In their place are newsletters and brochures produced for public relations purposes. In 1992, when the remediation was already underway, a local environmental group conducted a survey which found that 71 percent of the respondents felt they were not getting enough information to form an opinion about what was being done in the Homebush Bay area. For the Olympic site, however, the NSW Minister of Planning was given full authority to make decisions without the normal consultation process. The reaction of Greenpeace Australia's Lynette Thorstensen is a telling indication of how deeply the venerable environmental crusader had allowed itself to be co-opted. The urgency to get the Games ready without bothering about due process is something that the Olympic authorities undoubtedly appreciated.
Public relations is a much simpler and more controllable process than genuine public consultation.
In the absence of true public participation, PR around the Homebush Bay site has focused on vacuous media stunts and photo opportunities. Dr. Sharon Beder is a professional civil engineer and associate professor in Science and Technology Studies at the University of Wollongong, Australia.