“Why would you be able to go dance in a nightclub and not get to go back to the office was literally what was being suggested,” he said.
Attendees were tight-lipped or guarded in their comments about the roundtable, with many saying discussions were private.
NAB boss Ross McEwan.Credit:Jesse Marlow
But sources who were in the room, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mr McEwen, whose organisation has two office buildings in the CBD and Docklands with space for nearly 10,000 workers, was “outspoken” during the talks on the need to get the CBD moving again.
Earlier in the day, the NAB chief executive told breakfast radio that one of the bank’s buildings, which can accommodate up to 6000 workers, was at 2 or 3 per cent capacity.
“I can go to a nightclub. I can actually now go dancing. I can go to school. I can go to the AFL. I can go to the tennis or to a bar or cafe. I can go to a club, but I can’t go to work,” he said.
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“I think this has got to change and quickly if we want to get the city going and we just need to say to people it’s OK to come back to your workplace.”
Property Council Victorian head Danni Hunter said the government needed to change the recommendation on working from home so businesses could encourage staff to come back to the office for at least a few days a week.
“Government leadership and private and business leadership is going to be important,” she said. “So that we can normalise what that [return to offices] looks like as quickly as possible in the interest of making sure that CBD businesses that rely on the presence of office workers can moderate and adjust their business models according to the kind of foot traffic and customer base in the city on any given day.”
Ms Hunter said the process of bringing office workers back could take six months to a year depending on how proactive government and businesses were.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said that he hoped Victoria’s remaining COVID restrictions, including indoor mask mandates and the work from home recommendation, would be further eased or removed within a week.
“We’re not at the point yet where we can say with absolute confidence what will happen next Friday,” Mr Pallas said.
“That’s a matter for the Health Minister to determine.”
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