Matthew Guy

Developments over 25,000 square metres in total developed area within the CBD and Southbank had long been the responsibility of the Minister for Planning rather than the City of Melbourne, and with the growth of larger apartment developments in the central city in the early 21st century, more and more towers fell into this category.

He is of Ukrainian descent; his maternal grandparents left the Soviet Union in 1949.

He has a Bachelor of Arts in politics and history from La Trobe University and has completed postgraduate studies in Ukrainian language and culture at Monash University.

Guy is a Christian, and in his maiden speech to Parliament stated that he attended Scots' Church, Melbourne.

Prior to entering parliament, 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 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.

Matthew Jason Guy (Метью Джейсон Гай; born 6 March 1974) is an Australian politician.

Guy was the Liberal candidate for Yan Yean in the 2002 Victorian state election but was not elected.

He has been a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council (2006–2014) and Bulleen in the Legislative Assembly (2014–present).

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.

Prior to the Brumby government's abortion law reform bill passing the parliament, Guy stated that it would be a sad day if the bill became law.

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

In early 2010 the then Labor Government set up the Central City Standing Planning Committee, with representative from Council and State Government, to advise on these applications, but in December 2010 it was disbanded by the new Coalition Government and not replaced despite it being Coalition policy.

In September 2011, 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 supported 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 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.

The settlement cost Victorian taxpayers $2.5 million plus costs, for a total of more than $3.5 million, documents reveal.

Senior lawyers had told the government that it should have paid a maximum of $250,000 plus legal costs.

Confidential Government documents show Guy ordered the multimillion-dollar payment despite repeated legal advice from a number of senior lawyers that the government had a strong case, and there was little or no grounds for a damages claim against it.

"This may be winnable @ law but this is a political fight and it is unwinnable," Guy is quoted as saying in confidential notes made by the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office in July 2013.

By March 2013, Guy had issued approvals for numerous tower projects in central Melbourne, while rejecting only one.

The one project Guy did not approve and instead intervened to stop was an 88-metre apartment tower at 35 Albert Road, where he imposed height controls.

He was Leader of the Opposition in Victoria and state leader of the Liberal Party from 2014 to 2018, when he resigned the leadership after the Liberal Party's landslide defeat in the 2018 Victorian election.

From 7 September 2021, Guy again served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria, but he again resigned after another heavy defeat in the 2022 state election.

Guy lives in Templestowe, and is married with three children.

Guy met his wife while he was serving as chief of staff to the then opposition leader, Denis Napthine.

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 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.

During his tenure as planning minister, Matthew Guy became known for approving a large number of high rise buildings apartment towers in the CBD and Southbank, and for rezoning swaths of land at Fishermans Bend, Footscray and North Melbourne for high-rise development.