Adam Koster was asked about his proposal for the advisory bloc at a Wodonga Chamber of Commerce breakfast for election hopefuls on Tuesday.

The lawyer borrowed a catchphrase from a fellow candidate to stress how he saw the group working.

“David Johnston has a very good line which I’ve been using, which is ‘business needs to be shown the red carpet, not tied up in red tape’,” Mr Koster said.

He envisaged his group being external to council and meeting regularly, but said how members were selected was yet to be resolved.

“The people I have spoken to in the business community are receptive to this idea,” Mr Koster told The Border Mail after the forum.

“However, the one point that still needs to be resolved is who would make up this committee and how such people should be chosen.

“Ideally, the committee should be sufficiently broad to represent as many of the industries and businesses that are in Wodonga, so that we get the best possible perspective of how council is best working (or not) for them.”

Mr Koster want the group to address border anomalies as well as provide a perspective on development and investment attraction for Wodonga and surrounds.

It would also examine how to “make it cheaper, easier and faster to do business in Wodonga”.

The inquiry of Mr Koster was one of only two questions posed to 19 council candidates who attended the forum.

The other one was asked of Liberal Democrat candidate Tim Quilty who was asked his plans for more transparency from the council.

Mr Quilty said he was not alleging anything improper had happened among the council but he was committed to no secret deals and more openness.

Candidates missing from the event were mayor Anna Speedie as well as Ben Clifton and Galvin Dunlop.

The chamber’s business manager Bernie Squire, who led the forum, said Cr Speedie had been “away”, while the other two had prior engagements.

Each candidate spoke for three minutes about themselves and their ambitions.