Liberal Party of Australia and Interests of Business

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The issue of business support in countries where liberal governments are leading is a burning issue for businessmen and stakeholders, as their incomes and general business strategies depend on the actions which governments perform and on the support of business by the government. This essay will examine the support of business interests by the Liberal Party of Australia, emphasizing that the general actions performed by the heads of this party should be analyzed through the observation of their adequacy and effectiveness. The paper will look at the actions and conclusions, made by different governments and bodies headed by the representatives of the Liberal Party, and the adequacy of these actions will be regarded in the context of support of business interests. The fact is that liberal governments have often had to restrict business rights for adequate business regulation. During John Howard’s leadership, the party was particularly interventionist in its financial and business policy regulations, as it maintained Australia’s high tariff levels.

Firstly, it should be stated that the main principle of governmental activity of the Australian (and not only Australian) liberal movement is to have a considerable influence over the national economy and government’s economic policies. Nevertheless, it should be stated that all the actions, which Liberal Party undertakes, are essentially conservative from the social point of view, consequently, small business is not thoroughly supported. On the one hand, the taxation issues are easier to regulate, on the other hand, these actions can not be regarded as adequate measures of business regulation. As Wright (2007, p.51) emphasizes:

“The general principles espoused by the Liberal Party in its platform include: free enterprise, support for the business community, individual choice, reward for individual effort, federalism, smaller government, defense, the family, and a limited welfare safety net.”

In light of this fact, it should be emphasized that business regulation is generally regarded to be the prerogative of governmental sector, while private business is not regarded to be the important sphere for the Liberal Party.

As for the matters of small business regulation and support, it should be stated that most of these issues were essentially debated by the legislative council. Originally, it is stated (Moran, 2008, p. 380) that the Minister of Small Business failed to represent the interests of the small business sector within the government, and, the liberal government also failed to establish and implement an effective policy platform to advance the small business sector. On the one hand it may be explained by the fact that liberals do not extensively support small business, as, according to liberal policies and regulations, small business distracts attention from more important economic spheres. Consequently, Small Business Ministry is not seriously interested in developing this sector. The business confidence of the small business policies are regarded to be the worst developed in the sphere of Victorian and West Australian state governments. Moran (2008, p. 364) states the following notion on this consideration:

“…I expressed concerns about the Bracks Government’s (Steve Bracks is the 44th Premier of Victoria, holding the position for eight years, from 1999 to 2007.) failure to support small business in the ACTU redundancy test case, to address costly delays in local government planning decisions and the trend in Government legislation to extend rights of entry to a wider range of department and government agency representatives”.

From this point of view, it should be stated that the adequacy of the Liberal party in the sphere of business support might be seriously doubted, as successful development of business is hard to imagine without small business support. It is the most vulnerable sphere of business, and requires essential governmental support for successful development.

Another action which defines the attitude of Liberal Party towards business is the Shop Trading Reform. Originally, this reform was the attempt to correct the failure of Bracks Government, and its Easter Sunday shutdown concession aimed at arranging the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees organization (Dana, 2005). Legislation is regarded here as the improvement action, which was aimed at encouraging the development of small business: it permitted the development of private chemists, petrol stations and cafes, restaurants and coffee shops as of right trading. Moreover, as Pike (2007, p. 218) emphasises, the small businesses with less then 20 employees were treated with specific conditions and privileges:

“Liberal Small Business Ministry also encouraged to open Easter Sunday, Good Friday, Christmas Day and up to 1pm on ANZAC Day. A clause is included that allows retailers to elect whether or not they open, voiding any existing lease obligation on those days. The legislation also provides for the enforcement of trading hours legislation by a new inspectorate rather than by the police. The new inspectors are expected to be Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors.”

Taking this fact into consideration, it should be stated that the representation of business interests through issuing reform bills is not the most adequate regulation measure. While it provides and encourages the development of small business, such encouragement entails the prohibition of small private shops. According to Wijewardena and Tibbits (2005, p. 234), this measure is one of the most adequate; nevertheless, it is not thoroughly planned and implemented, as the privileges of running the business which is encouraged are not clearly stated in the Bill. Business interests in the circumstances of globalization are also subjected to spreading in the global scales; consequently, all the regulations and support of business interests should take into consideration the matters of foreign capitals. However, Liberal Party is not interested in attracting foreign capitals, making accent on developing domestic business (without taking into consideration the interests of small business).

