One immutable fundamental of federal relations underpinning the Commonwealth of Australia, state-on-state rivalry, was upended recently when Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece undertook a whistlestop tour of Sydney – and commented favourably on the experience. “Sydney and Melbourne are the two best cities in the world!” Reece said glowingly of the northern metropolis in a LinkedIn post (but not in an official media release, as far as we could tell). Talk about undermining 124 years of slow-burn resentment towards the Harbour City nurtured by Melbourne since Federation. During his 36-hour outing late last week, Reece also blew smoke in the direction of some of NSW’s most prominent power players. NSW Premier Chris Minns was “a seriously smart guy … he also has an incredible knowledge of rugby league”. But Reece kept it real, musing that Minns might be lucky enough to score an invite to the AFL grand final, which, no surprises – is in Melbourne!