1983

The NFF and the Balderstone Report

Protectionism Industrial Relations Regulations Trade

07/01/83 • The Australian Financial Review

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

14/01/83 • The Australian Financial Review

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

Protectionism Trade

21/01/83 • Unknown

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.

When is a Wage Freeze not a Freeze?

Industrial Relations Economics

28/01/83 • The Australian Financial Review

Wages must increase less than prices.
High wages decrease demand

The 1983 Budget

Budget Fiscal Policy

04/02/83 • The Australian Financial Review

How much of the damage done by the previous budget can be undone.
Displaying fiscal responsibility will enable the govt to be re-elected.

No Title (unpublished)

Politics Leadership

11/02/83 • Unpublished

The ebb and flow of political fortunes

Where now

Politics

25/03/83 • Unknown

Party allegiance should not be built upon hatred of one's opponents but rather allegiance to an ideal.
Liberalism offers the Liberal Party the only hope of moral and intellectual structure.

The Inheritance

Monetary Policy Economics

08/04/83 • Unknown

Excess monetary supply causes inflation and varies in duration.

Unknown

Budget Fiscal Policy Monetary Policy

22/04/83 • Unknown

A budget deficit is an unsatisfactory way to increase money supply.
The prime role of a deficit is to conceal politicians' expenditures so that they can appear to be better managers than they actually are.

Unknown

Politics Economics

29/04/83 • Unknown

Political restructuring is essential and part of the process.
In a commercial setting, people "vote" using their dollars. It is then wrong that their votes are confiscated by limiting their choices to certain anointed candidates in a political setting.
If Australia is unable to accept steady restructuring of our industries in accordance to market demands, then bloody restructuring becomes necessary when we become impoverished.

Double Dipping and the ACTU

Welfare

06/05/83 • Unknown

A double dipper is a person who cashes in their superannuation and draws the old age pension.
Inequitable to have two benefits and most beneficiaries are relatively well to do.

Foreign Investment

Economics Protectionism

13/05/83 • Unknown

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

Economics Protectionism

20/05/83 • Unknown

The selfish use of privilege will destroy the free Australia that men fought for.

The opposition and the Mini Budget

Politics Economics

27/05/83 • Unknown

If Labour does a better job of managing the economy, then the Liberal party will be in opposition for a long time.

Grimes Summit Speech

Welfare Taxation

13/05/83 • Unknown

High taxation, universal welfare approach is not the best way of coping with poverty and cannot be financed long-term.
Expectations of a pension discourages saving and investment.

Labels - an easy way to discredit but they count

Individual Rights Cronyism

10/06/83 • The Australian Financial Review

A more relevant classification of politics should be whether you believe that choice should be exercised by individuals or to be exercised on their behalf.
Vested interests are only wrong when governments pander to them.

Wage-fixing priesthood keeps its god alive

Industrial Relations Economics

17/06/83 • The Australian Financial Review

Centralised wage-fixing is the creation of jobs for some who would otherwise be unemployed.
A minimum wage is often set so high that it comes the permanent wage of those in the group with employers unwilling to offer more to capable individuals.
Marginal employees such as the young, old, and unskilled are permanently shut out.

Thatcher's Victory

Politics Economics

24/06/83 • Unknown

Two myths were: 1) society has a deep-seated prejudice against women & 2) elections are won by a party that espouses the middle ground.
People voted for hope that the economy would get better
A democratic government can earn the respect of its people by governing for the long term.

BHP

Cronyism Economics

01/07/83 • Unknown

The bigger a company becomes with government intervention, the more damage to an economy it can do.
BHP is seeking a preference over smaller businesses when it comes to subsidies.

Debt

Monetary Policy

08/07/83 • Unknown

Debt adds to the sum of human wellbeing, benefit both borrowers and lenders.
Some governments borrow not to invest but to increase their life style.

Another Premiers' Conference

Politics Budget Taxation

15/07/83 • Unknown

Premiers can make a lot of political trouble for a Prime Minister especially those that are from the same party.
The Prime Minister has become a convenient whipping boy for state politicians that complain about Federal taxes while saying that the Federal Government's stinginess is not helping with their state's expenditures.

