This week I was on the ABC’s Q&A program where almost the entire show was taken up by questions on the election of Donald Trump. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that there has probably been more reporting of the change of American President in the Australian media this week, than there was on the change of Australian Prime Minister two years ago.
Donald Trump evokes lots of different emotions from Australians. Whatever your take, however, the central issue is why does Australia care so much?
If the election of a particular US President has such an impact on the Australian economy and society, haven’t we got a larger problem? Why have we allowed a state to emerge where we are vulnerable to how people in the United States vote?
This state of affairs means that we, in effect, are not a fully sovereign nation. If the Trump focus is correct we cannot fully take charge of our futures because we do not get a vote in US elections. There have been lots of concerns about the reliability of US elections aired in recent years (dead people voting, out of state people voting) but I do not believe there have been claims of Australians getting a vote.
Over the past week, our political commentariat have had a collective meltdown on the prospect of Donald Trump imposing tariffs. No doubt Trump’s policies may have a negative impact on China and by extension Australia. There is nothing much we can do about what Donald Trump will do in regard to imposing tariffs on China.
There is a lot we can do about making our country more resilient to these pressures, whether they come from the US or China. The impacts of our misguided policies far outweigh any impact that might occur from Trump’s tariffs.
For example, the US has energy prices that are half to a third of ours. Last year the US produced more oil than any country, in any year, ever. This “energy” tariff with the US is already driving our manufacturing (like fertilisers and plastics) to the US. There is no reason we could not have energy prices similar to the US but we lock up our coal, gas and uranium whereas they use it.
We have engaged in excessive government spending for almost five years now. Some of the COVID response was necessary but we kept lockdowns and the associated programs like JobKeeper going far longer than necessary. Since COVID the new Labor government has continued the wasteful spending hiring another 30,000 public servants, massively increasing welfare and letting the costs of the NDIS spiral out of control.
This excessive government spending has led to an “inflation” tariff.
The Government has returned our industrial laws to the economy wide red tape of the 1970s. Their laws rip up the reforms of Paul Keating which moved negotiations to be between businesses and their workers, rather than trying a one-size fits all approach across the economy. These new laws are creating a “productivity tariff”.
We hold up major investment projects for the most ridiculous reasons. The Australian Government recently stopped a $1 billion gold mine because of an Aboriginal dreaming story about a bee. This “green tape tariff” is deterring billions of dollars in investment.
We do not need to worry so much about the US election. Whatever the ultimate impact of Trump’s tariffs, they pale in comparison to the costs we impose on ourselves through poor policies. Instead of wringing our hands at the vagaries of the electoral college, we should use our natural resources, stop wasteful spending and cut the red tape holding back business.
The truth is we are the luckiest country in the world we just have to get back to making our own luck again.
