Why good governance is non-negotiable

Why good governance is non-negotiableWhen political parties promise to tear up contracts or share commercial-in-confidence agreements, the reputational damage can take a long time to repair, says the Property Council’s ACT executive director, Merlin Kong. In an opinion piece in the Fairfax papers on the weekend, Kong (pictured) questions whether the national capital is “really open for business”, and warns other city governments that good governance should be non-negotiable.Kong says both the ACT Government and the Opposition have been “flirting with ideas that can potentially undermine confidence in our city as a good place to do business, and a safe place to invest.”The Canberra Liberals, for instance, have promised to tear up signed light rail contracts if elected.In 2015, the Opposition “took proactive steps in writing to the two shortlisted consortiums advising them of this fact, with the stated intention of getting the consortiums to hold off on signing any contracts,” Kong says.Last week, it was revealed that the ACT Government requires tenderers to be referred to UnionsACT for regulation compliance assessments on all procurement projects.”Unions, veto and power seemed to be the troika of words for most news headlines on the story, which in essence was about outsourcing transparent government decision-making to union officials.”Kong says such a policy relies on the honesty of union officials, and “if that honesty is found wanting, it will be seen as a failure in government honesty”.If Canberra is to be taken seriously, and to be truly “open for business”, then both sides of politics must maintain the highest standards of integrity, Kong warns. And that means “don’t break contracts and don’t share commercial-in-confidence details to third parties.”