41. Community Grants

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about the state budget.

Last week I said that there was not much to grumble about in the budget, and at the macro level that’s true. But there’s always devil in the detail. In this case it’s cuts to natural resource management grants to community groups.

These grants went to farmers and landcare groups, to Aboriginal communities, to schools, to local progress associations, to friends of parks groups and more – 106 grants last year to protect and restore our environment. Small amounts of money that make a big difference on the ground.

And that broad list of recipients shows that this sort of environmental work is not just good for the planet, it’s also good for social and economic development.

But on TV last week the Minister, Ian Hunter, was telling us that cuts had to be made and that he had a choice of cutting those good community grants or losing 12-14 environment department staff. Ok, it is a hard choice, but it’s a lousy justification.

Spending and cuts are always about priorities, and on top of massive cuts to the environment department and programs in recent years (the Conservation Council of SA was moved to nominate Park Rangers as an endangered species), it’s pretty clear that this government just does not prioritise the environment.

But even within the environment budget, what are we to make of this putting the department in front of the community?

The Minister is right that those department officers would do important work, but what analysis was done on the benefits of the community grants program?

I ask because there is huge value-for-money where programs harness and support volunteer efforts. That is true for the environment, for sport and rec clubs, and across the community services sector.

But in our economic system, if something (like volunteer work) doesn’t have a dollar value then it is not valued (I did a PhD on that in a past life!), and these cuts are just another example of governments under-valuing the contribution of the community sector.

Perhaps that is why we are called the third sector – it is where we come in budget priorities after business and government.

So while the budget overall was a good response to South Australia’s economic circumstances and to federal government deficit shifting, when it comes to cutting environment programs, what can I say:

I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 1 July 2014

23. Statistics

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about statistics. It is not that, as the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Statistics here are maligned as they simply give us the answer to the question asked, and in doing that they illuminate important trends and social processes. Yes, at the same time they hide other things that don’t fit the categories used to make the stats, but all knowledge does that – our view is shaped by our foundational assumptions and frameworks.

Now I have been known to use the odd statistic in political debates, but my grumble is that some statistics are so powerful that they cease to be constructed numbers and become more important than the thing they represent. For instance, CPI (the Consumer Price Index) is the cost of living, not the experience of people struggling to pay bills. I suppose you could expect that in a country whose national sport is little more than double-entry book-keeping, with the 6-ball space between the advertisements taken up with discussions of figures, averages and historical aggregates.

Of course cricket statistics are mostly harmless, but it is a worry when national policy is based blindly on statistics – without questioning the assumptions behind them. For instance, when commentators talk about the economy and market forces, it is worth remembering that less than half the goods and services produced in Australia in any year are produced in a market economy. The rest are produced in the home, in the voluntary sector or by government – and often produced very efficiently! GDP – Gross Domestic Product – is not the economy!

Similarly, our environment doesn’t count in economic statistics – hence the push to introduce it via something like a carbon tax. But in the battle of statistics between atmospheric parts per million and economic dollars per capita, there was only ever going to be one winner – and that really is the point. Statistics are useful for getting attention and making arguments, but ultimately policy is decided by power not by facts and stats. So can all the well-meaning academics and policy-wonks stop tieing up our community organisations and social movements with intricate policy debates that don’t matter, and can we get on with mobilising the political power we will need to see the world changed for the better.

I am Greg, and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-23/ 

 First Broadcast: 7 January 2014