On a personal note, we would both like to thank you for being with us tonight to celebrate NORTH Link’s 30th year. NORTH Link was founded as an independent association in 1995, and the list of achievements we have managed with our partners is long.

Our roots go back even further to the founding of NIETL in 1987, under the auspices of Melbourne Polytechnic.

We were established in response to the tariff cuts and increased international competition facing manufacturers at that time – there was a need for Melbourne’s North to speak as one voice to manage these changes.

As an alliance of industry, education, local government and health, we have helped manufacturing move along the value chain to become a region noted for its advanced manufacturing, knowledge industries and services.

NORTH Link has also become a key advocate for our region.

The list of achievements is long and includes the relocation of the Melbourne Wholesale Market to Epping, where we worked closely with the City of Whittlesea.

More recently, the planned location of a massive Intermodal Freight Terminal at Beveridge – 43 MCGs in size – was another win achieved in partnership with the Mitchell, Whittlesea and Hume municipalities, as well as the Northern Councils Alliance. This will deliver roughly 20,000 jobs to the region and the State and be the pivot point at the southern end of the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail.

Our longevity at 30 years’ young is a testament to the collaborative nature of key players in Melbourne’s North and the desire to work together for better outcomes for the business community and residents of the region – NORTH Link’s achievements have all been undertaken with partners.

We acknowledge and pay tribute to the former Board and staff members, and I would especially recognise the contributions of the two previous Chairs, Founding Chair Chris Heysen and Immediate Past Chair Linc Horton, as well as long-time Executive Director Mick Butera.

The advocacy agenda for Melbourne’s North is of paramount importance as we are growing rapidly as a region, with a projected 50 per cent population growth or 500,000 extra residents by 2036. This will bring the region to a population the size of Adelaide, with a need for appropriate infrastructure and services for a region this size.

We are now looking forward to the next thirty years, where we all need to keep working together to continue achieving for the region.

Thank you all for your support of NORTH Link and Melbourne’s North!

– Jude Munro, Chair, NORTH Link

– Chris James, Executive Director, NORTH Link