The Good Oil by Rod Brown *
About three years ago, some bright spark in the ACT Government decided that Canberra needed a boost. Accordingly, a PR campaign with the catch cry of ‘Feel the Power’ was launched at considerable expense to the taxpayer. Car registration plates displayed the message and 99% of us cringed. What a great way to win friends and influence people – just reinforce the stereotypes about cardigans sitting in ivory towers saying ‘no’ to the citizens of Australia!
Eventually the campaign was junked, and ‘Heart of the Nation’ became the new motto. Nice, warm and fuzzy – and not likely to offend anyone. There is an important moral to this story however – namely that Canberra really is about power and influence, although those of us living here get immune to it.
However when I go to the regions, which is frequently, I bite my tongue when I see people placing way too much faith in the ability of the Commonwealth Government to address their problem. The reason is because the Commonwealth has little spatial feel, and it has to be selective as to which issues it embraces at a local level. Another reason is the so called ‘vertical fiscal imbalance’ – Canberra has major taxing power and the revenues to match, but its program funding is mostly too blunt and cumbersome to assist at the local level.
Commonwealth program funding also progresses at a snail’s pace and is shrouded in process and detail. Application forms for government programs tend to be complex and pedantic, and government officials cannot be pinned down on even simple questions.
After six months of hope and waiting, you get a six line letter that includes a passage like ‘the process was extremely competitive, and on this occasion I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful’.
Political power is not of course just about money. It is also about influencing policy and shaping related outcomes such as tariffs on lamb, who can enter as an immigrant, what are the rules of the game for the airline or telecommunications industries and so forth.
Don’t despair folks! Like a good ex bureaucrat, I am here to help you. Knowing as I do, the bureaucratic mind, I surveyed 20 of my former work colleagues with the critical question: ‘What are the five most important success factors in dealing with the Commonwealth Government, that is, in accessing government funding or simply gaining recognition for an issue or a project?’
I should add that the sample involved mainly people reasonably well up the pecking order – at the Director level mostly, with a few SES people thrown in, and all were in the economic type departments – such as Industry, Science & Resources, AFFA, Transport & Regional Services, Treasury. I gave them 16 alternative answers. However the results were all bunched around four or five areas.
No. 1 – Be clear and focused
This was the most important success factor because, I guess, Canberra is a madhouse of paper and scraps of information. Ministers, their staffers, and officials in their Departments get pretty frustrated when they have to read a document twice to understand what the issue is. Submissions should always have a summary at the front explaining the guts of the matter – what is it, what are the outcomes, why, where and how much, and roughly in that order.
No. 2 – Sense of strategic intent
This is high on the list because Canberra runs on strategies. If a proposal comes out of left field and does not fit the strategic thrust of the government, then goodbye. You should also be mindful of competitive neutrality issues, such as Government’s role is to address market failure – it should not support activities that compete with the private sector.
No. 3 – Have a vision
While this is close to No. 2, it is a bit different. I sometimes call it the ‘gee whiz’ factor. The best example I can give you is the Kidman Way. About 5 years ago my Minister sent a delegation of 10 Mayors to my office seeking some millions towards sealing a smallish section of this highway, which runs northwards up to Bourke and then on to Mt. Isa. The ‘gee whiz’ elements were the 10 Mayors sitting there with an eager look, visionary talk about opening up a whole new tourism trail, a lifeline to struggling regions, and a cocktail of funding from other parties. As I dried my eyes and readied to give them the bad news, one of my colleagues remembered that another part of the Department was looking at a serious under spend. A real win-win became apparent – and luck entered the equation.
No. 4 – Project champions
This in turn is linked to No.3. You need credible proponents, relevant to the issue.
The 5th success factor is the clincher – it links the other four. But you can work that out for yourself because I’m not running a charity service here!
Another piece of advice – despite what you think, seven out of 10 Federal Government officials are outcomes focused, work hard and reach decisions quickly – it is just that the paper trail has to be so long!
With the greatest respect, Local Government people often come away empty handed from Canberra because they act alone, and do not appreciate the five success factors. The Commonwealth can just feel it is getting chiseled. I should add, however, that there is significantly less discretionary spending available under the Howard Government – and most funding is caught up in a myriad of complex programs with forgettable titles.
One final point, Canberra is a difficult place to get a hearing at the moment, because of the looming election and the aftermath of the terrorist bombings. A measured, well argued approach in the New Year is the better option. Some professional help from outsiders to think through the issues, and to position your case, can also be critical.
* Rod Brown’s Canberra based consultancy group, Australian Project Developments Pty Ltd, specialises in industry/regional development and government liaison. For further information telephone (02) 6231 7261 or email apd@orac.net.au
