One bite at a time

I note with interest the article in the Fleurieu Sun (May 28, 2026) reporting on Terry Scolari’s presentation on finding cost savings for the three southern Fleurieu Peninsula councils through the aggregation of “back office administration”, and the subsequent debate at the City of Victor Harbor council meeting (27 May, 2026). 

In my view, the argument of Councillor Burns and the opposing argument of Councillor Mann both have merit. Of course, none of us wants to pay increasing rates to support inefficiency.

Having had experience in “back-office aggregation and rationalisation”, I offer the following observations. Major undertakings such as these require close to unanimous support of boards and management (i.e. in councils, the elected members and the administration). “Independent advisers” are rarely independent (I’ve been one) and they almost always overestimate the benefits and underestimate the cost and time of implementation.

Does this suggest we should do nothing? Of course not. In my experience, the approach that delivers real benefits quickly is the one often adopted by smaller entrepreneurs and innovators: “move fast and fix things”. 

What does that mean in practice? Well, to use another cliché: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. So while Mr Scolari, Cr Burns and others nominate (quite rightly) areas of opportunity such as Fleet Services, Procurement, Accounts, HR and IR, Payroll and IT, I wouldn’t spend too much time and money on an independent report (that currently doesn’t have the support of the three councils). I would suggest choose one area, make it happen, and then move on to the next one, and so on. In other words, quickly realise demonstrable savings and build upon that.

Peter Hanlon, Victor Harbor