Meet Merlin Kong: the new Property Council of Australia ACT executive director

Merlin Kong has just stepped into one of the ACT property sector’s most influential roles – but he’d rather ask more questions than deliver all the answers.

The former ACT opposition policy and strategy adviser is one week into his new job as Property Council of Australia ACT executive director, previously held by Catherine Carter.

Mr Kong takes the reins at an interesting time for the national capital: the residential property market has strengthened, a number of big ticket projects such as City to the Lake are gaining traction and the country is bracing for a federal election.

But the new leader’s early priorities are fairly straightforward: engagement and good policy.

“I see my role as one where I’m here to engage, advise and contribute to the development of the city,” he said.

“You’re not really looking for the right answer; you’re looking for the right question. From a strategic standpoint, the worst thing you can do is come with the right answer to the wrong question. 

“While it’s an election year, you’ve got people’s jobs and people’s businesses at stake – you’ve got to get this right.”

Good policy stemmed from working with both sides of politics – something Mr Kong said he was adamant he will do as fairly as possible, given his background.

“There’s always going to be this thing looming over my head in that I’ve worked for the opposition,” he said.

“With this idea of encouraging everyone to come up with better policies, there will be times when not all political parties, not all political sides, are going to be happy with what I say … the priority is trying to be quite neutral.”

Mr Kong has also worked in the ACT Chief Minister’s department, largely promoting the territory interstate and overseas, plus a number of other roles covering diplomacy, technology and small business.

He believed his varied background would put him in a good position to dive into the role and promote the region.

So what does Mr Kong envision for Canberra? He said he reverted back to a phrase he coined a number of years ago: “hot science, cool art”.

“When you have a city like that, it’s driven by technology, entrepreneurship but it also has a human feel about it,” he said.