The John Hyde Archives
Historic archive of articles and newspaper columns written by former Australian politician John Hyde OAM.
Protectionism
Unknown
- Defensive protectionist policies make things worse.
- Australian trade is much more restrained compared to similar sized economies.
- Nations which have unilaterally reduced their trade barriers have achieved higher rates of economic growth.
The NFF and the Balderstone Report
Protectionism Industrial Relations Regulations Trade
- The report states that Australia's comparatively efficient agriculture is burdened with unnecessary regulation.
- It is in Australia's interest that the agricultural industry propers while remaining efficient.
- Australian agriculture suffers a considerable burden placed upon it by protected industries and trade unions and is under the mercy of international prices.
Australia Writ Small
Protectionism Trade Regulation
- Both Australia and New Zealand have high import barriers.
- Min price arrangements and export incentives are poor means of re-allocation of the nation's (New Zealand) resources.
- Both nations have adequate natural advantages that are blunted by government intervention.
Closer Economic Relations
- To prevent trade is to penalise both buyers and sellers.
- The Closer Economic Relations (CER) with New Zealand will benefit Australia more as New Zealand has to adjust its trade barriers as compared to Australia.
Foreign Investment
- Investors are only interested in Australian investments that perform better than elsewhere.
- No investment can take place without the foreign buyer and Australian seller gaining something.
- As long as there are investments that Australians are unwilling to finance, foreign investments will provide jobs and additional incomes.
Unknown
- The selfish use of privilege will destroy the free Australia that men fought for.
Trade Policy Transparency
- Tariffs cause job losses and is a tax which few citizens are aware of due to lack of experiences in price comparisons.
Statutory Marketing Authorities
- An industry that depends on world markets cannot avoid change. By delaying just long enough, many who have neither learnt to swim or moved to a higher ground will drown.
Large Colour TV Sets
Protectionism Competition Cronyism
- The Australian TV production industry taxes buyers and have developed into an uncompetitive assembler of foreign produced parts.
Hawke On Structural Adjustment
- There's a trade-off between today's protected industries and tomorrow's living standards.
- Mr Hawke, "we need a longer-range vision".
The W.A. Sheep Meat Industry
- The Lamb Board shows the consequence of instituting a government-controlled monopoly versus a free market.
- Both consumer and producers have been prejudiced.
Exporters Pay for Tariffs
- Tariffs raise prices in the import competing industries over and above the extent that the wages rise for the rest of the economy.
- Protectionism impoverishes exporters rather than penalising foreign competitors.
Coastal Shipping
- Protection of the Shipping & Steel Industries have knock on effects on other industries.
- A government decision to protect an industry destroys another/others.
Colour TV
- Import quotas for Colour TVs; prices should be allowed to signal the levels of supply and demand
- Quantitative restrictions (QR) are licences to print money
Grain Handling
Protectionism Trade Regulation
- Wheat board (Trade barriers).
- Farmer are unable to price differentiate between higher quality of wheel produced (price takers not setters).
- Cost of over regulation where both some producers and consumers are the biggest losers.
NSW Egg Corporation
- Even though the NSW Egg board has been mandated to be efficient, it can never be truly efficient as it is a monopoly.
Farm Costs
Protectionism Taxation Cronyism
- The National Farmers Federation (NFF) wants to the government to have relief for its members but it must be prepared to get the heavily protected dairy, tobacco and sugar industry off the backs of the taxpayers.
Parliamentary Superannuation
- If the taxpayers want to get the best value for their money, the payments to government workers/politicians need to convey the right incentives.
Milk Price Arbitration 2
- If the Victorian Dairy Farmers do not deregulate fast enough, they will face competition from Dairy Farmers from other states.
The Ultimate Cost of Protection
Protectionism Politics Trade Economics
- Australia is paying a heavy social price for a closed economy. Only by reducing border protection is there a possibility of turning things around.
Farmer Militancy
- Farmers should not be bought off by policies that might be regarded as income tax favouritism and that everyone keeps their sights on the objective of an efficient free society.
Industrial Policy
- Only a free market economy with strong positive and negative incentives can stimulate productivity.
Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation
- It is important to privatise markets and there be alternative competitors for any former state firms.
