. Darren then spoke briefly about the growing mental health crisis of young people and the work of his charity in helping to overcome this.
President Catherine closed her remarks with a reminder the Club is taking bookings for the upcoming fellowship visit to the Immigration Museum – Notre Dame exhibit on Saturday 26 April 25.
Past President, Philip Endersbee then came forward to introduce Jacob Caine, the President of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, and CEO of Ray White CRE, to speak on ‘Leading with Vision: Realising Positive Change in Challenging Conditions’.
The most pressing issue Jacob identified was housing affordability in Australia, noting that Melbourne and Sydney now rank among the world's least affordable housing markets. Acknowledged that the REIV had tended to lack visionary leadership but mentioned recent improvements, including appointing Kelly Ryan as the first female CEO and modernizing their headquarters and constitution. He also observed that the current crisis began in the 1970’s when construction of public housing was drastically cut back and has not increased since then.
The presentation highlighted the severe housing crisis evidenced by skyrocketing property prices and an alarming shortage of rental properties. Jacob stressed the importance of increasing medium-density housing to accommodate the growing population and also acknowledged that both federal and state governments have consistently failed to meet housing targets. He noted that the commercial real estate sector faces challenges due to changing work habits post-COVID-19.
Jacob emphasized the critical need for more social housing, pointing out that Australia's current efforts are insufficient compared to past decades. He called for government policies that balance tenant protections with investor incentives and emphasized the importance of voter-driven demand for better housing policies.
During the Q&A session, Jacob addressed questions about social housing models, the impact of foreign ownership on property prices, and the potential benefits of Build-to-Rent developments and other innovative solutions.
Follow this Link to view Jacob’s address and this Link to view the full meeting recording.
