The first year

And then there is Labor’s plan to censor the internet. The government claims it will protect children, but clearly the only real effect will be to slow Internet download speeds.

But perhaps the most disappointing decision, as most economists will agree, is the plan to pour billions of dollars into propping up the car industry. The Rudd Government’s policy does not compare favourably to the records of the Hawke and Howard governments. While Hawke and Howard reduced levels of protection, the Rudd Government is heavily increasing industry assistance and leaving overall levels of protection at roughly the same level.

Kevin Rudd has implemented a plethora of reviews, enquiries and commissions to deal with rising prices and other perceived problems aimed at making his government look good. Policies such as FuelWatch and GROCERYchoice have involved little more than setting up websites to monitor prices.

On the current worldwide economic crisis, Rudd has “declared war” on unemployment, met with business leaders for a “war cabinet” and spun his protectionist policies as helping Australia through the current economic downturn. Meanwhile, the bank deposit guarantee was a cure which was worse than the disease it purported to fix. Kevin Rudd and his government are far more concerned with spin than substance.

This leads to further unflattering comparisons with the Hawke and Howard governments. In its first year, the Hawke government produced the first accord, and also floated the Australian dollar, in what many commentators have described as the most important microeconomic reform in Australia over the past 30 years. This decision may not have been popular, but the Hawke government was more concerned about the national interest than short-term populism.

Similarly, when the Howard government was elected to office it introduced a wave of industrial relations reforms, courageously introduced gun controls and legislated to privatise one-third of Telstra as soon as it found a way of passing it through the Senate.

By contrast, when Kevin Rudd lists his achievements to date, they will be a lot less substantial. Rudd will be able to list saying “sorry”, signing Kyoto, GROCERYchoice and his failed attempt to introduce FuelWatch.

Another critique of the Rudd Government arises from the fatal contradictions in its policies, which make a mockery of its agenda:

• The government has consistently talked about the need to have high productivity, yet has abolished the creation of new AWA’s, supported protectionist policies and is set to introduce an emissions trading scheme.
• While the government is intent on subsidising the car industry, it has increased taxation on luxury cars.
• The government has talked about the need for and benefits of free trade, yet invested billions on protecting the car industry.
• While Kevin Rudd promised to tackle inflation (another thing he declared war on) and pledged to help lower prices, an emissions trading scheme will inevitably increase the cost of many items.
• Kevin Rudd promised to tackle housing affordability and has announced record increases in migration.
• The government wants to spend billions on speeding up the Internet but also wants to introduce an Internet filter to slow it down.
• While Kevin Rudd always talks about making the “tough decisions” the simple fact is that his government is still yet to make one. The toughest one yet was to means-test the baby bonus by denying access to 2 per cent of parents. Which is not so tough considering a majority of Australians are in favour of means-testing the bonus.

While there’s always some degree of contradiction in any government set of policies, the Rudd Government’s are too numerous, and have the effect of making them a motley collection of priorities, many canceling each other out.

The polls show that the Rudd Government has been good at exploiting public misunderstandings for its own political benefit. The record shows that in terms of policy, it has so far made a lacklustre start.