Jeff Kennett started off by saying rather modestly that his period in government ended many years ago and is largely irrelevant in the modern world. Upon election inherited a basket case with $32B in state debt the approach taken was from fundamentals - self confidence, preparation and courage to execute. Leadership and management are often underrated but were needed to lift a dispirited, run down community. The most important things are confidence, who and where we are, to be upbeat and look after our health. Pursuing money does not equate or equal quality of life.
Jeff noted that he spent a long time in opposition - not necessarily a prerequisite for good government but it couldn't be avoided - his lively and humorous bringing more laughter to the audience. In politics you have to surround yourself with good people from the private and public sectors because it is easy to lose touch with reality outside of parliament. He noted it is important to move quickly after election and in his case they made the decision to move on all fronts at once - economy, education, health, planning, building. Decisions can be misunderstood by many to provide rewards very quickly:
- Reduced number of departments from thirty down to eight.
- Removed senior public servants after first cabinet meeting - before lunch then more after lunch.
- Reduced the number of public servants by thirty thousand.
- Give hope by working on the little things, not just the big things: Major events program including the Grand Prix - borrowed from Adelaide - to signify the state is on the way back - things are happening.
Cultural program: Old city architecture updated with younger city architecture in last 20 years; owners had been allowed to run down buildings; $1B capital program for museums, convention centre, library, glass dome, Federation Square - even as borrowed $1B to shrink workforce. Architectural competition for each project - all approved - trust the experts.
Better control of taxi system which was run down, dirty, poor English, lack of knowledge of major events, pink uniforms, no smoking, no eating, higher education - pink got people talking - yellow is international colour for taxis. Government generally - everything is possible - good times around you, confident to deliver positive impact. Most radical series of reforms of any government in Australia:
- New government members and parliamentary colleagues.
- Try to explain, don't give in.
- Otherwise will not be able to complete reform program.
- Clearly understand good - not left/right but common sense.
- Strategy to achieve goals.
- People to help deliver strategy.
- Consistency of policy - commercial life, politics and own home - public pressure grew in first two years - cannot succumb.
- Reward - demostrate to community, actually delivering results - tax off, building and cultural centre.
How many of you from Melbourne? Most of you (laughter). Geelong - Deakin moved to other side of lake - water, boardwalk of actibity, cafes and restaurants. Use water - Convention Centre is ugliest thing I've seen in years - drawing more laughter. Active sports program - major events program - architecture - form of art - sculptures. Freeway - art - gateway to Melbourne - cheese sticks. Wonderful cultural city, huge range of eateries and sporting events. Points of difference in area of education - good at gas, open pit - difference to schools over east. Colin put up water pipeline - I've been on National Water Plan since 1996. Exciting - bring country and city together - enthusiasm, will eventually happen. My mother died and could not cancel magazine subscription due to privacy act - squeezing us all together - she just can't do it (laughter). Expensive - I don't know the final cost, I don't think Clin knows either (laughter) - $3B will seem cheap in 10 years.
I don't want to say too much about Sydney but it's a backwater after 10 years of labour government. Cannot wait to do common sense thing - Perth either changes or stays the same and gets old quickly. Go to Melbourne - Grand Prix, sport, eat, drink - visit your children. Questions.
Reorganise local government from 109 Perth metro councils and 150 in state - councillors with no skills and no training? Changed in a flash - no flashing over here (laughter) - from 211 councils - sacked them all, administrators three or so - down to 72 - new government only changed on boundary so must have been pretty good. Gough Whitlam, Neville Wran were the greatest reformers. Recognise that rural coucils cover large areas but City council is too small - should include Burswood [no comment on split into Perth, Vincent and Cambridge; current Belmont and Victoria Park boundary issues]. Increasing Commonwealth Goverment infleuence and taxation - states have lots of money to cover their mistakes. In 50 years, three tiers of government might be slightly different.
Rural - health, education, cultural centres - close a school is bigger issue to small community - country feels it more. Major events program helps city more, rural feels left out - strong capital, strong state. Farmer from small town outside Mildura asked for Grand Prix - no support, no race track. Do something different? Budgetted for $6M surplus - election promises would have spent some of $1B surplus (informal from Treasury) in priority areas that needed it.
Jeff does not regrest outcome of election - would have been nice to have one more term to lock in reform. Proud to have served in office - left state with high confidence. Teach children about change - one door closes, another opens. Chairman of Beyond Blue - older people don't handle changes well and become terribly depressed when leave jobs or sacked. Work for Beyond Blue more important that anything he did in politics. Challenging and provocative talk - bottle of wine, something we do as well or better than Victoria. I like you positive thinking, Ian!
The focus on this talk and the wonderfully insightful writings of Charles Landry in The West Australian is on the physical and psychological geography of Perth city. My personal interest extends beyond these concepts and, by extension, the cultural and social life of the city - as important as they are - to the technologically creative and innovative.
It is without surprise that I read the ANZ is uninterested in divesting itself of the 34% stake it holds in E*Trade - the foundation of its online stockbroking facilities - to IWL. I suspect many would be surprised that IWL, based in Melbourne, is the owner of Sanford Securities and JDV, formerly part of Hartley Poynton, that provide the NAB and Westpac online stockbroking sites. Both of these companies were founded in Perth and, along with companies like ERG, Austal Ships, CCK Treasury, Asgard - part of the fifth pillar St Georges Bank, formerly Sealcorp and still based in Perth - are a few high profile outcomes of the terrific innovative spirit in the West.
The continued development of Bentley Technology Park, the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson and similar initiatives are essential for Perth to finally achieve the numbers of participants and scale of development required for the formation of industry clusters that are locally absent. It would be a great shame, and an enormous leap backwards, for Perth to focus its higher education on mining and related technologies - as has been suggested by some misinformed groups - since mathematics, physics, engineering and computing are fundamental to all of these endeavours and provide necessary and essential support for those industries. My fondest hope is for the primary, secondary, post-secondary and tertiary sectors to collectively pick up their socks and to concentrate on being among the best on the world in mathematics and science studies and research. The Australian Marine Complex, companies like Austal Ships and Nautronix, partnering with General Dynamics and purchased by L3 respectively, are remarkable local entities that together with Tenix, Raytheon, Thales and others should be the foundation of a world-class cluster centered on the Australian Marine Complex and other complex industries in the Kwinana area - like Gladstone, Queensland; Wollongong and Newcastle in NSW.
The sciences and the arts are largely indistinguishable to insiders who practice across accepted discipline boundaries and offend the norms accepted by outsiders. The intrinsic beauty of mathematics is much like the ethereal and haunting notes of a Bach cantata that reached to the heavens, each level of abstraction, each voice of the canon, building higher and higher in an ascending crescendo of voices. The design of engineering and computing systems, process control and instumentation are likewise deeply layered and complex arrangements composed by the practitioners in the respective fields. It would be shame to turn further inward at this juncture when the proper path is to embrace and extend or strengths across mining and resources, controls and instrumentation, defence, marine and other systems.
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