The editors of Sydney's major metropolitan newspapers now regularly pack their front pages with stories of state government crisis. Both dailies assert that NSW is paralysed by incompetence and possibly corruption, and that no significant betterment for the people of NSW under a Labor government is possible any longer.
The anti-government campaigns by the metropolitan papers attract a diverse coalition of support, judging by letters to the editor and on-line posts. The anti-government chorus includes inner city greens, disenchanted left-wing Laborites, scarred trade unionists, traditional Liberal/National Party voters, and sundry cranks.
It is, of course, somewhat unusual in Australia for a government to unite such an eclectic group.
And there is, we all agree, considerable evidence for dismay at the performance of the NSW government: an economy which has underperformed for much of the past decade; a public transport system in desperate need of renewal; an inattention to proper implementation of the metropolitan strategy; a lack of confidence in development processes; the absence of a long term budget strategy with adequate provision for capital works; inconsistent approaches to privatisation; struggling public health and public education services; compromised approaches to climate change especially in the context of an expanding black coal industry. It's a long list.
My worry, though, is whether it makes practical sense to throw one's arms in the air, suspend engaged political debate, and wait for the March 2012 state election and an opportunity for a change of government; including with an untested assumption that a better alternative lurks.
Between now and March 2012, the NSW government will spend over $60 billion in recurrent spending, the lion's share going to health, education, police, community services, public transport and roads. In addition, the government will spend a significant proportion of a four-year $62.9 billion infrastructure package.
In other words, and despite the paralysis claims of the metropolitan dailies, there is a lot of government to be done in NSW in the coming 12 months.
Pragmatist that I am, my approach in 2010 is to argue as strongly as I can for the government actions that I think are worthwhile. After all, with an anti-government chorus sitting on its hands waiting for a new dawn in March 2011, but with a Labor government desperate to get re-elected, the opportunities for a good hearing and good results are surely enhanced.
Phillip O'Neill is Professor and Director, Urban Research Centre, The University of Western Sydney
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