FRANKSTON mayor Kris Bolam has declared his ratepayer-funded overseas trip “highly successful”, and says it will deliver a big financial boost to Frankston.
Cr Bolam was overseas from 23 September to 11 October. The mayor visited Shanghai and Wuxi in China; Lincoln, Wichita, and Washington DC in the USA; Suva in Fiji; and Susono and Tokyo in Japan during the trip.
The final cost of the trip to ratepayers was a little over $8000, falling short of the initially budgeted $11,500. Cr Bolam said he personally paid for his airfares and incidental expenses to minimise costs.
A final report on the outcomes of each visit was presented to Frankston councillors last week. The report read that the trip had a “conservatively estimated total economic impact of $26.21 million and an ROI of 326,423.39%.”
Cr Bolam wrote in the report that he undertook 32 engagements. He said that more work needs to be done to maintain Frankston Council’s relationships with its sister cities going forward.
“This work trip was significantly overdue, and efforts should have been made in previous years to assess – and, if necessary, revitalise – these vital international relationships. No political or bureaucratic representatives from FCC had visited Susono since 2018, Wuxi since 2011 (the inception of the relationship), or Suva since 2021 (also at the inception of the relationship). One consequence of this lack of regular engagement is the natural dissipation of relationships and a decline in mutual momentum that can only be sustained by routine collaboration,” the mayor said. “In essence, sister and friendship city relationships thrive only when reciprocal energy and engagement are actively maintained.”
The mayor’s report made multiple recommendations to council, including to adopt an international relations strategy and establish a dedicated “international relations officer” to manage and sustain sister and friendship city relationships. He also called for the implementation of performance assessments for sister cities, and to ensure that future delegates on formal council-sanctioned delegations should “have all expenses – including accommodation and incidentals – covered by Frankston City Council”.
First published in the Frankston Times – 25 November 2025