DISGRUNTLED Melbourne Market users took their fight to Whittlesea last week, shouting at councillors and shutting down a council meeting.

The meeting descended into a slanging match, much of it coming from the gallery, with fingers pointed and accusations flying back and forth.

Whittlesea mayor John Fry attempted to restore order, commanding a lawyer for the traders to sit down, before halting the meeting and calling a 10-minute adjournment – the first in the council’s history.

Market users and the State Government are at loggerheads over the proposed move from the existing site in Footscray of the Melbourne Wholesale Markets to Epping by 2010. After initially backing the move, the majority of users are now believed to be firmly against it.

They went to the meeting to take issue with a council motion relating to the market move, which users said misrepresented them.

“There is no entering into debate,” Cr Fry told lawyer Euan Luff, who said he was representing the market users’ strategic alliance – a group that included fresh fruit and vegetable growers, unloading agents and retailers.

Mr Luff demanded to be heard, shouting out that council had been “misleading” and that it should “ask the users where they really want to go”.



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He was joined at the meeting by consultant Harley Thomas, also representing users, and Organic Wholesalers director Stephen Blair, who attended to have their say on a notice of motion initiated by Cr Frank Merlino.

The motion suggested council invite state Liberal leader Ted Baillieu to Epping and show him why “the majority of the market’s community” support the move.

Mr Baillieu recently announced he would not move the market to Epping if elected in November.

“We have had ongoing trouble with council misrepresenting the views of market users,” Mr Thomas said.

“Councillors seemed very happy to talk about how market users were so keen to move to Epping and that’s just not true.”

Mr Thomas and Mr Luff had submitted questions to council but refused to wait for a response.

Despite council procedures, which don’t allow for public comment or debate, Mr Luff decided he wanted to have his say regardless.

The situation quickly got out of hand, with Mr Blair calling out that council’s position was a “bloody crock” and that “Epping was black-banned” before Barry Hill, president of the City of Whittlesea Ratepayers Association, also got in on the action.

“It’s an absolute joke, you’re bloody liars,” Mr Hill shouted at councillors before exchanging accusations with Cr Merlino, who called him “a failed council candidate.”

Mr Thomas said he didn’t think his group would be heard unless “we spoke up”.

“We thought we’d try and force the issue a bit.”

Cr Fry said he was astonished by the actions of the users and their representatives.

“They were clearly trying to make a political point and I suppose to do that they had to jump up and down in order to justify the amount of money they are probably charging their clients for coming to our meeting,” he said.

“If this had happened at State or Federal Parliament they would have been escorted out and arrested.”

“They clearly didn’t understand the process, didn’t want to listen, and that unfortunately meant we had to deal with something that was totally unprofessional.”

Cr Fry said council had been caught in the crossfire of a political campaign between the market people and the State Government.