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Honour industries that transformed Australia

Australia has long been a nation of primary producers, of farmers and miners who go out into regional and outback areas and contend with whatever nature may throw at them to provide the food, fibre and raw materials that we need to survive and thrive. We have cultivated agriculture that feeds and clothes Australians and tens of millions of people around the world. And we have taken risks and developed the minerals that have enabled higher living standards across Australia and the world. Thanks to our primary industries and the many businesses they support, we live in one of the wealthiest countries that has ever existed, and Australians today have among the highest standards of living ever experienced by human beings.

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Economy dives in resilience ranking

Deteriorating energy infrastructure, lacklustre entrepreneurship and poor competition rules are holding back the Australian economy, with a new report suggesting a drop in competitiveness is putting at risk future prosperity. In a ranking of the most resilient economies, Australia fell to 20th place from first place in 2004, analysis by Institute of Public Affairs senior fellow Kevin You found.

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Red tape now a major strain

Michael Briggs is drowning in red tape. Briggs says his manufacturing firm Six Wheeler Conversions, which converts four wheel vehicles to six wheels, has spent $300,000 on regulations in the past three years meeting state and federal certification requirements Briggs says new vehicle conversions require federal certification while modifications on preregistered vehicles require state certification. He says a new federal application system was implemented for second stage vehicle manufacturing approvals three years ago, quadrupling the approval process, typically taking more than five months per vehicle model.

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IR LAWS WILL HIT SMALL BUSINESS

Labor’s proposed industrial relations laws will smash suburban high streets and make it less likely that they will hire casual workers in the future, according to the peak organisation for small businesses. “The new definition of casuals is three pages long and comprises 15 different tests. You shouldn’t need a PhD in law to know how to hire a casual worker,” said Luke Achterstraat, chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia.

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Hancock Prospecting warns Closing Loopholes Bill could see mining move to countries with lower standards

“If increased regulatory burdens cause new mining projects to be delayed or cancelled, Australia will be unable to satisfy the rising iron ore demand created by net zero targets,” Hancock Prospecting chief executive of group operations Gerhard Veldsman said. Gina Rinehart has warned controversial industrial relations reforms could push mining away from Australia to countries with lower environmental standards.

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RED TAPE GROWING FASTER THAN ECONOMY

Australia is struggling under the burden of red tape that is growing at nearly twice the rate of the national economy, leading to urgent calls for parliament to act to cut out-of-date regulations and ban new rules from being imposed without old ones being repealed.

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IR bill is still a piece of work

Major employer groups have ramped up their calls for the Federal Government to dump or delay its controversial industrial relations changes, saying recent concessions do not go far enough. But the broader business groups believe the changes are not properly detailed and do not allay other fears about the laws.

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IR reforms a handbrake to productivity

More than half said they would stop hiring casuals if the changes came into effect, while 36 per cent said they would shed staff. Stagnating productivity is a serious threat to Australia’s economic prosperity. Australia can not afford to sit back and expect the riches to flow. Our politicians need to get the policy settings right to encourage investment, not dampen it. Because a prosperous Australian economy will make things better — and fairer — for all.

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