#Just Stop Bagging Adelaide

[crawf]

Just stop bagging Adelaide
CRAIG BILDSTIEN
September 19, 2006 10:25am

OUTGOING Adelaide City Council chief executive Mal Hemmerling says the city is thriving and has urged critics to stop being so "negative and destructive".

In his first interview since announcing his decision to leave the council in November, Mr Hemmerling says criticisms of the city's performance are "clearly wrong".

"I don't see people in Melbourne talking Melbourne down . . . I don't see people in Sydney talking Sydney down . . . but for some reason here in Adelaide, we're bloody good at it – and we shouldn't be," he told AdelaideNow.

Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan this month labelled the current council as an "abject failure" and called on Capital City Minister Jane Lomax-Smith to intervene to kick-start activity.

However, Mr Hemmerling, 60, says Adelaide has experienced "incredible growth and some outstanding results" during his three years at the helm.

"It worries me that people of influence are talking Adelaide down – it is not doing us any good," he said.

"These people should be talking up Adelaide and be really pushing the fact that we are a city worth investing in and we are a city that is on the move and going forward," he said.

Mr Hemmerling claimed that business had demonstrated an "amazing confidence" in investing in the city, particularly commercial developers from interstate.

"We have had the most rapid growth in construction in the city since the second world war," he said.

"We are attracting more overseas students than any other city in the Commonwealth.

"SA Water, Transport SA and the Film Corporation are relocating their head offices back into the city bringing with them a critical mass of workers.

"We are five times the average of metropolitan Adelaide in terms of residential growth.

"All of the indicators are showing that Adelaide is going ahead in leaps and bounds.

"It is recognised by The Economist as the fourth best city in the world to do business in."

Mr Hemmerling said this year's council budget included "an incredible" $63 million for capital works and $16 million for asset maintenance.

"Light poles are now painted – not rusty relics – streets are cleaner, the trees are trimmed, we're putting gardens back into the city," he said.

"But we also run carparking stations, we run an aquatic centre, a golf course, we run a whole lot of land banking developments.

"We take an active role in assisting development in the city and all of these things are happening in an environment of incredible financial pressure where we have not had to burden ratepayers."

Mr Hemmerling said that under his leadership, council had changed financial controls to measure outcomes, changed reporting systems to measure deliverables and focussed on outputs, rather than process.

Describing himself as "a passionate South Australian", he will finish at the council on November 2, but return the next day for a "staff farewell".

"I came back here with some things that I really wanted to do, and I think the journey has been amazing," he said.

Mr Hemmerling says he has "stabilised" relationships between the council and its administration and created an environment of "co-operation" between the council and the State Government.

He also believes he has established "a can do mentality" within the city, which he says is focussed on outcomes and delivery of service with pride.

Asked how he would leave the council, he replied: "I think we're in really good shape.

"I think we have been really fortunate to have the Capital City Committee.

"It is fundamental and recognition of the fact the city is a key economic driver in the state.

"We have aligned their strategic objectives and the city's strategic objectives together and are working co-operatively to drive the whole state economic base forward."

Describing his management style as "engaging", Mr Hemmerling says council under his stewardship has been "open".

He says his relationship with Lord Mayor Michael Harbison and councillors has been "pretty good".

"Sometimes there are differences of opinion about things, but at end of the day, that's what delivers good results," he said.

Mr Hemmerling is reluctant to comment on his likely successor, other than to say the fundamental criteria for the top job is "a passion for Adelaide".

He said it was up to councillors on whether or not to appoint from within or advertise for a replacement externally.

Asked about the highlight of his three years, he responds: "I think the real success of the growth of Adelaide. That is something I can justly sit back and say I am really proud of."

On what image he thought South Australians have of the city: "We see it is as the prime shopping precinct, with 800 stores in Rundle Mall; the fashion centre of SA; the market, with its fresh fruit produce...

"We see it as commercial district, with lawyers, accountants, medical and service industries; also more than that, as an entertainment precinct."

And are people more positive now than they have been in the past: "I think we are . . . I clearly think that we are.

"I don't think there is anyone who wouldn't say we are not better today than we were three years ago or five years ago."

What about niggling issues, like Hindley St, homelessness, and alcohol consumption in public areas?

"These are issues that are social . . . if you want to look at the triple bottom line of the city, we have had an incredible success rate, and ticks on all things," Mr Hemmerling said.

"We need to look at in the perspective of the big picture".

While he admits he has "no plans" to retire, Mr Hemmerling says he does not yet know what he will be doing next.

"I have never sat still, but at this point in time I really felt as though I needed to take step back," he said.

"I don't have anything particularly, despite the media speculation about the 36ers.

