Financial Management
WGAC
A $9m expansion at Ngula Jar Island, tested before a dollar was committed — and modelled so that government and private funders could both say yes.
Results at a glance
Government funding and loans
$5m
Private finance and support
$4m
Combined capital pathway
$9m
The challenge
Where they were
WGAC set out to expand tourism and related services at Ngula Jar Island. Doing so meant purchasing significant assets and establishing additional infrastructure on Country — a commitment of a size that does not allow for a second attempt.
The corporation was not certain the investment stacked up. Nobody had tested whether the expansion could carry itself financially, whether it could be operated sustainably, what new risk it introduced, or how far it genuinely advanced the values the corporation exists to serve.
What we did
- Undertook a full feasibility study assessing the viability of the proposed assets — financial, operational, and in terms of the additional risk the corporation would be taking on
- Tested the expansion against WGAC's own values, so the investment case was measured against what the corporation is for, not only what it returns
- Built the financial model as the central decision-making tool — the same model used to approach government for assistance and to secure commercial finance
- Ran workshops with community stakeholders so that participation and engagement were built into implementation from the outset, rather than sought afterwards
The outcome
What changed
The feasibility work turned a proposal into a funded program. Modelling supported $5m in government funding and loans and a further $4m in private finance and support — a combined $9m capital pathway for the expansion at Ngula Jar Island. Just as importantly, the corporation went into the decision knowing what it was carrying: the operational demands, the risk profile, and the alignment with community priorities were all on the table before commitment.
Measured results
- $5m secured in government funding and loans
- $4m secured in private finance and support
- Investment decision supported by a full financial and operational model
- Community stakeholders engaged through workshops during implementation
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