The Long Term

Politics Economics

22/07/83 • Unknown

A nation whose economy stagnates will become hard to govern.
Poor growth also compounds political problems that are associated.

Where will the ideas come from?

Politics

29/07/83 • Unknown

Influential thinking is now done outside of universities in independent research foundations.
Each successful foundation has gradually won the support of politicians, media and the community-at-large.
The ideas that sustain a free society are more likely to come from organisations that do not have a vested interest.

Choosing the right index

Economics Industrial Relations

05/08/83 • Unknown

For indexing wages, the right index must be chosen. Lest we get more unemployment.
If the CPI is used to index wages, then we should exclude the effects in terms of trade, taxes and devaluation from it.

A great trading nation

Trade Economics

12/08/83 • Unknown

Countries with small economies must trade with foreigners while citizens of large economies have a range of specialist skills that enable them to trade with each other.
Australia's trade is getting worse over the years.

The Budget

Politics Budget Taxation

19/08/83 • Unknown

A good budget speech is one that discloses various interests at the first reading.
Liberals preach free enterprise but practice socialism.
Families should not be taxed additionally to provide free tertiary education where a student loan would suffice.

Trade Policy Transparency

Protectionism Trade

26/08/83 • Unknown

Tariffs cause job losses and is a tax which few citizens are aware of due to lack of experiences in price comparisons.

To Doug Everingham

Politics

02/09/83 • Unknown

Lack of agreed upon lexicon makes political debate difficult.
An economic stagnant society is an intolerant one.
Economic freedom is intertwined with freedom of the human spirit.

Interest Rates will fall by 2%

Interest Rates

09/09/83 • Unknown

Overseas influences coupled with a need to fund the public deficit and an uncertainty about future inflation caused a small dip and a raise in interest rates.

Drought Aid

Subsidies

16/09/83 • Unknown

Farmers that know how to use the rules and that are in the right position, can benefit from government aid at the expense of the taxpayer and other farmers.
Subsidies creates weakness.

Dumping

Trade Competition

23/09/83 • Unknown

Goods are said to be dumped when they are imported and sold in Australia below current price levels.
Predatory dumping should not be confused with price discrimination.

Peacock's Deakin Lecture

Politics Cronyism

30/09/83 • Unknown

Without political leadership, vested interests will control the Liberal party.
The Deakin lecture lacks credibility as it did not confront the tough choices present.

Who were the Monetarists?

Monetary Policy

07/10/83 • Unknown

Tight monetary controls may not work anymore due to rational cynicism
Neither governments nor central banks are inclined to adopt monetarism

Sex Discrimination

Law

14/10/83 • Unknown

Society discriminates and would not function without doing so.
Legislation fails to distinguish between choice from prejudice
It is not possible to stop rational discrimination by passing laws.
There is an economic cost to discrimination and it is better to let the market dictate.

The Liberal Federal Movement

Politics Leadership

21/10/83 • Unknown

A country's future is dependent on the goals that are chosen by Politicians
To give guarantee for future performance by a politician is like an alcoholic guaranteeing his or her sobriety.
To govern effectively one needs a long-term strategy.

Statutory Marketing Authorities

Protectionism Economics Trade

28/10/83 • Unknown

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.

Their Own Worst Enemies

Economics

04/11/83 • Unknown

The capitalist economy has a better track record than the socialist economy and so there is no need to apologise for it.

Airline Deregulation (11/11/83)

Regulation Subsidies

11/11/83 • Unknown

Deregulation has enabled sharp reductions in the level of subsidies.
The airline industry is no worse off while the consumer and taxpayer is better off.

Westpac to the Martin Committee

Cronyism Regulation Competition

18/11/83 • Unknown

Westpac is caught between asking for continuation of protection from competition but is fearful that the same protection is extended to others.
Labour ought to favour deregulation such as interest rates control as it makes the market more efficient.

Statutory Marketing Authorities

Cronyism Competition

25/11/83 • Unknown

The question most asked is whether statutory marketing authorities are adequately accountable to the various state governments, but the more important question is whether they are competent to market rural Australian produce.
Only competition will make marketing authorities efficient.

The TPC & the IATA Agreement

Monopoly Industrial Relations

02/12/83 • Unknown

The problem with the trade practices commission is that the most serious monopolies are out of its reach.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a price maintenance agreement that allows for cabin crew to share in the monopoly margins through their union.