"That is a great passion to me; I have been involved in basketball for 45 years, but it is not the sort of focus of what I am going to do next.

"It is a very keen interest of mine, but there are other things, so we will sit back and see."

In the meantime, Mr Hemmerling says he plans to spend more time with his wife Ruth, work on his golf handicap, and put a bit more effort into his beef cattle farm in the Adelaide Hills.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html

[Ho Really]

Adelaide is a great city, there's no doubt about it. I wouldn't bag it, but there's always room for (constructive) criticism.

Cheers

[Will]

There is always room for constructive criticism, but I detest the people who just attack Adelaide for no apparent reason; some don't even know how to respond when someone doesn't accept their attacks. For example the next time someone says "Adelaide is such a hole, there is nothing to do" ask them to explain how there is nothing to do?

[gregrogers257]

I totally agree with Will....

People who bag adelaide are not worth listening to.
Sure, adelaide is not as exciting as Melbourne and Sydney, but you can still live a great life here in adelaide......

[Edgar]

LOL

When people starts comparing Adelaide between Melbourne, I get very agreesive.

[Aseem]

yeah..i was speaking to someone the other day who was sitting in Sydney. As usual when he mentioned abt adelaide being a sleepy town and stuff, i told him how much better it had become and that i actually enjoyed being here...and to me it all mattered to have a good friends circle..really! I must say that he did think abt what i was saying and probably would think twice before starting to talk the same way in future
cheers,
-A

[Captain Howdy]

Adelaide really got itself a bad reputation in the mid-late nineties, but things have really started to turn around. It's a great place to live, has some gorgeous architecture and scenery and has everything a city needs. I find most of the people who put it down are Melbournians, or Adelaide expats who's last memory is of the reccession period.

[Will]

Adelaide really got itself a bad reputation in the mid-late nineties, but things have really started to turn around. It's a great place to live, has some gorgeous architecture and scenery and has everything a city needs. I find most of the people who put it down are Melbournians, or Adelaide expats who's last memory is of the reccession period.

Actually Adelaide got its reputation as being slow and boring, from the fundamentalist reforms made by the Women's Christian Temperance Union which held considerable power over politicians around 110-70 years ago. Because of them, pubs had to close by 6:00pm, Sundays were legislated as days for prayer, barmaids were banned, Sunday drinking was banned. Whilst this occured in other states, SA was very slow in getting rid of these measures. It was only until the Dunstan government that many of these measures were abolished. For example during the first Adelaide festival of arts in 1960, there were no motels in Adelaide, because they were considered places of ill repute.

[Al]

All hail Will, the walking encyclopedia. Nice one mate.

[crawf]

very interesting will

[gregrogers257]

very interesting will

Adelaide is no longer a backwater for a number of reasons :

1) A number of good developments including the airport and holdfast shores down at glenelg.

2) A strong economy and low unemployment. There's the olympic dam mining project that has a lot of potential as well as the destroyer contract which in itself will bring in billions of dollars over the next few years.

(In addition to the destroyer project the Collins Class submarines have been around for quite a while now and will therefore need to be replaced soon. This will be another multi billion dollar project which will have to be undertaken in adelaide.)

3) Great events such as the Clipsal 500, the Fringe Festival, Womadelaide, etc. We also just hosted the biggest band in the world which was attended by 60,000 people ! Perth missed out alltogether on U2 and I know that up in Brisbane they only had 45,000.

[Pistol]

The Collins Class submarines were only finished in the 90s. I think that they would have a shelf life longer than 15 years considering the cost of production! But the maintenance contract on these subs is worth 3.5 billion to ASC. There will be a lot more defence contracts won by SA. I think that it was one of the smartest things the Rann government has done in appointing Peter Cosgrove to assist SA in winning these contracts.

[crawf]

1) A number of good developments including the airport and holdfast shores down at glenelg.

2) A strong economy and low unemployment. There's the olympic dam mining project that has a lot of potential as well as the destroyer contract which in itself will bring in billions of dollars over the next few years.

(In addition to the destroyer project the Collins Class submarines have been around for quite a while now and will therefore need to be replaced soon. This will be another multi billion dollar project which will have to be undertaken in adelaide.)

3) Great events such as the Clipsal 500, the Fringe Festival, Womadelaide, etc. We also just hosted the biggest band in the world which was attended by 60,000 people ! Perth missed out alltogether on U2 and I know that up in Brisbane they only had 45,000.

