Leadership must trump management if anything is to change

Government needs to break the cycle if ordinary people are to see change, says Kym Goodes

THE election has been run and won — and so begins the hard work of consolidating Tasmania’s positive economic position to the benefit of every Tasmanian.

Premier Will Hodgman gained success on Saturday on the back of the government’s reputation as a good manager of the state’s budget and is now unchallenged as a successful politician and leader on the back of this win.

Good budget management has set a foundation that can lead to further success in our state, but that long-term success won’t come without leadership that can use that foundation creatively and courageously.

It is time to lay the groundwork for success long past the next four-year election cycle.

This means tackling the entrenched issues that continue to hold Tasmania back.

To do this, Tasmania needs long-term decision making that tackles the deeper, structural change needed below the surface of what looks like a booming state.

To set Tasmania up for success, not just over the next four years but for the next generation, we need our elected representatives to be leaders, not managers.

Management is the efficient execution of what we already know. We’ve seen a lot of good managers come and go in our parliaments, but Tasmania doesn’t just need more good managers.

Tasmania needs leaders to move beyond managing and explore the unknown, to chart uncharted waters — and deliver what they promised.

Leaders do the right thing, not just do things right. They see new ways to confront old problems, the same problems managers have thrown more money at for the same result.

Good political leadership brings new ideas and, sometimes, stark reality to a community.

This election campaign promised increasing funding for health, education and housing but there has been little detail of what these millions of dollars will achieve for the day-to-day reality for Tasmanians.

Announcements of extra hospital beds is meaningless to most Tasmanians living with pain, wanting that hip replacement or other lifechanging surgery. They want to know when they will get their surgery, how much quicker than the current wait.

Tasmanians struggling to find rental accommodation don’t care about how many millions of dollars have been promised. They want to know what the rental vacancy rate in Hobart will be in three months, six months, nine, months, a year and if they will finally have a secure roof over their heads. Tasmania may be a better place now than it was five or 10 years ago, but the fact remains this betterment has only benefited some.

We need leaders to be courageous enough to stand up and say: actually, this is a major issue for Tasmania and what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked well enough. They need to define the problem, provide the evidence, and outline the solution, however unpalatable and the choices we might have to make.

If problems remain today, they are problems that are squarely the responsibility of our new government. Still referencing the performance of the previous Labor government will simply be frittering away time and opportunity.

Tasmania has come a long way and things are improving. That’s the foundation for transformative change, not comfortable complacency.

While obviously a commitment of appropriate funding is critical, it is only one part of the change we need for Tasmania to finally address the issues holding us back. To tackle the range of long-term and entrenched disadvantage that many Tasmanians live every day, we need more.

Leaders of organisations in business and the community sector know resources alone will not achieve the mission. You need partners, skills, motivation, adaptability, integrity and trust.

You need leaders who can set the right conditions for achievement and inspire us to follow.

Tasmanians want to see a different future for their children and grandchildren and are keen to see the “announceables” — the millions of dollars — make a difference for their family and their community. They want to see what will be transformative.

Addressing the challenges that have held Tasmania back is complex. In terms of public policy, it is technical, political and involves decision making by leaders who can challenge and change the status quo. The community sector stands ready to work with the state government to forge a new future for a better Tasmania for all. Kym Goodes is chief executive of TasCOSS, the Tasmanian Council of Social Service.