The National Party and The Farmers
Politics Protectionism Trade Taxation
- Australia's trade barriers is costing Australian farmers on average $12,000 annually and is more than fuel taxes, capital gain tax and all other areas of rural complaints.
Transparency II
Protectionism Politics Economics
- Industry specific councils are a menace which should not be given any standing when forming public policy.
Taxis
Protectionism Regulation Cronyism
- Taxi deregulation is the same as any other product or service regulation. There will be winners and losers, but everyone should benefit in the long term.
Dumping
- Any Australian produced good that is dumped on the Australian market benefits Australians.
The Real IR Debate
Protectionism Industrial Relations Business Individual Rights
- Being able to opt out of a wage award allows the parties to come to an agreement rather than having something forced upon them.
Sir Hal Colebatch
Politics Fiscal Policy Protectionism
- He stood against: 1) protectionism, 2) excessive borrowing and 3) legislation that compelled price controls.
The Future of Agriculture
Protectionism Industrial Relations
- The two demands by the National Farmers Federation that industry protection by reduced and that real wages reflect the nation's economic circumstances are reasonable.
The Opposition's I.R. Policy
Protectionism Industrial Relations Individual Rights
- The Liberal policy will give all employees the right not to join a union.
EPAC And Gruen On Trade
Protectionism Regulation Business
- Professor Gruen says that selling below full cost in not regarded as an unfair trading practices within Australia. It smacks of double standards when it is labelled as unfair when done by foreigners.
Holmes, Rattigan & Chaney
- Vested interests are no longer stifle debate about protectionism.
Textiles, Clothing & Footwear (not in print)
- Workers that are in a protected industry must be prepared to accept modest wages that arise as a result of protectionism, if not, the economy will suffer, and riots will occur.
Not Lazy (Published in the Weekend Australian as Monopolies corner the market in frustration)
Protectionism Monopoly Regulation Business
- Australians are more often frustrated with government regulations than lazy.
- Monopolies are the reason for Australia's lost competiveness than laziness.
Wheat Marketing: A Case Study of Monopoly
Protectionism Cronyism Monopoly
- Monopolists argue that increasing size will allow for economies of scale but without competition that is no onus to pass on the benefits.
- Wheat growers that keep silent about their lack of choice allow their impoverishment.
Partington
- Education is predicated on objective standards and can only assessed using those standards.
On Bill Carmichael's Retirement
- For any major reform to be successful, a vested interest with a major stake in the reform must carry it.
The WHO Conference
- The World Health Organisation is successful only in places where they have stayed out of politics.
The Motor Car Decision
Taxation Protectionism Cronyism
- The purpose of any protection is to allow goods to be sold at a higher price and has the same purpose as a consumption tax.
- The protectionism affects other industries as it makes them less competitive due to the other industries subsidising the particular industry.
Player or Ring Keeper?
- When private players enlist the government in intervening in the economy, the "ring-bearer" may become corrupt.
Time the Nats Delivered
Politics Protectionism Cronyism
- If the National Dries do not disown any plans to strengthen the Australian Wheat Board's control over the domestic market, the voter may not have much choice except to vote for the Labour party.
Consumerism
- Organisations that should be advocating for more choices for consumers, use public money to pursue an agenda that is opposite of consumer choice.
The IAC Report
- Protectionism reduces living standards.
- The debate about the costs of protectionism has been won.
The Lamb Marketing Corporation
- The average producer is unaware that they are being duped and politicians have no interest in informing them.
The Government and The Wage Round
Protectionism Industrial Relations
- The government should not be entrenching the unions. They should be doing what is right for the economy.
The National Companies and Securities Commission
- The National Companies and Securities Commission (NCSC) should be dissolved if they are seen to be protecting certain interests.
Citizen-Initiated Referendums v Corruption
Politics Cronyism Protectionism
- If effective sovereignty were returned to the people, politicians would no longer be protecting vested interests.
Reforming GATT
- The solution to trade barriers is to measure the cost to the national economy and report to the public the cost.
Whither Florence Nightingale?
Protectionism Industrial Relations
- If individual nurses could be rewarded for their productivity, union protectionism would not work, and patients and taxpayers would not be bled.
What Are EFIC And the Wheat Board Up To?
