Influencing the Influencers

Chances are that when Australians want to make a fortune, they pick the bold city of Sydney as the place to do it.  They’ve been doing it since 1788, when just under 800 British convicts landed at Botany Bay – now a suburb of Sydney – and went on to make the east coast of Australia the country’s most populated region.      Despite the down turn in the property market world-wide, real estate remains a popular way to make one’s fortune.  Which is why the job of planning minister is considered one of the most difficult and also the most powerful positions in the NSW government.

With the ability to shape the way the state grows and develops, the position of planning minister brings with it allegations of being unduly influenced from the plethora of interest groups that populate the lobbies of parliament house and council chambers. If any position should attract a vocal and curious opposition, it is this one. Developers, green groups, heritage societies, property investment houses and general home owners all want to be heard and have their own ways of achieving that.  As in most things in life, some do it better than others.

The current Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, is weathering some heated questions that attempt to link very large donations from property developers to his party, the Australian Labor Party, and planning decisions.  Clearly one’s political persuasion will influence perceptions of how well he has coped under fire.  He remains the Minister and has the support of his Premier who gave him the job in the first place.  Mr Sartor’s supporters and foes know that he is not a novice in handling pressure. I worked with him briefly when he was Lord Mayor of Sydney and watched as he survived unscathed from some serious attempts to rattle him.  He did it so well  that he was lured from that independent position to take up a coveted parliamentary seat with the Labor government.  Once there he was moved quickly into a ministry further infuriating his detractors.

While the main party of opposition in NSW the Liberal Party, makes quiet noises every time a newspaper article tries to draw a link between influence, decisions and party donations – they seem a bit meek.  The real NSW Opposition is the Green party.  There are not many of them – just three in the NSW parliament.  But they are getting the headlines and probably taking up more of Mr Sartor’s time than any questions the Liberals might have for him.