4) Confidence in South Australia is rapidly growing.
- $7b Olympic Dam Expansion
- $6b Air Warfare Destroyer Contract
- $1.5b Port Adelaide Redevelopment
- $700m City Central Project
- $500m West Central Project (new world-class bus terminal)
- $500m Northern Expressway
- $400m Port Lincoln Housing Development
- $260m Adelaide Airport Terminal
- $250m Port Hughes Development
- $250m Port Wakefield Marina & Housing Development
- $170m Flinders Link Project
- $70m AAMI Stadium Upgrade
- $60m State Swimming Centre
- $30m Tram Extention

Plus billions of dollars worth of mining, defence, infrastructure, retail, housing, building and marina developments (Hindmarsh Island, Cape Jaffa, Mannum, Port Wakefield, Wallaroo, Port Vincent, Port Lincoln, Boston Island (of pt lincoln), Ceduna and more...)

More & more people are moving to the festival state
South Australia's Population is now growing at 0.8% (12,000 people) a year compard to 0.5% a few years ago. And people moving interstate is started to rapidly fall

Tourism in South Australia is starting to surge
- International Visitors to SA has increased by 40% over the last 3 years
- Adelaide hosted its first ever Australian Tourism Exchange mid this year
- The South Australian Tourism Commission launched a new campaign, logo and slogan (SA - A Brilliant Blend), Which is very clever and impressive IMO.

Though theres still alot of room for improvment

South Australian Events are getting bigger and better ever year
- The World-renowned Adelaide Fringe will be annual from next year
- Clipsal 500 is going from strength to strength
- Tour Down Under is now Australias biggest cycling race, and is starting to put Adelaide on the map
- Talk of Adelaide hosting the World BMX Championships, FIFA World Cup and Commonwealth Games
- The Adelaide Festival Centre has launched a year long of theater productions

Adelaide becoming the City of Markets??
- Rundle Street Markets was launched a couple of months ago and it has been a success
- Festival Centre now has markets set up around the centre on Sundays
- The Showgrounds has launched Farmers Markets on Sundays and has been very popular

Is Adelaide fast becoming Australias Learning Capital??
- International Students studying in Adelaide is now around 20,000 and growing at a rapid rate
- Australia's first foriegn university 'Canigen Mellon" opened two campuses in Adelaide this year (Vic Square & Light Square)
- 5 more Foriegn Universities are looking at opening up campuses in Adelaide
- The SA Governments Study Adelaide Campaign has been a massive success
- TAFESA is regarded as one of best vocational education and training providers in the country
- This year has seen a surge of applicants to study at TAFE SA's 53 campuses around the state

Is Adelaide really going through a contruction boom?
judge for yourself

While South Australia is definitely improving it still has alot of room for improvement
- Negative Attitude (thinking that Adelaide is a hole and the other 4 cities are heaps better is getting this city nowhere)
- Conservative Attitude (this is really holding the state back IMO)
- Population Growth (while the annual population growth is increasing, theres still room for improvement)
- Red Tape (this should be cut by 20-35%)
- Crime (I know SA's crime rate is falling, but its still pretty high for my liking)
- Public Transport (While Adelaides bus & tram network is pretty good, its train system is a fringing joke)
- Trading Hours (After living in Victoria for 10 years, Adelaides trading hours is weird and a joke - but not as bad as Perth i must say)

Another problem is the greater job opportunities & better salaries interstate. People arnt going to stay in SA if they can get better job opportunities and bigger pay packets interstate (such as WA or NT)

Even for myself once ive completed all my courses, theres a 80% chance ill be moving interstate at the end of next year. because the field i want to get into hasnt got much job opportunities in SA compard to like NT or QLD, plus i want to be financially secured and travel.

But i dont think SA can really do anything about that, until the mining & defence boom takes off.

theres probley more stuff, but im to tired to write anymore

rant complete

[gregrogers257]

The Collins Class submarines were only finished in the 90s. I think that they would have a shelf life longer than 15 years considering the cost of production! But the maintenance contract on these subs is worth 3.5 billion to ASC. There will be a lot more defence contracts won by SA. I think that it was one of the smartest things the Rann government has done in appointing Peter Cosgrove to assist SA in winning these contracts.

What you have said here is not true - trust me I used to work for ASC.
People there at Outer Harbor are talking about it already. Its not going to happen in the next couple of years, but I would say definitely within the next 10 years the project will be underway. Submarines don't keep on going forever.

The good news is that adelaide is the only possible place in australia where the project could be done. All the people with skills in submarines are out at outer harbor..... Believe me it will be another $5-6 billion project for south australia !

[Mants]

i like adelaide the way it is, and many people feel the same way

if i wanted to live in a "booming" city, i'd move to brisbane, or a "world-class" city, id move to sydney, or a happening city- melbourne

i find adelade's easy, laid back lifestyle somewhat stimulating