Rhetoric and Reality of Public–Private Partnerships: Learning Points from the Australian Experience

Abstract

While publicÁprivate partnerships (PPPs) have lately come to be seen as an attractive vehicle to deliver public services, in academic circles, opinions remain divided about their impacts and performance. While the proponents strongly justify PPPs by citing a range of benefits, including enhanced efficiency, cost savings, risk transfer, and value for money, the critics tend to dismiss such assertions and label PPPs as risky and wasteful ventures that eventually lead to much higher costs. Thus, PPPs have been the source of an intense debate and controversy. This article is a contribution to this debate. Based on a review of two leading PPP projects in Australia, it argues that although PPPs may help achieve some short-term objectives, their overall performance falls short of expectations and declared objectives. The article shows that the benefits of PPPs are often exaggerated, that the projected risk transfer is incomplete or unrealistic given the long term nature of projects, and that the contract documents governing the relationships between parties are unable to capture all risks and uncertainties. Finally, it argues that there is a need to augment capacity and skills on both sides, and to undertake a far more careful and considered assessment of the costs, benefits and risks of PPPs.

Dimensions of effectiveness and efficiency: a case study on industry–school partnerships

“…Relationships, roles and responsibilities An important factor in achieving outcomes effectively is the quality of the relationship between partners, in terms of the ability to cooperate, respect and trust each other (Siddiquee 2011). Relationships between schools and industry, it is argued by Johns et al (2001), thrive on the shared engagement of all stakeholders towards achieving a common goal.…”

Challenges in public private partnerships in construction industry

“…These include underbidding, over-optimistic forecasts, inadequate risk allocation, higher cost of private capital, a lack of transparency, a lack of citizen's trust, inappropriate relationship management, political behaviour and conflicts of interest. Siddiquee (2011) inaccurate projections of revenue growth, patronage decrease and consumer avoidance behaviour during the concession period. Ball (2011) claimed out that some transportation PPPs in the state of Victoria have left the private sector with painful losses.…”

When Trust Fades, Facebook Is No Longer a Friend: Shifting Privatisation Dynamics in the Context of Cybersecurity as a Result of Disinformation, Populism and Political Uncertainty

“…Social media platforms, however, do not appear to demonstrate the same level of prioritization in the combating of online disinformation using their systems. Siddiquee suggests that a combination of trust and sense of shared responsibility is fundamental in successful public–private partnerships (2011, p. 143), and there is a growing sense on the part the EU that social media platform providers do not share that sense of responsibility. After the release of the High Level Group report on Fake News and Online Disinformation (2018), the Commission published a Communication stating that ‘disinformation erodes trust in institutions and in digital and traditional media, and harms our democracies by hampering the ability of citizens to take informed decisions’ (European Commission, 2018a, p. 1), criticising social media platforms for having ‘so far failed to act proportionately, falling short of the challenge posed by disinformation and the manipulative use of platforms’ infrastructures' (European Commission, 2018a, p. 2).…”