If governments wish to implement successful public-private partnerships, the issues had to be thought out carefully beforehand and introduced with extensive consultations of those affected a public sector conference in Sydney has heard.
“At the end of the day, no amount of political spin will save a project that is ill-chosen of ill-managed,” consultant Bruce Hawker, of Hawker Britton, told the Annual Public Sector Update seminar of Charted Secretaries Australia.
“The media is like a dog with a bone. If they perceive something is ill-managed, they will come at it again and again until the government cracks.”
An example of a smart Public Private Partnership was provision of nine schools by private sector in NSW in 2005-06. The NSW Government consulted school principals, local teachers, parents and even schoolchildren, explaining how the program could deliver improved services, facilities and maintenance other wise financially unattainable for years.“
The response was remarkable,” Mr Hawker said. “The ideological opposition of the Teachers Federation was undercut but the fact that the local teachers were in favour.
“It’s been very successful, so that the cleaning and maintenance standards set are now being touted as benchmarks for the rest of the state.”
A 24 hour news cycle and close media scrutiny meant a plan to manage media coverage was crucial, Mr Hawker said.
“The downside is that governments become frozen, they don’t do projects that will attract media sensationalism, with a readily aroused population willing to talk to any camera that comes along. Risk aversion is a real problem for state governments. They’ve alienated people on a range of issues and they have less and less goodwill to play with,” he said.
The handling of Sydney’s well-accepted M7 ring toll road contrasted with that of the 2.1 km CBD east-west tunnel, which had remained plagued with controversy.
“The M7 offers value, industrial development, employment closer to home, links to several other motorways around,” Mr Hawker said. “On the cross city tunnel, the vital fact was that they closed roadways around it to funnel traffic into the tunnel. It was always going to be a problem for government, and for whoever operated the tunnel.”
Land resumptions, exhaust stack placement and local disruption meant toll roads were likely to attract negative publicity in the planning stages. Only after benefits were demonstrated after completion could support be attracted.
An example of successful community engagement was consultation with residents on regeneration of the rundown Bonnyrigg housing estate in Sydney. Fairfield Council, a Bonnyrigg Reference Group, a Bonnyrigg Residents Group and others were enlisted.
High- profile consultations, weekly barbecues, surveys of 70 per cent of residents and events in each of six non-English local language groups were organised.
“For the first and perhaps last time, you had Macquarie Bankers and tenants from public housing estates sitting together,” Mr Hawker said.
“This was a positive story, effectively cutting out the media."
