When contesting the election against Paul Keating in 1996, then Oppostion Leader, John Howard stated he would like Australians to feel relaxed and comfortable. At that time Australia was in debt to the tune of $80 billion, our waterfront was one of the most inefficient in the world, inflation was rampant and unemployment was rife. Keating was not able to break this downward spiral because union bosses would not allow him to introduce the necessary workplace reforms to increase productivity.
Our welfare system which was supposed to provide a social safety net for the disadvantaged was being widely rorted and costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Low income workers who wanted to break the cycle of unemployment and poverty were unable to do so because they had to work to union rules or suffer the consequences. They had no choice.
The election of a coalition government allowed us to break the cycle of union domination, workplace intimidation and welfare dependency. Under John Howard’s leadership and Peter Costello’s stewardship business leaders and employees were offered choices that rewarded productive work.
Over the next 10 years we paid off our $80 billion dollar overseas debt, ended the monopolistic reign of militant waterfront unions, brought inflation back under control, reduced unemployment to a generation low and ended many of the rorts in our welfare system.
One of the major contributing factors to this economic success was the reform of out taxation system. These reforms were bitterly opposed by Labor and the unions at the time but their predictions of impending doom and gloom never transpired.
An untintended consequence of successful economic management by the Howard government is complacency. We now have a generation who has never experienced recession or economic hardship. Some are ‘relaxed and comfortable’and take our economic prosperity for granted. Others realize we live in a highly competitive global economy and must continually strive to improve. Ray Croc, the Founder of McDonalds, once said ‘you are either green and growing or you stop and you rot’.
The future belongs to those who want to embrace change and the power of choice is a right that should not be denied to those who wish to do so. Neither government nor unions have a right to deny people the opportunity for success in whatever field they choose. Federal governments have a responsibility to ensure that the vulnerable in our society are protected through the establishment of a workplace authority and the introduction of regulations to ensure employees are treated fairly.
The threat of the Labor government to wind back the clock on these vital industrial reforms and re-empower militant unions will send a shiver down the spine of those who can remember the bad old days of rampant inflation, high employment and economic vandalism.
Tags: Economics, John Howard, Liberal, My Opinion, Policy, Politics, Workchoices
