Matthew Guy

Early career

Prior to entering parliament, Matthew Guy was a ministerial adviser to Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett and to the Assistant Federal Treasurer, Senator Rod Kemp. He was also the Chief of Staff to Dr Denis Napthine during his period as Opposition Leader.

He has also worked for the Victorian Farmers Federation and for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and is a member of the St Kilda Saints, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Radio 3RRR and the National Trust of Victoria.

Political career

Guy was the Liberal candidate for Yan Yean in the 2002 Victorian state election but was not elected. At the 2006 Victorian state election he succeeded as the top candidate on the Liberal ticket for the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Upper House after which he was soon appointed as Shadow Minister for Planning.

Minister for Planning (2010–2014)

Guy was re-elected at the 2010 Victorian state election and was subsequently appointed as Minister for Planning.

Ventnor land rezoning

In September 2011 Matthew Guy, overruled Bass Coast Shire and rezoned a 5.7-hectare farming property at Ventnor, Phillip Island, from farmland into the township making it available for development. The rezoning decision was unpopular with one hundred submissions calling for the town boundaries to be retained while only one submission from the developers supporting the rezoning. Opposition to the rezoning included American singer Miley Cyrus who tweeted to her 2.5 million followers that "Phillip Island is such a magical place, it would be a shame to see it change".

Days later, Guy reversed his decision, advising the Bass Coast Mayor, Veronica Dowman, that he had changed his mind. It is believed that Guy succumbed to backroom pressure from Liberal heavy-weights (including local federal Liberal MP Greg Hunt, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and his deputy, Louise Asher) when he back-flipped on his original decision to rezone the land. The developer behind the rezoning, Ms Carley Nicholls, claims to have received a favourable hearing from Matthew Guy when she briefed him on the scheme at a "kitchen table meeting" in her home months before he controversially approved it. Nicholls purchased the property based on the rezoning decision and subsequently sought to sue Mr Guy and have his original rezoning decision reinstated. In defence Guy stated in court documents, that he acted in error in rezoning the land but had relied on the advice of ministerial staff. He says he overturned his decision after learning that the Bass Coast Shire Council opposed the extension of town boundaries at Ventnor. Guy denied discussing the Ventnor project with Ms Nicholls or even knowing of her interest in the property.

Legal proceedings terminated in August 2013 with a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement with taxpayers footing the bill. In October 2013, the Victorian ombudsman George Brouwer decided to launch an investigation to address Guy's decision to rezone the Ventnor site, against the original advice of his department, the department's lawyers, the local Bass Coast shire and an independent planning panel.

In early 2014, Guy overruled his department to block the release of freedom of information documents about the botched rezoning of farmland on Phillip Island. In March 2014, Mr Brouwer found that Mr Guy was ultimately responsible for the rezoning decision and that he had refused to hand over important documents requested as part of his investigation However, Mr Brouwer also found that Guy was unaware that his advisers were acting in his name when asking for the planning department to change its advice.

High-rise building approvals

In March 2013, Guy announced that he had approved plans for the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere – Australia 108 – with a height of 388 metres, 90 metres higher than Eureka Tower. This approval drew criticism from the Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle who is concerned the building would cast a shadow over the Shrine of Remembrance and from planning academic, Professor Michael Buxton, who referred to Guy as "Mr Skyscraper." In June 2014, Australia 108 was approved for a second time with a height reduction after Fairfax Media revealed the building violated federal air safety regulations for Essendon Airport.

Prior to Australia 108, Guy issued 19 other approvals for tower projects in Melbourne and inner suburbs ranging from 19 to 71 storeys high and rezoned land at Fishermans Bend, Footscray and North Melbourne for high-rise development. This is despite Coalition policy to create a central planning body to be responsible for all developments within the City of Melbourne that exceed 25,000 square metres.

On the other hand, Guy did intervene and stop an 88-metre apartment tower at 35 Albert Road by imposing height controls. Doing so protected the views to the bay enjoyed by some of Melbourne's richest business people, including active Liberal Party supporters, MP Andrea Coote and former Howard minister Peter Reith who live in a nearby tower.

In June 2014 Guy approved a 75-level tower at 452 Elizabeth Street and a 54-storey building at 84–90 Queensbridge Street providing homes for 4000 people, rental income for investors, thus indemnifying the developer. Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee said the minister, by approving so many skyscrapers so quickly for Melbourne's CBD, was displaying "a complete disregard for the impact these developments are going to have" over a 15- or 20-year period.