- When a statutory authority is created that does not act in the public interest, it becomes almost impossible to dismiss the organisation.
On Not Subsidising Ansett
Protectionism Industrial Relations
- Since the Prime Minister cannot subsidise every everyone that has been disadvantaged by a strike, he should not subsidise the wealthy that have the ear of the government.
Wool Stocks
- Minimum prices reduce the volume consumed; a more radical reform will be the abolishment of the wool reserve price.
Wool Again
- Buffer stock for any protected industry fails and it gets strong nations into trouble.
Wool Yet Again
- The people responsible for raising the floor price are now blaming everyone else but themselves for the injury done to the woolgrowers.
What Do We Want from Privatisation?
Protectionism Regulation Subsidies Business
- The reason why Government privatise public companies is to make them more efficient. The reason why they don't is that they fear the wrath of employees and the subsidised consumers.
Wool Again
- The demand for wool is elastic due to substitutes, there is no reason why the wool industry should have price controls in place.
The Uruguay Round: A Fool's Dialogue?
- Policies that increase living standards are called "sacrifices". Fortunately, not every country does so all the time.
Australia's New Protectionism
- Control over exports is reserved to the Federal Government. There is much it can do to improve competitiveness without creating more privileges.
Rural Inconsistency
- It is hypocritical for Liberals to advocate for a free-market approach yet refuse to abolish the reserve price for wool.
Anti-Competitive Behaviour in The Health-Care Industry
Protectionism Healthcare Competition Welfare
- Politicians must face the political problem posed by wealthy, high-risk users of Medicare who would be worse off should the system be made more competitive and fairer. Politicians cannot compensate all and will have to decide who cannot afford to lose Medicare benefits.
Of Uranium and Wool
Protectionism Currencies & Commodities
- Australians have learnt that we cannot control the behaviour of the rest of the world and we would be better off selling uranium that we produce to parties that are strictly vetted.
How Did We Get into This Mess?
- Voters defend privileges. The only way to prevent a slide into to Banana Republicanism is for voters to recognise that it is improper to have privileges.
Getting to The Centenary
- Both side of politics are responsible for industry protectionism. Instead of facing reality, Australians are taking economically unsound popular policies seriously.
The Wool Corporation's Stocks
- By allowing the Australian Wool Council to build up buffer stocks and to control prices, we are allowing them to ride a boom into a recession as managers of such schemes cannot be trusted.
Wool III
- The reserve price scheme is preventing consumption from increasing, reduction of production and the costs of storage of the wool stockpile.
Farmers' Woes
- Wool is the industry where unwise government intervention has exacerbated the farmers' problems.
The Davis Report
Protectionism Regulation Taxation
- Statutory Marketing Authorities (SMA) has the power to tax producers. If the minister intends to regulate the market to make it efficient and just, individuals must be able to opt out of SMAs and SMAs also be subject to the Trade Practices Act.
Some Wool Industry History
- There has been a previous referendum in December 1965 a reserve price scheme for wool but was rejected by the growers. The politicians still implemented the scheme without taking their views into consideration.
Wheat Marketing
- Our wheat handling and marketing system does not allow for diversity and hides the true cost of wheat production.
Entrepreneurs
Economics Protectionism Business
- The switching of commercial to political entrepreneurship, established interests have encourage governments to protect their interests as well as causing the economies to stagnate.
The Lamb Board
- The Lamb Board prefers its own interest to that of the farmers. In fact, since 1980, the board has prejudiced both growers and consumers.
Exporters Pay for Tariffs
- Protectionism is the act of taking money from one party to pay another and rarely punishes foreign competition and punishes any local party involves in the export sector.
Coastal Shipping
- Costal shipping has been protected for longer than any other major Australian industry but has never been the subject of an inquiry. As a result, costal shipping is affecting industries that have to ship locally.
Grain Handling
- Australian wheat farmers used to be among the world's efficient. However, through establishing collective arrangements market and control the wheat market, it has ensured that foreign growers having an advantage over them.
About
John Hyde OAM is a former Australian politician. He was elected as the member for the Division of Moore in Western Australia for the Liberal Party.
John Hyde OAM is the author of Dry: In Defence of Economic Freedom.