In response to the relative silence from the industry department as part of the economic stimulus packages, Senator Abetz has penned a fairly detailed criticism of the federal government's approach and its impact on business. (In case the political pointscoring about Pacific Brands and Qantas stops you from getting to his planned action points, I have presented them below).
Apparently the industry department was not included in the stimulus planning
Surely, if you wanted to protect or create jobs, like in the manufacturing sector which has been worst hit with more than 44,000 jobs lost since Labor was elected (a 4.2 per cent decline), you would talk to the Industry and Small Business Department for their ideas?
But no. As revealed in a recent answer I received from Senate Estimates, the first the Industry Department knew of the detail of the $42 billion stimulus was when it was publicly announced - which might help explain why Australia is the only country in the developed world not to include incentives for business to invest in new research and development in its stimulus packages.
Senator Abetz's recommended action plan
So what should the Government be doing to try and minimise job losses in the face of the Rudd Recession?
Well firstly, it should adopt Mr Turnbull's six-point small business action plan, which will provide real immediate assistance for minimum cost - and genuinely protect jobs.
Secondly, the Government needs to take responsibility for the job cuts - as a Prime Minster once famously said, "the buck stops with me".
Thirdly, the Government needs to invest not in articificially propping up GDP, but in supporting the productive capacity of business - especially small business - through things like encouraging investment in R&D, even at this tough time.
And fourthly - and most importantly - the Government needs to facilitate the right economic conditions for business to prosper and employ people; which means, not talking down the economy in order to try and trash the economic legacy of your predecessors.
Yes, it's politics. Yes there's pointscoring. But, if this is the reality of the situation it is very sad to me. Putting on my pessimist's hat, if the industry and small business departments have not had an impact thus far, what hope do we have that this will change?
Wearing my Optimist's hat, the stimulus activity to date has been largely about consumption rather than investment, and that the next round of activity will be about encouraging productivity and knowledge jobs in the economy.
The realist in me says that the ALP positions itself as the party for Working Families and the Liberal Party as the "party" for Business, so unless you can join the dots and show how lower investment in R&D and knowledge jobs affects Working Families you don't have much chance of getting on the radar. Well, unless you're about to go broke.
Just another reason why party politics can be so hollow.
Let me know what you anticipate in the budget by posting a comment on this article.
