OECD’s Economic Outlook of June 2020 was said by Treasurer Frydenberg to rank Australia as best-in-class in terms of economic policymaking. Au contraire m’sieur, the OECD has provided a template for describing the Australian situation more clearly. The conclusion is the opposite: if the current regime continues, each of the 6 key OECD “directions” will be corrupted further, harming current and future generations. This topic deserves careful reading.
The Morrison Government's rollout of COVID-19 "stimulus", that is their fourth such process since 2016, has been shambolic: no needs analysis, no plan, no performance indicators and quality feedback, and sloppy implementation. Its attempt to dominate the States & Territories was vapid and unsuccessful.
OECD’s critical dimensions, the ones under great attack in Australia, are:
- Businesses and workers likely to face extended weak demand would benefit from support to upgrade, invest and innovate, and to shift to sectors with better prospects, through strengthening active labour market policies, particularly retraining schemes, and by facilitating investment.
- Streamlining and improving access to income support programmes, such as the Citizen’s Income, would prevent large increases in poverty and support demand in the recovery.
- If non-performing loans start rising, the government should stand ready to reinforce the bank asset support programme (GACS). Implementing the new bankruptcy law would help by ensuring that viable companies are restructured rather than liquidated.
- Pursuing the government’s plans to develop a multi-year programme to reduce administrative complexity, improve the legal system’s effectiveness and reduce investment and employment costs would support new businesses, productivity and jobs.
- Supporting the renewal of the ageing infrastructure and the transition to lower carbon activities would sustain the recovery and improve well-being.
- Accelerating the adoption of digital technologies, as demonstrated by the rapid move during the crisis to ‘smart working’ and online services, would raise competitiveness.includes what they do, how long they’ve been at it, and what got them to where they are.
Politicians and journalists are reinforcing each others’ misconceptions. There are three main topics to be debated and one is being suppressed. Both of their majorities are attacking capricious and incompetent behaviours to the extent they can see them; and both have a naïve optimism about the prospects of a laissez-faire health regime.
Neither are properly understanding the history – what went wrong and why? and what are better “options” – indeed, there is a perverse determination to not “repair” as the lack of “planning” for the future is in the hands of the people who made the mistakes and who ensure that their doors are locked against genuine planners.
A major theme of this planner’s work is that there was no plan from the time that the borders were closed on 1 February to when NCCC tied itself in loops by adopting then rejecting then reverting to a long-term gas-driven future; while neglecting to revive the sector they agreed, in theory, is the highest priority, namely SMEs in travel, tourism, accommodation and the arts and entertainment. We are up to 120 days of delay without the numskulls being any wiser.
The PM is stuck in the National Cabinet which is intrinsically non-planning and non-determinist, without a better policy direction than the one that failed over 4 ½ previous stimulus episodes under the same man. Even the Caravan Industry Association is waiting for NCCC to act, pointlessly.