Having a Say - Innovation in Governance

remoteFOCUS

Having your Say:Innovations in Governance in Remote

Australia

Presentation toDesert Knowledge Virtual Meeting Place

Desert Innovation Festival – Australian Innovation Festival

Dr Bruce WalkerProject Director

remoteFOCUS Project

May 2012

Remote Australia

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GeographyGeography

DemographyDemography

EconomyEconomy

SocialSocial

Characteristics of Remote Australia

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GeographyGeography


EconomyEconomy

SocialSocial


Variable Climate•Extremes of weather•Unpredictability

Patchy Resources

•Low soil fertility•Unreliable water•Natural resource enclaves

Under-capitalised Infrastructure

•Skewed investments link to global economy

Settlement Pattern

•Determined for a past era•Impacted by technology and government policy

Variable Climate•Extremes of weather•Unpredictability

Patchy Resources

•Low soil fertility•Unreliable water•Natural resource enclaves

Under-capitalised Infrastructure

•Skewed investments link to global economy

Settlement Pattern

•Determined for a past era•Impacted by technology and government policy

Geography

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GeographyGeography


EconomyEconomy

SocialSocial

Characteristics of Remote AustraliaSparse mobile population

•Great distance to economic and political centres

•Government has prominent role FIFO

•Change to resource sector business model

•Tourism competes with mining•Increasing expatriate outlook•Not tuned to local diversity

Small Business Sector•Significant contribution to local employment

Outmigration of Young People

Long Term Resident Population of Aboriginal People

•Current policy changes causing change and movement

Sparse mobile population•Great distance to economic and political centres

•Government has prominent role FIFO

•Change to resource sector business model

•Tourism competes with mining•Increasing expatriate outlook•Not tuned to local diversity

Small Business Sector•Significant contribution to local employment

Outmigration of Young People

Long Term Resident Population of Aboriginal People

•Current policy changes causing change and movement

Demography

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GeographyGeography


EconomyEconomy

SocialSocial

Characteristics of Remote Australia•Historically minerals, cattle, tourism create wealth

•Wealth production not matched by investment in local labour or communities

•Productivity is lower•Chronic underinvestment in public services

•Benefits accrue in larger urban centres like Perth

Remote Australia is on the periphery of Australian democracy.

It is characterised by a dual economy and absence of a market that might deliver outcomes without government interventions.

•Historically minerals, cattle, tourism create wealth

•Wealth production not matched by investment in local labour or communities

•Productivity is lower•Chronic underinvestment in public services

•Benefits accrue in larger urban centres like Perth

Remote Australia is on the periphery of Australian democracy.

It is characterised by a dual economy and absence of a market that might deliver outcomes without government interventions.

Economy

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GeographyGeography


EconomyEconomy

SocialSocial


• local institutions are being overwhelmed

• many are unsuited to the tasks they confront

• they are unable to create durable and equitable arrangements to manage conflict, deliver services or sponsor entrepreneurial activity

Social

Five Propositions:

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Remote Australia confronts extraordinarily diverse and complex local realities. Common issues that are globally familiar: Common to regions where people reside remote from centres of economic & political power but are facing rapid social and economic change

Present governance arrangements are not well attuned to the circumstances that are emerging in remote Australia and public policy has limited influence

There are ways of remedying these governance issues, but the more promising prospects involve greater degrees—and varying patterns—of decentralised governance and community engagement

Normal legislative politics are unlikely to result in structural reforms. Special purpose cross-party initiatives, political commitment and support from business, professional and community organisations is required

In the absence of a narrative that embraces micro economic reform and establishes the national interest in remote Australia, and a settlement pattern that supports that national interest, nothing is going to change

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Five things people in remote Australia want but don’t get:

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1. a say in decisions that affect them

2. equitable and sustainable financial flows

3. better services and a locally responsive public service

4. local control and accountability where possible;

5. inclusion in the greater Australian narrative.

1. a say in decisions that affect them

2. equitable and sustainable financial flows

3. better services and a locally responsive public service

4. local control and accountability where possible;

5. inclusion in the greater Australian narrative.

What Governments Say:

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Dept Finance

Productivity Commission

MAC Reports

ANAO

9 Reviews of Whole of Government

FaHCSIA

WA Economic Audit


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Government intentions proved persistently impossible to translate into practice


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No official body has ever questioned the basic framework for program delivery or asked whether governance might itself be a primary contributor to policy failings.


