The Good Oil * by Rod Brown
Professor Rufus Davis was the Foundation Professor of Politics at Monash University. In the late 1960s he merged the Department to form the faculty of Economics and Politics, on the basis that the two disciplines are inextricably entwined. There was a huge debate at the time, and I suspect that Albert Langer, the leftie student activist, was in the midst of the protests. These issues were mostly lost on the callow youths from regional Victoria descending on the campus – their education was more about entwinement with the opposite sex and the social construct of the Notting Hill Hotel.
Anyway, Rufus would lecture the incoming students every March on why economics and politics cannot be separated.
Move forward to 2007 and recent developments in northern Tasmania are reinforcing the wisdom of Rufus’s words.
The first example is the Devonport Hospital saga, where the Federal decision to provide $45 million to overturn State procedures is simply astonishing. It runs counter to the Federal Government’s economic policies, is completely outside the Federal health policy settings, and is political opportunism of high order. It displays a total lack of strategic planning at the Federal level.
The second example, the Tasmanian pulp mill, is quite different. I’m not sure Federal Minister Malcolm Turnbull ever looks for sympathy, but his support for the project seems to be basically sound. However, the politics of the project are swamping its economics.
What is being lost in the debate is that the timber resource is a core part of Tasmania’s competitive advantage. It underpins its tourism, milled timber, furniture and wood chip industries. We all agree that the latter activity is a no-no.
Former Industry Minister Button summed it up when he described the export of low value woodchips as a ‘bastard of an industry’. The proposed mill will help address this economic waste.
What is also not generally recognised is that the proposed site for the pulp mill is the Bell Bay precinct, which has been zoned for heavy industry since the Comalco smelter was constructed during WW11. Its outstanding advantage is the proximity to two woodchip mills, and the existing port loading, gas, power, road and rail infrastructure. In short, if Tasmania is to move into downstream value adding of its timber resource, then it’s Bell
Bay or nothing. There are no other sites on the radar in Tasmania.
The lesson to be drawn from these two examples is that mixing economics and politics results in a very combustible fuel.
Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to have a six week rethink on the pulp mill proposal is commonsense, but deferral until after the election might have been best.
Pacific partnerships, says Rudd
I attended the recent address by Kevin Rudd at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. ‘Kev07’ has a solid background in international affairs, and his speechwriters had him painting a grim picture. His basic thesis is that if more Pacific Island states become failed states, the cost to the Australian taxpayer of emergency police, military interventions, food, medical supplies and so forth will be massive. He also argued that that increasing ethnic and political violence would produce a wave of refugees to Australia as a country of first asylum.
For good measure, he added the risk of a HIV/AIDS pandemic in PNG spreading to Australian communities in the Torres Strait, and that our fragile diplomatic relationships with the Pacific Island countries are creating an unprecedented strategic opportunity for non regional states to occupy the vacuum.
It is hard to know whether this is all a bit of scare mongering, but Rudd’s plan for a long term Pacific Partnership for Development and Security makes sense.
- It begins with an audit of the situation, and then action to:
- tackle the collapse in primary education and primary healthcare
- build basic economic infrastructure
- tackle urban male youth unemployment through targeted public works programs
- provide microfinance in partnership with Australian Business Volunteers and financial institutions
- emphasise good governance via training regional leaders, public servants and technical experts
- provide effective security assistance and capacity building with local police.
Whether or not Labor wins power, there is a real role for local Councils in Australia to become involved in a Pacific solution. Go to www.edaustralia.com.au/content.php?id=218
Rate the Plate (best practice)
The road carnage continues as motorists continue to engage in stupid behaviour. We are thus pleased to announce that a Canberra based colleague has developed a very innovative website that allows you to alert others to bad driver behaviour.
The details of the incident that you observe – car type, number plate, traffic behaviour (speeding, running red lights, tailgating) are posted at www.ratetheplate.com.au for all to see. The website keeps a running tally of the regular offenders. Try it out!
Lessons from Darwin
In late August I was in Darwin addressing Federal and State officials involved in investment aftercare initiatives such as getting more out of existing investments.
Arising out of these discussions, my ‘take home’ messages are:
- there is an overdue opportunity for the three levels of government to get local infrastructure right – this is the strongest incentive to investment
- infrastructure audits are increasingly important
- Local Government has a key role in investment aftercare
- the mapping of industry capability should be a priority –
- we are way behind the USA and Europe
- building centres of industrial excellence should be a focus
- inwards investment missions are important such as getting prospective investors here for a first hand look.
As an aside, the Darwin economy is booming – labour is at an all time premium, and the marine engineering and port development is impressive.
*Rod Brown is a Canberra based consultant specialising in industry/regional development, investment attraction, clusters and accessing federal grants. He can be contacted at apd@orac.net.au or phone (02) 6231 7261.
