Judy Johnston

Governance of public—private partnerships: lessons learnt from an Australian case?

Large infrastructure public—private partnerships (PPPs) in Australia have revealed significant governance problems. The aim of this research is to examine the technical-rational and social contractual issues of PPPs within the broad context of risk, and accordingly propose a governance framework. The research builds on international PPP literature to develop an analytical conceptualization. It uses document review and interviews to construct a case study of a Cross City Tunnel (CCT) toll-way in Sydney, which became operational in August 2005 and failed in December 2006. The research indicates that failure within this so-called PPP largely occurred within the technical-rational governance system due to unforeseen risks. This led to a breakdown in the social contract, through political risk. A governance system that enhances risk assessment and diminishes the likelihood of negative political behaviours is required. Points for practitioners To develop a more considered risk assessment process within the technical-rational environment, negotiation and contractual processes need deeper analysis to identify factors that could affect PPP success or failure. This would involve taking the potential impacts of identified technical-rational and social risk factors through to a logical conclusion for the project and the partners. Furthermore, this research confirms that a basic system of PPP governance needs to encompass behavioural rules, which could include appropriate sanctions and penalties within the contract. Breach of rules could involve mediation but improved PPP governance may be better achieved through an independent, oversight authority.

The New Public Management in Australia

Abstract This article examines the reform initiatives of Australian national governments in the context of the New Public Management (NPM). Three obvious phases of development have been evident. The first phase occurred during the early period of Hawke’s Prime Ministership of the trade-union focused, Australian Labor Party Government (ALPG) which came to power in 1983. Hawke adopted a moderate version of the NPM and was corporatist in approach. The second phase, commencing a year or so later, was influenced by Treasurer (and later Prime Minister) Keating, of the same government, who took a more fundamental NPM line, especially in terms of economic reform and public sector change. The third phase from 1996, led by Prime Minister Howard of the current, conservative (in spite of its name) Liberal-National Party Coalition Government (LNPCG) is more obviously ideological in its commitment to the NPM. These phases and reference to specific reforms will be outlined in this article, as will the academic responses to the adoption of the NPM in Australia. The relationship between theory and praxis will also be considered..

Performance measurement uncertainty on the Grand Canal: Ethical and productivity conflicts between social and economic agency?

Purpose – The article aims to present an overview of how the conflicts related to economic and social agency within particular public sector performance measurement arrangements can work for and against the application of balanced scorecard style systems. It highlights some of the dilemmas that are caused when performance measurement and productivity enhancement are required within broad areas of public service, especially where market behaviour is relevant.Design/methodology/approach – Using a case study approach based on literature review and field research, this article focuses on the gondoliers (gondolieri) of Venice, Italy. The analytical basis is historical record, Aristotelian ideas of ethical responsibility and contemporary literature on performance measurement and productivity.Findings – The research, so far, has found that performance is not necessarily determined by formal standards and technical measurements. It can be, but performance is also situational and opportunistic and mediated by more...

Legitimate Sovereignty and Contested Authority in Public Management Organization and Disorganization: Barangaroo and the Grand Strategic Vision for Sydney as a Globalizing City

This article takes an interpretive view of what ‘public management’ implies in the context of the strategies and processes involved in major infrastructure development, in this case, of prime harbourside public land, now known as Barangaroo, in the centre of the city of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This development, in part, is meant to position Sydney as a globalizing city, at the centre of financial services in the Asia Pacific region. The article uses Cleggs ideas of ‘circuits of power’ to develop an analytical framework and employs a qualitative, case study approach based on a wide range of documents and media reports in the public domain. It addresses the processes of public management in the Barangaroo development, focusing on strategic agenda setting and leadership; organizing by rules; contract relations; no-cost-to government policy; organizing by precedent, especially those embedded in institutional responsibilities and responses; and stakeholder management. It demonstrates that at each stage in the process these have been characterized less by the rhetoric of public management and more by a disorganization of this rhetoric by a complex politics flowing through distinct circuits of power. The critical finding is that public management in the context of a large economic infrastructure development, especially when government is attempting to position a city globally, is far more complex and political than the prevailing rhetoric of the New Public Management, of considered rationality, would suggest.

Strategic Public Governance in Australian Health: The "Unsmart", incapacitated state?