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The systems of government work against change

International experience:

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UK & OECD Reports

• Place based approaches

• Localism Bills

• Innovation Regions

• Experimentalist/ Pragmatist approaches

• Relational contracting and learning by doing

Why has this happened ?

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30 years of New Public Management Reforms have shaped how governments • manage the economy,

• deliver services

• commit to public welfare


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NPM Reforms have had

• very uneven effects in remote Australia


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NPM Reforms have led to

• a rise in executive power

• political administrative centralisation

• the fragmentation of government

• problems of accountability

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The present configuration of governance policy and practice is not working in remote Australia

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In this context there are severe limits to what can be achieved through better coordination or more

efficient service delivery

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For large parts of remote Australia the notion that the market will deliver positive outcomes – in services,

settlement patterns, environmental management, and wider social inclusion – is a fiction

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To resolve ‘wicked’ problems in remote Australia governments have resorted to whole of government

and strategic intervention approaches

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More of the sa

me will not w

ork

More of the sa

me will not w

ork

Six structural dysfunctions erode the capacity of the present structure of government to administer remote Australia.

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Six structural dysfunctions erode the capacity of the present structure of government to administer remote Australia.

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There is not only a delivery and local engagement gap

but a profound systemic gap

covering the development of strategiesfor remote Australia

New Governance Principles

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The nature and pace of change in remote Australia,the ongoing contest as people respond and adjust to change necessitates creation of regional governance structures.


New Governance Principles

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These structures need to endure over time and be above the contest These structures need to endure over time and be above the contest

Lessons for Remote Australia

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11Economic policy and practice, rather than a single focus on subsidies, welfare and ‘services’, must be at the heart of policy on remote Australia.Economic policy and practice, rather than a single focus on subsidies, welfare and ‘services’, must be at the heart of policy on remote Australia.


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Economic policy and practice, rather than a single focus on subsidies, welfare and ‘services’, must be at the heart of policy on remote Australia.Economic policy and practice, rather than a single focus on subsidies, welfare and ‘services’, must be at the heart of policy on remote Australia.

Government needs to do more than set macro-economic conditions – it needs to be an active partner in business/livelihood with community and private sector.



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Agglomeration, regional integration and regional connectivity are keys to an innovative response.


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Place centred governance is a precursor to place based initiatives where place centred relates to mandate rather than location.Place centred governance is a precursor to place based initiatives where place centred relates to mandate rather than location.



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Place centred governance is a precursor to place based initiatives where place centred relates to mandate rather than location.Place centred governance is a precursor to place based initiatives where place centred relates to mandate rather than location.

Government could stimulate capacity in remote Australia through micro-economic reform including adopting more innovative regional and procurement policies

Government could stimulate capacity in remote Australia through micro-economic reform including adopting more innovative regional and procurement policies


Lessons from Remote Australia

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11 It is not clear who, if anyone, is setting the priorities for remote Australia or what those priorities are.It is not clear who, if anyone, is setting the priorities for remote Australia or what those priorities are.


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It is not clear who, if anyone, is setting the priorities for remote Australia or what those priorities are.It is not clear who, if anyone, is setting the priorities for remote Australia or what those priorities are.

Three tiers of government and a series of ad hoc regional arrangements appear to be incapable of resolving both the priorities and the contests that need to take place around these arrangements.



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The structure and configuration of institutions across remote Australia are largely not ‘custom built’ or fit for their particular purpose.


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Consideration of economic circumstances is crucial in establishing priorities in remote Australia. The private sector has been more successful at working through these issues than government.




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Failure to innovate is most marked in the public sector.Failure to innovate is most marked in the public sector.



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Failure to innovate is most marked in the public sector.Failure to innovate is most marked in the public sector.


66 The five things people ‘want but don’t get’ contributes to discontent and unhappiness.The five things people ‘want but don’t get’ contributes to discontent and unhappiness.

Our Conclusion:

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Without innovative systemic change in the way governments conceive and govern remote Australia;

• there will only be ephemeral improvements that will

not sustain a pattern of governance across the nation, and

• the consistency of concerns expressed across

remote Australia will not diminish, and

• you will not have a say in decisions that affect you.

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Having a Say - Innovation in Governance