THE JACKSON WELLS REPORT

Jackson Wells' Bob Lawrence on Spin Doctors Thursday

Benjamin Haslem

Jackson Wells' Account Director Bob Lawrence (left) is making one of his regular appearances on ABC Radio Sydney's Spin Doctors segment this Thursday at 9.15am (11.15pm Wednesday GMT). If you're in Sydney tune in on 702AM or you can stream it. The Spin Doctors panel analyses the week’s best and worst spin in the media.

Howard and Costello's economic record

John Quiggin:

If there was one thing John Howard and Peter Costello could reasonably have expected as part of the historical judgement on their terms as PM and Treasurer, it was a positive assessment of their record as economic managers. But a game isn’t over until the final whistle, and the last few months have produced some unpleasant data. Howard and Costello have left higher inflation and (if you impute the whole of the current tightening phase to their policies) higher interest rates than they inherited from the Keating government. Given that the ratio of household indebtedness to income has grown massively, the effective burden of interest rates is far higher now than in 1996.

More...

Treasurer’s early opaqueness is a worry

Keith Jackson

Australia’s new Treasurer, Wayne Swan, last night showed up for the first of what I suppose will be many appearances on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. Unfortunately the jargon - tortured economic lingo and rioting acronyms - indicate that, so early in his new role, he is close to capture by a newly acquired Treasury and the opaque language of public finance: impenetrable, murky and, in its search for precision, determinedly blurred.

At the foundation of good communications, and therefore good politics, must be a constant search for understanding amongst the widest constituency. Along with other skills, this means knowing how to present complex matters in straightforward language. Last night Mr Swan was not speaking the language spoken or understood by most Australians. As the US economy continues to dissolve, with all the implications this has for Australia, the credibility of the new Labor Government will depend on the extent to which the Australian people have a reasonable understanding of what is happening, how it affects them and how it is being addressed. Clarity in communications will be a paramount political requirement.

Mr Swan needs to refine the rhetoric and clarify his language. Otherwise he’ll earn a reputation as Hazy Wayne, whose obscurities will be taken to mean that he’s not entirely certain of what he’s talking about or, indeed, what’s going on.

Red tape disrupts battle against red tape

Keith Jackson

From the NSW State Plan ‘performance dashboard’ 2007.....

State Plan objective

The State Plan commits the Government to cutting red tape….

State Plan targets

(1) Establish the Better Regulation Office. (2) Implement industry specific red tape reviews

State Plan progress

There is currently no agreed measure of red tape in Australia or internationally. The Office is assessing different measurements of red-tape reduction

Gawdelpus….

Time to fix broken Australian federation

Keith Jackson

Recently-retired Queensland Premier Peter Beattie believes the Australian Federation is  broke and needs fixing. And he puts that ahead of Australia becoming a republic. “That’s Phase 2,” he says.

Peter Beattie attributes the awesome range of issues requiring attention to inaction by the former Howard government. In a speech to a Fabian Society meeting in Sydney last night, he highlighted the sense of national confusion about the respective responsibilities of different levels of government in Australia.

Mr Beattie said there was a need for a Constitutional convention to enable the Commonwealth, States and Territories to determine who ought to be doing exactly what across a range of government services, including health, education, science, aged care and indigenous affairs

He said the Howard years had provided no momentum for reform and the nation had suffered as a result. Even in basic areas like medical training and aging, responsibilities of the Commonwealth, there had been little or no interest in real reform. One result was that Accident and Emergency units around the nation were choked with people who should be seeing a general practitioner or who were waiting for beds in wards occupied by people who should be in aged care. “The Feds just wouldn’t cooperate,” he said.

“Responsibility for indigenous issues must go to the Commonwealth. The States do not have the resources.” He said secondary schooling required a national curriculum: “Not all educational standards are the same across Australia.”

“There is a world class biotech industry in this country despite the Howard government. I pulled out whatever hair I have left trying to get them interested. And I couldn’t get the [former] prime minister to agree on urban issues - or any issues at all, for that matter.”

“I have a great deal of faith in Kevin Rudd,” Mr Beattie said, “and as an ex-politician I don’t have to be generous to anybody. He’s said he’ll get reform in health or take it over. And I believe him.” He said next week’s meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) was a “test” for the Rudd government, especially in education and health.

Speaking on the future of the Labor Party, Mr Beattie said “We have to build a tradition of renewal. The days of saying ‘I’m here and I own this’ are gone. Two things diminished John Howard: he didn’t pass on the baton and he let ego get in the way. I hope the Labor Party picks up a culture of leaders knowing when to walk away.

“The Howard years restricted public debate in this country. Those years are over. We can’t be frightened of ideas. We must continue to enhance the power of ideas. Kevin Rudd embraces and likes ideas.”

Rudd government will register lobbyists

Keith Jackson

The first meeting of the new Federal Labor cabinet has signed off on a ministerial code of conduct, which includes provisions to reintroduce registration of lobbyists. Details of the scheme have not yet been released.

The former Lobbyists Registration Scheme, abolished by the Howard government in 1996, simply required registration of people or firms who, “for financial or other advantage, represented a client in dealings with Commonwealth Government Ministers and officials”.

The register was confidential and lobbyists were required to describe the key tasks undertaken when they took on a new client. When contacting ministers or officials, registered lobbyists were obliged to produce evidence of registration.

A parallel code of ministerial conduct provided guidelines for dealing with lobbyists, although, according to Dr Carmen Lawrence, “it did little more than advise ministers to avoid granting special access or privileges to lobbyists and to avoid dealing with those who were not registered.”

Dr Lawrence said the registration scheme never operated effectively because its provisions were ignored and rarely enforced. The Howard government replaced the scheme with a simple requirement to be nominated by two MPs in order to have access to Parliament.

Source: ‘Railroading democracy’ by Carmen Lawrence, Australian National University, Discussion Paper, March 2007