GRA Everingham Presentation to: 3 August 2012 Paul Everingham Managing Director “How Local Government can influence politics and stakeholders.”

GRA Everingham Background to GRA Everingham. Explain what lobbying and advocacy is really about. The different ways local government can influence. Active engagement. A method for securing support for local projects. Influencing the agenda – A hypothetical case study Introduction

GRA Everingham Firm founded in Clemenger and GRA joined Specialist advisory firm in government affairs and public policy. Staff have all worked at senior levels within State and Federal government and bureaucracy. Genuine bipartisan composition. Federal and State coverage through national partner GRA. Background to GRA Everingham

GRA Everingham Extensive and expert knowledge in: Politics and the internal workings of the major political parties. Policy and regulation. WA and Federal Government, including Executive, key players, committee members, marginal seat holders. Parliament and Parliamentary processes. Functions and processes of Government and bureaucracy. Understanding the relationship between politics and the media. Understanding the relationship between politics and business. Lobbying, Government relations & Political consulting

GRA Everingham Active and engaged local governments can seek to influence the political agenda and their stakeholders by: Setting the agenda – being proactive Lobbying and advocacy Formulating good policy Developing innovative policy Proving community support Different ways local government can influence

GRA Everingham As with any organisation, local governments need to determine what kind of relationship they seek to have with their stakeholders. As with most circumstances, it is always better to try and maintain healthy working relationships with all your stakeholders, particularly if you will require something (such as support or funding for a project) in the future. It is likely that playing favourites or allowing a relationship to become overly hostile will not benefit your organisation in the long term. Different ways local government can influence

GRA Everingham Active engagement is an ongoing process. One or two meetings a year is not active engagement. Regular contact with your stakeholders. Share information and updates. Ensure that your stakeholders, particularly at a political and bureaucratic level are kept up to date with your issues and projects. Leads to superior intelligence and information gathering. Leads to better informed decision making. Active engagement

GRA Everingham Multi-stage process for securing support/funding for local projects: Ensure council support for project – both in principle and if necessary financial support. Secure support from local MP/s (State and Federal); Use the support from the local MP to advocate for the project to be supported/funded by the State Government; and Use the support from the State Government to then lobby for support/funding from the Federal Government. Securing support for local projects

GRA Everingham Local government amalgamations arguably one of the most contentious policy areas you currently face. The following is a simplified case study of suggested ways of managing the Government’s push for council amalgamations. Case study – Local Government Amalgamation

GRA Everingham Look to determine level of community support for existing local government representation through qualitative and quantitative research. Experienced politicians today are astute readers of detailed market research. If I found that the community supported amalgamation I would drill down into the reasons why through qualitative research. Similarly, if people were supportive of the status quo, again I would look for the reasons why. Case study – Research

GRA Everingham Try to be evidence based. Take steps to address community concerns with local government. For example: if people nominated ‘administrative waste’ as an issue for why they supported amalgamation, I would ensure that councils were running effectively and efficiently so to try and negate and deflect the waste argument. Case study – Evidence based actions

GRA Everingham Look for potential back office functions and synergies that could possibly be shared by councils. For example: undertake economic studies to accurately calculate the efficacy of local government spending. Contemplate incremental amalgamations and voluntary amalgamations of smaller councils to avoid Government imposed forced amalgamations. Case study – Evidence based actions

GRA Everingham Ask for evidence from Govt about the benefits of amalgamations – has it delivered tangible benefits in Victoria? Ask Govt if they have funding to support amalgamation or allocating additional resources to council’s that participate in amalgamations? Case study – Proactive action

GRA Everingham Harness the use of traditional and new campaign communication techniques to articulate your message. Know how to effectively reach your constituents. Most councils rely on print media such as newsletters and newspapers to get their message out. Other communication methods include: Radio TV Point of sale – council bills, shop fronts. Case study – Communication

GRA Everingham Traditional media reach is in decline. Radio and internet audience is growing. TV remains best BUT most expensive medium. Case study – Communication

GRA Everingham Paul’s “top three tips’ for effective local government influence: 1. Be Consistent (message) 2. Be Constant (engagement) 3. Use evidence/facts to back up your argument/position (research) Conclusion