People in government relations circles are pretty busy right now. Julia Gillard, when announcing a September election date back in January, said it would allow business and consumers to “plan their year.” Instead, Australians were subjected to the longest (and possibly nastiest) election campaign in our history.
During this time business confidence weakened and consumer confidence took a dive.
Many industries and businesses put their policy ambitions on hold awaiting the inevitable change of government. A new government often revisits the decisions of the previous one, so a spend on government relations activities this year may not have been the wisest investment. The new government is moving quickly in a number of areas, meaning the cogs are starting to turn again for those of us involved in policy setting.
But it feels like Prime Minister Abbott is almost invisible. After being subjected to continuous media coverage of the Rudd/Gillard leadership fracas, Prime Minister Abbott is almost conspicuous by his absence and I’ve got to say, I love it!
I think most of us had grown increasingly disillusioned with politics and had mostly switched off from the process this year, if not over the last 5 years. This would not be lost on the new Coalition government. Even the ALP has taken a lesson from this year, holding a leadership ballot that was calm, measured and polite by any standards. There is a view that Prime Minister Abbott is taking a deliberate, low-key approach to government in order to give everyone – politicians, public servants, business and consumers – some “clear air.” One government relations expert even described the Prime Minister as “hitting the re-set button” on government, in order to counter the hysteria that pervaded politics this year. The media have labeled this a lack of transparency by the government, but I have to say, I am not missing the distractions of the Prime Ministerial revolving door and am feeling more optimistic about the next few months, at least. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says I’m not alone, with business confidence at its highest since December 2010. ACCI’s Survey of Investor Confidence found sales expectations, profitability and the investment outlook rose sharply in September. Consumer confidence also surged after the election and, although it fell in October, it is still relatively high. And while Treasurer Joe Hockey has said he is “…confident we will have a good Christmas, from a retail perspective and an employment perspective,” some companies are reporting that trading conditions are still difficult. What do you think? How are you feeling going into the Christmas period? Are you enjoying the “politics-free zone” at the moment, or feel the government is lacking in transparency?
