Public Policy Reform in 2008: Part 2
A selection of quotes included in Part 2 of a feature in The Australian Financial Review resulting from a roundtable discussion with members of the BCA Board, including Greig Gailey (President, Business Council of Australia), Angus James (ABN AMRO Australia Pty Limited), Rod Pearse (Boral Limited), John Marlay (Alumina Limited) and Robert Milliner (Mallesons Stephen Jaques).
The Council of Australian Governments
Greig Gailey (President, BCA): ‘Unless there are firm objectives, you have no idea exactly the position you are outlining, so what we are saying is that we want to see COAG operate in a way where these people come together and they actually agree to do something and then they actually seek to deliver on it.’
Cross-jurisdictional regulatory reform
Angus James (Chief Executive Officer, ABN AMRO Australia Pty Limited):‘It seems to me that with one party in government in Australia, plus also federally, we actually have to create sustainable regulatory reform across a whole bunch of issues.’
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Rod Pearse (CEO and Managing Director, Boral Limited): ‘We really want to understand the costs to the community of successively reduced levels of emissions and we think before targets are set and before pathways are set, we really have got an awful lot of work to do up front to try to understand the implications of reduced levels of emissions on our economy, on various sectors of our industry, on wealth creation generally. We need to understand what targets should be set, where and what pathways.’
Carbon trading
John Marlay (Chief Executive Officer, Alumina Limited): ‘I don’t think we’ve seen in any of our submissions, certainly we haven’t seen in the previous government’s recommendations [the suggestion] that anyone should be exempt. It’s very important that all the industries in Australia continue down the path of energy efficiency. So it’s the principle that’s important.’
Regulating corporate social responsibility
Robert Milliner (Chief Executive Partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques): ‘Is regulation the only way to achieve those processes and while there’s no doubt that there’s a drive from government to be seen to be doing things by enacting legislation – being seen to be pushing things along – that’s not necessarily the way to the correct result.’
Workforce participation
Katie Lahey (CEO, Business Council of Australia): ‘Migration is just one of the answers to workforce participation. There are a whole range of others including more mature workers coming back into the workforce, the 50,000 young people that never make it to the workforce because they have not got the basic skills. So, to me, the [section 457] visa issue is just one part of a bigger participation issue.’
Education
Greig Gailey (President, BCA): ‘What exactly does the government mean by an “education revolution”? How broad is it? What exactly does it entail? You probably can’t have an education revolution without extra funding across the board.’
Cartels
Robert Milliner (Chief Executive Partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques): ‘What you are seeking to achieve is provisions that balance, that have an appropriate criminal standard in terms of that there is fault and that you can prove fault. It’s really a balance and I think it’s no more than what you have seen in other provisions where there is criminal liability for directors for inappropriate behaviour or officers or other people involved in those activities’.
Quotes 1 to 6 are excerpted from ‘Common National Purpose Sets a Positive Note for the Future’ by Ben Potter, Annabel Hepworth and Lenore Taylor, pp. 52–53. Quote 7 is from ‘True Revolution Would Determine Future Needs’ by Ben Potter, p. 6. Quote 8 is from ‘Business Urges Care with Cartel Law’ by Matthew Drummond, p. 6. All articles appeared in The Australian Financial Review on 15 January 2008.