An extraordinary schism has opened at the highest levels of government in the state, with battle lines being drawn in the fight for the future of Adelaide’s CBD.
The axing of park lands trees for the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment has been the ignition point for the fracas between the state government and the Adelaide City Council.
But this rupture has much deeper roots, stretching back decades to an ongoing tussle between the forces backing city development and those pushing to preserve its unique heritage.
The Labor government’s chief powerbrokers, Premier Peter Malinauskas and Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, in the past week have issued forceful condemnations of the City Council.
The veiled target is Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith, who was a minister in the Rann Labor government from 2002 to 2010, when she held the state seat of Adelaide.
The battlefields for this intensifying policy contest are the golf course and the eastern park lands, where trees will be axed for the MotoGP circuit.
Ultimately, though, this is a power struggle over the future direction of the CBD, particularly its economic development.
Dr Lomax-Smith’s muscling up to her former Labor comrades has raised eyebrows in some quarters and won applause in others.
But an important impact has been to accelerate behind-the-scenes discussions among key business and political leaders about alternative governance models for the city.
Influential people are increasingly arguing that the current council has become unduly reactionary, rather than championing city economic development and progress, and too focused on the interests of the few hundred people that elect them.
This bubbled to the surface at a Property Council lunch on Thursday, when Mr Koutsantonis was asked by the lobby group’s executive director Bruce Djite: “What is the one thing you’d change tomorrow to make South Australia a more attractive place to invest, build and do business?” Mr Koutsantonis replied: “I’d like to see councils reform the way they conduct themselves … I’d like to see them consider more amalgamations.”
His chief target became obvious when he accused the City Council of opposing major events. “Adelaide City Council will say they don’t want the MotoGP at Adelaide. They will fail in that endeavour.”
In his June 4 state budget, Mr Koutsantonis revealed the government had asked the influential SA Productivity Commission “to identify practical opportunities to reduce regulatory burden across state and local government”.
Amalgamations are now, clearly, within the scope of this inquiry. Given the last significant mergers were about 30 years ago, this is timely.
Mr Koutsantonis is not alone in championing mergers. One Nation MLC and state president Carlos Quaremba has pinned local government reform as a key policy mission, arguing administrations, not representation, should be merged.
There is an increasing view that the Productivity Commission inquiry should be a vehicle to examine new CBD governance models, particularly one that better delineates the City Council’s role in economic development versus service delivery.
A talented and honourable politician, Dr Lomax-Smith in late May declared she would seek re-election, saying: “The City of Adelaide is undergoing a significant growth spurt in terms of population and economic activity, and there needs to be some thought given about how we manage that growth.”
This followed Mr Malinauskas appointing Adelaide MP Lucy Hood as City of Adelaide Minister after the March 21 election, saying he wanted “someone on the hunt for issues, for things that we can address that would unlock opportunity.” Asked if he wanted someone hunting for investment and growth, or looking to get rid of the bureaucracy that stymied it, Mr Malinauskas pointedly replied: “Both.”
Watch this space. The battle lines have been drawn and this power struggle is escalating.
Paul StarickEditor at large
Read related topics:Peter Malinauskas