Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Engineers winning the game

‘Winning the Game’ was the theme for the 2002 conference of the NSW Division of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA). Staged in Coffs Harbour, the venue was the Pacific Bay Resort, home base for Australia’s rugby team – the Wallabies, hence the appropriateness of the theme. In his address to the conference, IPWEA-NSW President, Steve Carmichael, referred to the Wallabies and their efforts to meet the desires of their fans, by winning the ‘ultimate’ game of rugby.

He said to become world champions, the Wallabies developed a long term vision with detailed strategies.

“These visions and strategies in fact are an example of a superb and ultimately successful business plan,” he said. “Our game in Local Government is more difficult to define but we also need to keep our fans, the ratepayers happy. To win, we must deliver a large range of services, community facilities and supporting infrastructure, which meet the expectations of the fans. Our business plans, therefore, are no less demanding than the Wallabies but our ultimate goal is not so clearly defined.”

Steve Carmichael listed the following reason why this is the case.

• The rules of our ‘game’ are set by outsiders – many of whom have never played the game, such as the State and Federal Governments and their bureaucratic agencies.
• The rules change without notice, and often during the game.
• The elected representatives, Councillors, in most instances, devise the strategies and policies by which the game is played.
• The players are the staff who must turn these strategies and policies into realities
• However, staff and Councillors often appear to be on opposing sides.
• The spectators/fans watching from the sidelines are ‘experts’. l The scores are kept by the fans, and the local press who aren’t always our fans, as indeed are the ratepayers.
• The playing field is ‘the field of dreams’ of community expectations.
• The rules state that you must please all fans at all times.
• Your resources and players are limited by diminishing funding or additional regulation.
• The ‘salary cap’ is called ratepegging.
• In our game, if you don’t win you could get sued.
• In our game, the fans recognise very few heroes.
• In our game, the field is full of people who deserve to be recognised.

“Despite all this, in our game, the community is the winner time after time,” Steve Carmichael said.

He welcomed delegates to the conference, saying that those attending had taken yet another step in enhancing their ability to provide solutions for the myriad of problems being faced by all Councils.

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