The following action, which may be considered as the business regulation act is the Professional Standards Bill. Originally, it touches upon the matters of business only indirectly, nevertheless, it is aimed at regulating the issues of economic loss for the firms and companies which are the members of professional or trade association. As Wright (2007, p. 78) emphasizes:

“The Bill is expected to improve the insurance market as it will provide more certainty to insurers in regard to their exposure to claims. The bill is template legislation which is being progressively enacted in all states and it establishes a national independent professional standards council to supervise association schemes. Schemes can run up to five years but the council will have the power to cancel, vary or extend them.”

Initially, the liberal party aimed to support this legislative act; nevertheless, a concern was expressed, stating that industry associations should not be granted the opportunity of using the privileges of membership in similar organizations, as originally, this creates the essential barrier for the newcomers in the industry.

The fact is that, all the actions by political bodies are stipulated by the principles and rules, stated in the program. Liberal Party of Australia entails the following points of supporting the interests of business:

Promotion of higher and more professional business standards for encouraging the appearing of business unions and associations
Providing policies for simplifying the public use of credits
Establishment of the uniform and united statistic rates and all the necessary information on the matters of insurance
Maintenance of the integrity of the local market of commerce
Encouragement of using the goods and services of the domestic market
Providing all the necessary legislative support for achieving the set up goals (Moran, 2008, p. 175)

Originally it should be state that the business interests are supported not only by the Liberal party, and in spite of the fact that Liberals in Australia are interested in supporting these interest, they do not take adequate actions for providing the defense of these interests in the legislative and governmental spheres. All the actions, performed by liberals discourage the development of small business and in no way support the interests of private business. All the privileges, offered to private entrepreneurs are suitable for those who are participating in business alliances; however, this participation essentially discourages the active business performance of the newcomers.

Anyway, the highest value of any business regulation is the opportunity of fair trade and fair play on the market. Taking into consideration the described steps of defending the interests of business, it should be stated that the actions by liberal party can not be regarded as adequate. On the one hand, the principles of fair trade and fair play are not diminished; nevertheless, the principles of privileges and favoritism are blooming.

According to the national statistics, up to two thirds of small business entrepreneurs, who are not participating in business association, are close to quitting business activity, while joining these associations is dangerous with the takeover of their business. Moreover, it should be stated that neither party is going to restructure this model of private business development, as this would require the restructuring of taxation regulation. On the other hand, entrepreneurs will not provide essential support on the elections; consequently, parties are not aiming to defend their interests. Especially this may be said of the Liberal party, which already has a broad support within the Australian population. (Moran, 2008, p. 184)

Conclusion

The paper looked at the actions, performed by Liberal Party, the governments, headed by the representatives of the Liberals and the bodies, headed by them. These actions were analised in the context of supporting the interests of business sphere, thus, there is strong necessity to emphasize that the defense and support of business interests is just not within the prime interests of the population of Australia. Consequently, the Liberal party, as well as any other, is not going to pay much attention to these issues and provide the adequate and allover support of private business, and encourage its extensive development.

References

Dana, Leo Paul. 2005 “The Spirit of Entrepreneurship and the Commonwealth Government of Australia.” Journal of Small Business Management 26.1: 63

Moran, Anthony. 2008 Australia: Nation, Belonging, and Globalization. New York: Routledge.

Pike, Douglas. 2007 Australia: The Quiet Continent. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Wijewardena, Hema, and Garry E. Tibbits. 2005 “Factors Contributing to the Growth of Small Manufacturing Firms: Data from Australia.” Journal of Small Business Management 37.2: 88

Wright, and Deborah Ralston. 2007 “The Lagging Development of Small Business Internet Banking in Australia.” Journal of Small Business Management 40.1: 51

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Liberal Party of Australia and Interests of Business

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