Wind farm laws

Before the 2010 state election, the then Liberal–National opposition announced plans to restrict wind farm developments across Victoria, within two kilometres of homes and in the vicinity of regional towns. On 29 August 2011, Minister Guy delivered on this commitment through approval of Amendment VC82 to the Victoria Planning Provisions, prohibiting new wind turbines within two kilometres of homes unless there is written consent from the homeowner. VC82 also introduced no-go zones for wind farms in the Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, Bellarine Peninsula, Great Ocean Road region, the Macedon and McHarg Ranges, and the Bass Coast.

The Coalition government has been criticised for offering little in the way of explanation for no-go zones, the locations of which align with announced projects, extended family members of the former Premier, and land owned by Liberal Party heavyweights. The new planning laws have been criticised by academics on the basis that they: entrench fossil fuel generation in the state, make it harder for Victoria to move towards renewable energy, put local above global concerns and treat wind as more dangerous than coal. Industry has also expressed concern about impact of the wind laws on jobs and investment, as has the State opposition. Wind turbine tower manufacturer, Keppel Prince has threatened to move parts of the business interstate. The Clean Energy Council said the change would cost hundreds of new jobs in regional areas and drive $3.6 billion of investment away from Victoria. Pacific Hydro stated that they are not looking at new greenfield developments in Victoria and Windlab Systems stated that the Government's planning laws had "gone too far" and the company was moving all staff to Canberra.

It was reported that the former Premier, Ted Baillieu's office had a direct role in preparing the wind farm planning laws for Guy's implementation. Baillieu has opposed wind energy since the early 2000s raising concerns about the approval of projects at Portland in western Victoria and the Bald Hills proposal in Gippsland. He has referred to wind turbines as "towering triffids" and referred to then Premier Bracks as a "coastal vandal" and as someone who avoided visiting the Toora wind farm out of fear of being "lynched".

On 6 March 2013 Denis Napthine became Premier of Victoria. Denis Napthine's electorate is home to the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere and also hosts wind turbine tower manufacturer Keppel Prince. Napthine has indicated there would be no change to Guy’s wind energy planning laws, despite the significant economic benefits to the Premier's electorate and the current Premier's personal admiration of wind turbines. Bloomberg New Energy Finance has stated that the wind laws "could push up the price of electricity for consumers by around $2 billion. This is because the Victorian laws essentially will make it harder and more expensive to build renewable energy."

In July 2014, Guy announced a small adjustment to the planning laws allowing existing wind farm permits to be amended, which may assist with upgrading turbine technology.

Opposition leader

In 2014, Guy successfully contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Bulleen, although the Liberal–National coalition was defeated at the same election after just a single term in government. Former Premier Denis Napthine stood down as Liberal leader following the election loss.

Guy was elected as leader of the Liberal Party in a leadership ballot contested on 4 December 2014, making him Leader of the Opposition after defeating Michael O'Brien for the position.

Comparing jails to South Africa

In January 2017, following a riot in which several juvenile inmates escaped from a correctional facility, Guy criticised the state government by remarking several times that "This is a government who is standing by and allowing Melbourne to become the Johannesburg of the South Pacific." These comments attracted attention from the governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress, which released a statement describing Guy's comments as "unfortunate". The statement also said "These comments are regrettable, and feed into lazy stereotypes of African cities as crime havens. They serve to tarnish the reputation of the City of Johannesburg – known widely as the gateway to Africa; and regularly cited amongst several indices as world-class city" After the Australian High Commission in South Africa distanced itself from Guy's comments, he responded by stating "I am more interested in solving Victoria’s crime wave than responding to press releases from South Africa’s left wing ANC political party"

Tony Madafferi controversy

In August 2017, media outlets reported that Guy attended a dinner with Tony Madafferi, owner of the La Porchetta pizza chain, who has been accused in court by police of being a high-ranking member of Melbourne's Mafia. Guy's office confirmed his attendance, but denied the meeting was secret or that Guy was aware of Madafferi's presence until he arrived, although secretly recorded phone conversations appeared to contradict these statements. According to the recordings and other sources, the meeting was allegedly organised to be for the purpose of raising funds for Guy in his role as Leader of the Opposition. A day later, Guy had referred himself to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), saying he was confident he would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Personal life

Guy is married with three children. He is of Ukrainian descent; his maternal grandparents left the Soviet Union in 1949.