Scoping studies and consulting reports are almost always a massive scam and waste of money for the taxpayer.Patrick_27 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 3:53 pmYou know how the Liberal governments work, they run blindly into investing in sporting infrastructure but then spend a stupid amount of money on excessive scoping studies for anything relating to the arts and then shelve it once the findings come back, when from the get-go, that money could have been better used funding a small portion of the arts. A concert hall doesn't need this kind of study done, there's an actor tenant there and waiting (the ASO) and they will likely increase their annual programme if and when such a facility is built, there are various national chamber music groups and quartets in Australia that can use the venue and then it also opens us up to hosting international groups who want to use the venue. It's a no brainer.SRW wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 3:05 pm'Tenders open for city concert hall but Govt wary on funding' as reported by InDaily
Key quotes:It's surprising to me that the government has to tender out for this sort of study? Is our public service so denuded that we haven't the expertise anymore, which is really just basic research? In any event, it's a 10-week turnaround so presumably an answer before the year is out.The Government this month released an open public tender to develop an “initial scoping study” determining the viability and vision of the proposed venue.
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“The work will include consultation with key stakeholders to understand the need for a new Concert Hall, and may ultimately feed into a strategic business case,” the spokesperson said.
It comes after the Government announced there would be delays to the construction of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, while a mooted city sports stadium has been put on the back-burner due to COVID-19’s budget impact.
Also, nothing mentioned about an arena being delayed unless the government has conflated that with plans for the stadium. WCH and Aboriginal cultural centre were also both supposed to commence build this term, so yet more inaction there.
The recommendations they bring back are normally no more insightful or detailed than what you would get if you asked anyone with half a brain to think about the issue for an hour.
Yet these reports can cost tens of millions of dollars. Where is the money going? 10 million dollars would be enough to pay 100 people to work full time for a year on the report, each earning $100,000 dollars each. That is definitely not what is happening. Instead, the money is being pocketed by the multinational consultancies like PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG and for the most part is not spent on anything benefiting South Australia.
Why do governments continue to waste astronomical sums of money on these reports? Because it makes them look like they are doing something, when they don't actually have to money or will to actually do it. They can announce or promise a "planning study" or "business case" investigating the possibility of a project. Combined with some glossy renders of what said project might look like, they make the average voter think that the project is actually going to built.