Heads-of-Government Summit Institutionalization in Canada & Australia: Economic Liberalization and the Incentive to Cooperate Anthony F. Imbrogno Ph.D Candidate, MEconSc, BA, BComm Department of Political Science McGill University, Montréal, Canada 10 August 2016 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science © Anthony F. Imbrogno 2016 Dedicated to the memory of The Honourable John Charles Bannon, AO, PhD 1943-2015 Premier of South Australia, 1982-1992 Visiting Research Fellow at Flinders University i Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................................ v Résumé .................................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... x List of Figures and Tables .....................................................................................................xiii Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Theory and Methodology ................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 2: .............................................................................................................................................. 13 Theory of Heads-of-Government Summit Institutionalization ................................... 13 Concepts of the Dependent Variable .................................................................................................... 14 Intergovernmental Relations .............................................................................................................. 14 Heads-of-Government Summits .......................................................................................................... 16 Institutionalization .............................................................................................................................. 20 Australia and Canada ............................................................................................................................. 25 Process Tracing ................................................................................................................................... 26 Case Selection ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Theories of HoG Summit Institutionalization ........................................................................................ 36 Political Economy Theory of HoG Summit Institutionalization ............................................................ 45 Australian trade: exporting, and reforming, together ........................................................................ 59 Canadian trade: faceoff between north-south & east-west ............................................................... 70 The Council of Australian Governments ............................................................. 78 Chapter 3: .............................................................................................................................................. 78 The Lucky Country and Microeconomic Reform .............................................................. 78 A ‘Closer Partnership’ ............................................................................................................................. 83 The Lucky Country’s Economy ............................................................................................................... 90 The First Three Hawke Labor Governments .......................................................................................... 97 ii Microeconomic Reform ..................................................................................................................... 102 ‘Turn to Asia’ ..................................................................................................................................... 106 Fiscal restraint and the 1990 Premiers’ Conference ........................................................................... 112 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 120 Chapter 4: ............................................................................................................................................ 122 Why ‘Closer Partnership’ led to COAG ................................................................................. 122 The View from the States ..................................................................................................................... 124 South Australia: leading the way ...................................................................................................... 132 New South Wales: committed reform partner .................................................................................. 136 Victoria: reluctant reformer .............................................................................................................. 142 Queensland and Western Australia: independent but committed reformers .................................. 149 The Special Premiers’ Conferences ...................................................................................................... 153 Brisbane: continuous negotiation engaged ...................................................................................... 153 Sydney: institutional reform on the agenda ..................................................................................... 167 Adelaide Premiers’ Summit ............................................................................................................... 175 The First Keating Labor Government ................................................................................................ 182 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 191 Canadian First Ministers’ ConFerenCes ................................................................... 200 Chapter 5: ............................................................................................................................................ 200 The Other Lucky Country and the AIT ................................................................................. 200 Literature Review on Canadian FMCs .................................................................................................. 203 The Economy of the ‘Other’ Lucky Country ......................................................................................... 213 Reforming the Economic Union ........................................................................................................... 224 The Road to the AIT ........................................................................................................................... 227 Deciding on the AIT’s Mandate ......................................................................................................... 233 Provincial Opposition ........................................................................................................................ 247 Canada’s ‘Closer Partnership’ Moment? ........................................................................................... 257 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 271 Chapter 6: ............................................................................................................................................ 276 Why the AIT failed to institutionalize FMCs ...................................................................... 276 iii The View from the Provinces ............................................................................................................... 278 Alberta and Manitoba: free traders .................................................................................................. 284 Saskatchewan and British Columbia: skeptics .................................................................................. 289 Atlantic Canada and Québec: pragmatists ....................................................................................... 296 Ontario: heartland under pressure ................................................................................................... 303 The Agreement on Internal Trade ....................................................................................................... 314 Regional Development ...................................................................................................................... 326 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................