The strategic public governance of health services in Australia, as a federation of states and territories, is shared between three levels of government and the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. While national and sub-national governments hold the legitimate authority for most strategic decision-making and service delivery, many powerful actors with vested interests influence policy agenda-setting processes. Unlike the broader public governance systems in Australia, which are founded largely on the market-based model of neo-classical economic principles, the health governance system is more socially oriented. However, there is evidence that suggests that continuing moves by governments towards a more competitive model of governance with greater private sector involvement could impact negatively on health outcomes. At the same time, it is equally apparent that the structural, instrumental and dynamic aspects of the strategic health governance system, as they stand, could create more adverse indicators of public health. In fact, some trends in the health care system put state capacity for strategic governance in doubt. This paper will use the basic principles and assumptions of the now largely universal neo-liberal economic public governance model, based on market principles, to examine how these ideas are reflected in the conceptual and practical approaches to health services management in the Australian context. In this sense, the focus is on the ill health, treatment system rather than on the governance of public health broadly interpreted. First, to provide a more global context of health governance in Australia, some comparative analysis relating to Anglo-American polities will be presented. Second, the fundamental value of health as a market product or merit good will be considered. Third, the structural, instrumental and dynamic aspects of the health governance system in Australia will be explored. Finally, the paper examines whether the Australian state is “unsmart” or incapacitated in relation to strategic governance of health.

Multiple Perspectives on Economic Rationalism and the New Managerialism: Power and Public Interest?

Abstract The economic rationalist, new managerialist (ERNM) paradigm of public management, based on neo-classical economics is promoted as offering potential benefits for all. It could be argued that adoption of an ERNM-directed framework by governments favors power elites at the expense of the rest of the community. In this environment, the rhetoric of wider opportunity may be used simply for electoral purposes to persuade the polity that there is some egalitarian benefit from adherence to such a paradigm. Another interpretation suggests that political elites have been unwittingly persuaded by the rhetoric of the business and intellectual neo-liberalists to develop strategic public governance frameworks that favor them. The third possibility is that altruism has motivated key elites who are acting in the interests of all the polity. In this article, the first and second possibilities are the basis of an examination of the extent to which power is a critical influence on contemporary government policy and administrative action.

Governments and Governance: Examining Social and Economic Autonomy in Malaysia and Singapore

This article discusses the models of public governance that have emerged from research involving the governments of Malaysia and Singapore and the impact of these models on socio-economic performance. The research was facilitated by a series of interviews, supported by a contemporary literature review, and is part of a wider project which seeks to construct some comparative models of the role of government in national socio-economic development in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Vietnam. The overall research has two aims The first is to develop some greater understanding of the role of government in the creation of factors that support national economic performance. The second is to develop some alternative means of measuring national performance in terms that provide a more informative picture than that currently provided by conventional economic and financial reportingThe focal point of the article is the role of the governments of Malaysia and Singapore in the formulation of the national stra...

The Impact of Contemporary Management Ideas: Their Influence on the Constitution of Public Sector Management Work

Drawing on empirical research conducted in Australia’s Public Service with Departmental Secretaries, we address the research question: how have contemporary management ideas influenced Departmental Secretaries and their work? Contemporary management ideas, the majority of which are various forms of managerialism, introduced by New Public Management theory, animated reforms of public sector management work from the 1980s. The role played by Departmental Secretaries, central agencies and the government in the acceptance or rejection of contemporary management ideas, how such ideas travelled, were translated, transferred and transformed, are considered. Many contemporary management ideas did not alter the constitution of public sector management work, because they were deemed inappropriate for the public actors, environments and roles and responsibilities that constitute public sector management work.

Shadows and disorder: ethics in “dark times”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the “ethics and transparency‐accountability” paradox in which the oft‐repeated mantras of ethical luminosity, such as transparency and accountability, appear designed to assure one that all is well when such confirmation is, possibly, no more than part of an illusion – a superficiality purporting to confirm that what is seen is the only reality of public ethics.Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing an analytical approach based on the comparative analysis of historical and contemporary isomorphisms this paper suggests that despite post‐modern voices about fracture, the multiplicity of “realities” and possible futures, there still remains an almost paradigmatic conviction that “visibility” is politically more efficacious than “invisibility.” Rendering situations visible supposedly exposes violations of ethical standards, professional norms and protects one from “criminogenic” elites. This paper questions whether light always cast out darkness and whether “...

Assessing Government’s Performance Management Capability: the Case of the Australian Electricity Industry

When governments open up opportunities for private investment in traditional public sector areas, it is increasingly clear that a useful range of performance management information needs to be available to both government and business. Government needs to know how it is performing, comparatively, within and beyond its own domain, for the development of public policy and productivity enhancement. Business needs to know, understand and monitor the industry environment in which investment is contemplated or has already taken place. Performance measurement and monitoring is especially important where governments wish to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to their shores. Whether governments manage performance and information well or are still constrained by bureaucratic and political thinking is still at issue. Using the example of the contrived national electricity market in Australia, this article, through literature and document review, examines the likely value to government and business of performance information, now available in the public domain. First, the article considers some of the changes to the Australian electricity industry. Second, specific performance indicators relevant to the national electricity market are examined in terms of their utility for government and business decision-making. Third, the impact of the political environment on performance management information is explored. The article concludes that while some important quantitative performance management information is available in a rational sense, other more political, qualitative indicators also need to be taken into account.