Government Lobbying Service - Alberti Case As a lobbyist running my own lobbying business Red Tape Busters specializing in Government and Council lobbying. I have been lucky to help small business right across Australia in their battles with Government.
As a lobbyist running my own lobbying business Red Tape Busters specialising in Government and Council lobbying, I have been lucky to help mum's and dad's and small business right across Australia in their battles with Government, Committees and multi-national corporate bullies. I have worked on a zillion different cases and I thought I would share some of the more interesting cases which I have worked on.
Garbage Time: When I first started this business some 14 years ago - I was approached by an elderly Italian gentleman who owned an industrial property at Caboolture in Queensland. Mr. Alberti had been paying Rates on the property for many years and called me to complain that as part of his Council Rates, Committee was supposed to empty the industrial bins at his industrial shed two times per week but had only been emptying them once per week. At first I was thinking this was only a minor issue until I asked Mr. Alberti for a copy of his Rates notice and I did some calculations. I realised that based on Council not picking up the bin twice per week for 7 years and based on the garbage collection charges on the Rates notice that Mr. Alberti was entitled to a refund of some $12k including a small amount for interest over that time. I initially approached Committee identifying the problem and advising that we wanted a refund for the "overpaid" Rates. Committee denied that the bins were only picked up once per week instead of twice and told us that we could not prove otherwise and that they rejected our claim for compensation. I was angry that Committee was so dismissive and had rejected the claim outright and were not prepared to even investigate the matter. I then set about proving that Council 's garbage collection providers had not picked the bins up twice as identified as a requirement of the Rates notice. I pondered on what strategies, evidence etc would be needed to prove Council had not picked up the bins. I identified the fact that if I could identify all current and past tenants then I could ask them if they recalled what happened and if they supported Mr. Alberti's version of events then I could have them complete a Statutory Declaration verifying that the bins were only picked up once per week.
Identifying the tenants was easy based on Mr. Alberti's well kept records however locating them would prove extremely difficult given many past tenants had obviously moved on. I set about undertaking research via the internet, yellow pages, white pages and a variety of other mechanisms. Finally I had identified all past tenants except for one and all tenants confirmed that the bins were only emptied once per week. I was able to have each current and past tenant complete a Statutory Declaration confirming this. I believed this had now given us the upper hand with committee and that our claim for compensation could not be rejected. I then approached Council firmly lobbying our position that Council had not arranged for the collection/emptying of the bins twice per week and provided all of our evidence. Committee again rejected the request outright and claimed that they had evidence from their garbage collection provider where the drivers had recorded on the work sheets for each truck that the bins were collected twice. I was convinced however that Council would not have those records to prove that EVERY week over 7 years the bins were emptied twice per week and as such I demanded that Committee provide proof and release their evidence to us. I also advised Committee that if they did not release the evidence and continued to deny the claim for compensation then I would approach the media - A Current Affair, Brisbane Extra etc - both highly rating current affairs shows on Channel 9 in Brisbane to expose this situation. I also suggested to Council that if we did indeed have a case and that Council's contractor had not emptied the bin twice each week and that Committee might find that hundreds of businesses which similarly had been "overcharged" for rates would come forward as a result of the media coverage. Committee might then be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation rather than just the $12k to resolver Mr. Alberti's case. I also advised Committee that I would also seek to have a copy of their evidence provided through Freedom of Information provisions. After a month or two of total silence and after me sending a follow up letter again threatening to expose this issue in the media, Committee finally responded with an offer to settle for the full $12k! Finally we had forced Council to their knees and although they refused to admit "liability or wrongdoing" by making the offer they were in fact confirming what I believed all along that they had NO evidence and basically had lied to try and get Mr. Alberti to drop his case. Throughout the entire process Council staff had been difficult to deal with, dismissive and in fact bullying at times. Even in a face to face meeting I had with Committee to discuss the matter, Council staff were basically laughing at me stating that there is no way the bins were not picked up twice per week and even if they weren't - I could never prove it. All off the record of course! Essentially we believed this was the end of the matter and that payment would be received within a week or two. Weeks and weeks went past with no further correspondence being
received from Council and certainly no compensation being paid. I again wrote to Council and this time demanded payment with 7 days or we would have the media intervene and severely embarrass Committee. Within two days Mr. Alberti was sent a cheque for the full $12k! Sometimes you need to implement different lobbying strategies to get the best result on any particular case. You also need to stick to your guns and identify where you think Council/Government agency/multi-national might have a weakness in their case or position and then put in place initiatives that will attack their weak point. Many former politicians think they can suddenly become a Lobbyist when they leave Parliament. The facts are that most would be hopeless Lobbyists when they are actually required to represent a client and prepare a comprehensive and robust case and then vigorously represent that client in negotiations. Former Politicians obviously have connections and they can help big businesses in open doors to Government and Committees however they certainly can't do what I do at Red Tape Busters. I have probably 100 cases like Mr. Alberti's where I have beaten Committee, Government or multi-nationals. Not bad for an ex public servant!