Sir John Kerr

Politics

09/12/83 • Unknown

Vilification of Sir John Kerr is irrational as he did the best he could and should be judged with more objectivity.

Democracy & Property Rights

Individual Rights Law Politics

16/12/83 • Unknown

Governments when they revoke property rights change the value of whatever underlying property the rights were attached to.
The right to trade one's efforts is as important as a right to free speech and is even more relevant in everyday life.
Many politicians don't understand the principles that they violate and the harm the arises.

Chaney on resource industries

Taxation

23/12/83 • Unknown

A resource rental tax is arbitrary as measuring it is impossible.

Facing 1984

Economics

30/12/83 • Unknown

Productivity may be improved by effort, improved practices or increased capital per worker
Our productivity gains are less than other countries and is not sustainable.

Democratic Imperatives

Politics Business Philosophy

22/05/83 • Sunday Independent

Free enterprise values will only adopted by Australian politics if the public wants the values implemented.

Hayden's Pearls

Politics Fiscal Policy Monetary Policy

12/06/83 • Sunday Independent

Lax fiscal policies lead to tough monetary policies. There should be a balance between sufficient profit and employment. OECD countries need to exercise caution in subsiding trade and trade credits with Eastern European countries.

A Basic Right to Work

Industrial Relations Politics Individual Rights

26/06/83 • Sunday Independent

Trade Unionists, Industrial Judges and Politicians are being unfair to our weakest citizens by denying them their basic human right to sell their own labour.

Budget Headaches - Burke and Hawke

Budget Industrial Relations Politics

10/07/83 • Sunday Independent

The best thing that can be done for the unemployed due to the recession is to reduce the wages of those that are closest to unemployment.

OECD Approach to Unemployment

Industrial Relations Business Politics

24/07/83 • Sunday Independent

Unemployment levels are kept artificially higher than which an employer can hire a potential employee.

17% Holiday Loading

Politics Industrial Relations

07/08/83 • Sunday Independent

Abolition of holiday loading could have been the greatest job creation scheme of it was not set aside due to misguided notions of equity.

Who Is the Most Socialist?

Politics Economics

21/08/83 • Sunday Independent

The ranking correlates with capital payments to the States by the Federal Government. The States have spent the payments increasing the size of state governments instead of compensating the private sector.

A Lesson from Argentina

Economics Politics

04/09/83 • Sunday Independent

Australia and Argentina are similar in many ways. We have not made major mistakes in handling our economy but have been careless about long term growth.
If we mismanage our economy, we will not be able to escape problems similar to what Argentina faced.

The Politics of Hatred

Politics

18/09/83 • Sunday Independent

We need more good-natured reasoned disagreements from our public figures. Disagreements should be made with civil discourse.

A Quiet Revolution

Politics Individual Rights

02/10/83 • Sunday Independent

The fastest way to a freer society in Australia is through the many little things done by the State and Local government, when the people have a taste of freedom, they will demand more.

Hi - Tech Industries

Subsidies

16/10/83 • Sunday Independent

Subsidising some industries at the expense of other isn't ideal but is better than standing in the way of new technology.

Tax, Slender and Privilege

Taxation

30/10/83 • Sunday Independent

Tax avoidance is inequitable other than intended by parliament but isn't illegal. Politicians who use parliamentary privilege to slander the character of those who practice tax avoidance are cowardly.

Interest Rates

Interest Rates Monetary Policy

13/11/83 • Sunday Independent

Any attempt to regulate interest rates down, would be a recessive transfer of wealth from the low-income people to the middle income.

The Legislative Council

Politics Individual Rights

27/11/83 • Sunday Independent

The traditional role of parliament is the protection of the citizen from the government and seems to be often forgotten in these days of disciplined party politics.

Sex Discrimination Legislation

Politics Individual Rights

11/12/83 • Sunday Independent

Senator Susan Ryan's Sex Discrimination Bill makes the fundamental error of not distinguishing between free choice and prejudice.
Employees will be more reluctant to employ women if they fear a third party such as the Human Right Commission stepping into a private employment arrangement.

The John Hyde Archives

1983

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