Developers, rise up against the zealots of negativity!

READERS may recall a recent column in which I called on the property industry to provide evidence of an "objection culture" within Australia.

REGULAR readers will recall my column of July 7 when I called upon the property industry to provide evidence of an "objection culture" within Australia.

My argument being that a culture of negativity now pervades the nation to the extent that in some areas the development industry struggles to deliver projects. Or at least this was the theory I wanted to put to the Property Council congress in Darwin this week.

I wanted real-life examples of a culture of gratuitously blocking or frustrating any form of development no matter how well it might comply with regulations.I got my evidence. In spades.

I articulated my case to an audience that was, at times, deathly silent. In fact at no point in my presentation, well, tirade really, was the 400-strong audience quieter than when I said that perhaps the reason why the development community doesn't speak out against blatant unfairness is not because no one wants to attract bad press, but because of cowardice.

No one wants a full-throttled fight with anti-growth forces, whose tactics and intimidation at times border on the illegal.

I received 24 submissions within two days of my call to arms, including a photograph of a development site in Petersham where objectors had sprayed "F . . k off" on the hoardings.

The audience loved that one.

Submissions came from every mainland state, although development issues in one popular beachside suburb in Perth generated multiple responses.

The first point to note is the passion, the anger, the despair, and at times the bewilderment of developers who, based on the evidence provided, not only complied with council regulations, but often went beyond what was required.

This was only to be faced with still more opposition leveraged off spurious grounds and in concert with a compliant local media, only too willing to amplify the voice of fringe protesters.

But it goes much further than this. The development community is angry that councils, councillors and council officers can be wishy washy and indeed fearful of protest groups.

One Brisbane-based developer explained the reason he didn't complain was because he knew it would affect his next application with council, and also that no financier would want to hear that there were problems with his last project.

I suggested that what the property and broader business community needed was to fund a think tank or public relations consultancy to participate in the debate by putting the case for planned and appropriate development.

For much of the past decade, and especially since the global financial crisis, the business community has been poorly regarded by the wider community: big banks, big property, big oil, big polluters.

My argument is that the reason why this is the case is because no one from the development community is prepared - perhaps for the reasons stated above - to argue the case. As a consequence, the average mum and dad only ever get to hear the case against development.

Any growth and all growth and development will destroy the planet and in either case both are being foisted upon the community by Big Property only interested in lining their pockets.

Well, no, this is not the case. Business of course must deliver a return on investment but there is some latitude in the pursuit of this goal.

The heads of property companies and other businesses are, for the most part, reasonable people who are as concerned about the sustainability and prosperity of the Australian nation as the average person.

And yet because the business community never articulates this case, or fights back by correcting misinformation - let alone outright lies and distortions - the public is left with a single negative view.

I argue that Australia is now in the grip of positivists versus negativists schism.

The negativists always find a reason why something cannot be done: too much congestion in Sydney's west means we should be stopping all migration to Australia. The positivists on the other hand find solutions: too much congestion in Sydney's west means we should be channelling migration to regional Australia.

To this point the negativists have held sway, but this is because business has been keeping quiet, not fighting back.

Well, I say look where this strategy has got the property industry: there are now professional objectors who "get off" on the power kick of blocking development. And I might add that with the first generation of tertiary-educated baby boomers moving into retirement, the 2010s and early 2020s will deliver a new type of protester: people who are educated, opinionated articulate, organised and with a point to prove.

Imagine you're a 58-year-old retired school teacher sitting at home with nothing much to do. And then the phone rings. It's someone from a local protest group who thinks that your skills would be useful in helping block a proposed housing development, road, whatever. It doesn't matter what the cause is; it's big; it's wrong; it needs to be stopped at all costs. You beauty! Here's a chance to showcase your intellect and organisational skills to like-minded acolytes who will immediately realise how clever you are. And who knows. You might even get your head on tele.

Perhaps it's time to calmly explain to professional protesters, and to protesters of convenience, that their superannuation fund most probably invests in the bank that is funding the proposed development. And, after having stymied said development, these same people are then just as likely to lament the lack of affordable housing.

During my presentation - okay, tirade, okay, rant - delegates were asked to vote interactively on several posed questions, one of which was as follows: do you think Bernard Salt is delusional and should be ignored? Or do you think he is right on the money? One hundred per cent of respondents in that auditorium thought I was exactly on the money.

Protesters take note: the game's up. The property industry wants to inject balance into the development debate. And not before time too.

Vive la revolution!

KPMG Partner Bernard Salt is the author of The Big Tilt ; twitter.com/bernardsalt; Facebook/BernardSalt Demographer; Linkedin/BernardSalt

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