He also said he was committed to seeing through the $315 million Greenline project, which would create a four-kilometre Yarra River-side promenade.
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Koutoufides credited Khan as his inspiration for running for lord mayor, despite having no political experience.
“I’ve never met a guy that’s so committed and given 100 per cent, and [he] is probably the main reason why I decided to go ahead with this.”
Khan was in 2018 convicted and fined $23,000 for failing to disclose company interests while serving as a Labor councillor in Melbourne’s west.
Khan on Saturday said that his past breaches of local government rules had happened because he had been “naive”.
“Yeah, we paid a fine,” he said. “That does not [mean] I cannot serve on local government now.
Intaj Khan outside Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in 2018. He was convicted of failing to disclose company interests while he was serving as a councillor in Melbourne’s west.Credit: Marco de Luca
“We need workers back to the city. We need the city to be live and vibrant. That’s really the question to ask.”
Asked about Khan’s previous run-ins with integrity rules, Koutoufides said he was “very comfortable” with his prospective councillor’s past.
Anthony Koutoufides playing for Carlton in 2000.Credit: Pat Scala
“Sometimes the headlines are, you know, more of a headline than when you read the article,” Koutoufides said.
“He’s a very successful man. His vibrancy, his energy. It’s not often you see that. You make little mistakes. We all do.”
Khan also once tried to stand for Labor in the state seat of Tarneit, but two years ago joined a Liberal Party branch in then-opposition leader Matthew Guy’s electorate. He was subsequently blocked from running for the Liberal Party under party rules that require candidates to have been members for a certain period of time.
Koutoufides admitted the campaign would be challenging given he was not a politician. The 51-year-old played 278 games for Carlton from 1992 to 2007, and starred in the Blues’ 1995 premiership win.
“It’s going to put me out of my comfort zone,” he said.
“I’ve been living a very peaceful life, and so this is going to test me, for sure, but the reason why I want to do it is for the City of Melbourne, so I’ve just got to toughen up.”
Koutoufides said Liu, who lost her seat of Chisholm, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, at the 2022 federal election, brought “great balance to our team” and was a hard-hitter, while Ramani was a long-time friend.
The remaining names on his ticket would be announced in coming weeks, he said.
Other declared candidates for City of Melbourne lord mayor are current Lord Mayor Nick Reece, former deputy lord mayor Arron Wood, independent councillor Jamal Hakim, businessman Gary Morgan, Roxane Ingleton for the Greens and Phil Reed for Labor.
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Liu, who was born in Hong Kong, was the first ethnically Chinese woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Her narrow 2019 win for the Liberal Party was praised by then-leader Scott Morrison on election night in the televised remark: “How good is Gladys Liu?”
However, Liu lost Chisholm to Labor’s Carina Garland at the May 2022 election when her primary vote collapsed by almost 8 per cent.
The Morrison government’s public criticism of the Chinese government was touted as a possible factor following her election loss.
Two months after she lost her federal seat, Liu unsuccessfully ran for Liberal preselection in the hope of joining Victoria’s upper house.
Ramani, 42, is the director of the Thornbury-based ZLM Property Group and a longtime Collingwood supporter.
With Broede Carmody
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