Entire Melbourne Market Authority Board Resigns After Government Installs Former Demons Chief Paul Guerra as Chair

MELBOURNE - The entire board of the Melbourne Market Authority (MMA) has resigned in protest at the Victorian government's appointment of former Melbourne Football Club chief executive Paul Guerra as its new chair, leaving the body that runs the state's main wholesale produce market in turmoil.

A board walks out

The MMA is the statutory authority that oversees the government-owned Melbourne Market at Epping, Australia's largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market. Angie Bradbury had been its acting chair since May and said she applied for the permanent three-year role after serving on the board since 2022. After being passed over, she resigned.

Directors Margaret Burdeu and Emma Germano, a former Victorian Farmers Federation president, are leaving with her, and all three resignations take effect on Oct. 29. Acting chief executive Keith Louie has also given one month's notice.

Ms Bradbury told the ABC her objection was to the decision itself, not to Mr Guerra personally. She said she could not understand how it had been made, what value it offered or what problem the government believed it was solving.

Before the announcement, two board members wrote to Agriculture Minister Michaela Settle asking her to reconsider, and warned they would resign unless Ms Bradbury was made chair. The letter said they were unwilling to lend their professional standing and statutory accountability to an appointment they considered a foreseeable and unacceptable risk to the Authority. Ms Settle had been contacted for comment, and the ABC had not published a response from her at the time of its report.

The government's case

The government said Mr Guerra brings significant commercial, governance and stakeholder engagement experience. His résumé is extensive. He was named chief executive of the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria in 2018, and had chaired the Queen Victoria Market company since 2011, after earlier senior roles at Vodafone and Motorola in the Asia-Pacific region. He later led the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and also sits on the board of Racing Victoria.

Mr Guerra said in the government's statement that he was committed to supporting the market and its users. He had been contacted for comment on the resignations.

A contested exit from the Demons

The appointment draws extra scrutiny because of how Mr Guerra's last job ended. Melbourne parted ways with him in April, only seven months after he started, while the team was fourth on the ladder with a 5-2 record under new coach Steven King. He said at the time that he was puzzled by the board's decision and would pursue legal action against the club.

He has since started Federal Court proceedings alleging breach of contract. The first case management hearing is on Oct. 30, the same day his three-year term as MMA chair is due to begin. The overlap is likely to fuel questions about timing, though the club's position in the proceedings has not been detailed in the reports reviewed here.

Election looms over the market

The upheaval comes weeks before the Victorian election. The Coalition has promised to sell the Melbourne Market if it wins, while Labor has said it would remain in government hands under a Labor government. The market's long-term ownership is therefore a live political question, and the authority's leadership is in flux just as it becomes one.

A government spokesperson declined to comment on Mr Guerra's pay but said remuneration for the role ranges from $21,941 to $61,750.

A rocky run for the Authority

The board resignations are the latest in a series of disruptions. Chief executive Rob Clayton, appointed in March, quit after three months, following the departure of long-serving head Mark Maskiell after almost 14 years. Matt Elliott is due to start as chief executive in January.

The authority has also faced pressure from tenants. Wholesalers previously called for the board's resignation over plans to raise annual rents for tenants by more than 100 per cent over a decade, with the industry group Fresh State warning the move would push up fruit and vegetable prices. A petition to the Legislative Assembly made similar demands, asking for a rent freeze and a new board, and arguing the rent plans breached the Melbourne Market Authority Act 1977. The rent dispute and the new resignations are separate matters, but both point to strained relations between the authority, the government and the market's users.

What happens next

With three directors leaving on Oct. 29, one day before Mr Guerra is due to start, the authority faces the practical question of who will sit on its board. Directors of statutory authorities are appointed by government, so the minister will need to fill the vacancies, and the acting chief executive's departure adds to the gap at management level.

For the market's wholesalers, growers and retailers, the main concern is continuity. The Epping market is a key link in Victoria's fresh produce supply chain, and a leaderless authority during a rent dispute and an election campaign adds uncertainty.

The government has said Mr Guerra's experience qualifies him for the role. Whether that case persuades a market community that has seen repeated turnover will become clearer in the coming weeks.