5 APRIL to 3 MAY 2011 14 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 LETTER FROM CANBERRA LETTERSaving you time. ThreeFROM years on. After Letter from Melbourne,CANBERRA established 1994. Saving you time. Three years on. After Letter from Melbourne, established 1994. AFFAIRS OF STATE P 03 9654 1300 A monthly newsletter distilling public policy and government decisions which affect business opportunities in Australia and beyond. A monthly newsletter distilling public policy and government decisions which affect business opportunities in Australia and beyond. F 03 9654 1165 A PUBLIC AFFAIRS FIRM E [email protected] W affairs.com.au Lobbying 101 Getting what you want for your community or organisation. The change of government might bring new NOT FOR PROFITS opportunities. Perhaps the chance for a new BUSINESSES approach by your team to a new team. INDIVIDUALS A training course on lobbying and communication. INTEREST GROUPS A one-day, interactive workshop educating and training you so that you can more easily clarify perspectives and achieve your objectives with government and stakeholders. Designed specifically for your team. Stakeholder Relations Advocacy Toolkit Planning Your Strategy Timeframes The Messages Campaign Management The Targets The Law and Ethics FLEXIBLE TIMING FLEXIBLE LOCATION PRICE BY NEGOTIATION presented by ALISTAIR URQUHART Alistair Urquhart is Managing Director of independent public affairs firm Affairs of State , which operates in Melbourne, Canberra and beyond. He works with businesses large and small, professional associations and industry groups on a wide range of issues. He also publishes two monthly public policy digests, Letter From Melbourne and Letter From Canberra, and various state and federal government charts and directories. Alistair graduated from the Australian National University in Canberra in Law, History and Politics and is a (non-practicing) member of the Law Institute. Before that, he graduated from high school in Washington DC. He turned to professional government relations after voluntarily lobbying for a variety of causes over many years. He is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Australian Institute of Public Administration. Pre-Budget Edition Also ask about 5 April to 3 May 2011 Issue 33 Lobbying 102 For people and organisations to finesse their existing skills. INSIDE plus... Pages 9 - 12 Latest Roy Morgan findings including real unemployment, airline satisfaction, car buying intentions INSIDE Carbon tax debate brings out details Defense leaders exchange views Contact [email protected] or phone 03 9654 1300 for Up-comingCarbon tax debateBudget bringsdetails out already details ANZ’Defense Smith leaders critical exchange of Gillard views more information and pricing. Up-coming Budget details already ANZ’ Smith critical of Gillard Refugee challenges details Finessing financial adviser industry NBN shock. Stakeholders challenging Finessing uniform national 16 Swan No to Singapore ASX bid work safe laws Chubb new Chief Scientist 5 APRIL to 3 MAY 2011 14 Collins Street Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia EDITORIAL: P 03 9654 1300 F 03 9654 1165 Our very busy political year. Challenges for the PM. [email protected] www.letterfromcanberra.com.au The big issues are the challenges that the Prime Minister commenced the year with, and most of which remain Editor Alistair Urquhart unresolved. The carbon tax, the refugees issues, the NBN (lots of interesting ‘little’ details coming out there) and Associate Editor Gabriel Phipps the mining tax. The PM’s developing role in our foreign affairs is keeping most of us very interested. Subscription Manager Juliette Biegler Advertising Manager Tony McAdam Editorial Consultant Rick Brown Unemployment is appearing as an issue, in particular the debate as to whether it is high or low, on which figures. Design Camilla Orr-Thomson The Budget is being drip-fed to us before Tuesday 10 May at about 7pm, which annual Budget Night is one of those several touch-stones on the political calendar. Very importantly so this year. Letter From Canberra is focused on the interface The Royal Wedding shows how the Brits do things, including big events. Time for an important reflection by all of business and government, with enough politics of us about where we have come from in the past several hundred years, with the society and the system of and bureaucracy to understand the, if any, relevant government that we have in Australia. Without even getting into the republican debate. business opportunities. Our cover includes the five buildings that have housed the national parliament of Australia over 111 years. Before We have been publishing Letter from Canberra’s the Federation of Australia on 5 May 1901, Westminster was responsible for the colonial parliaments. sister publication Letter from Melbourne, a public policy digest, for 16 years. Commencing with The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne was the site of the first the Kennett era corporatisation and privatisation sitting of Federal parliament. In Section 125 of the Australian of energy and other utilities and the other fresh Constitution, it states that ‘The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne broom approach of a new government, where we focused on business opportunities. Increasingly, until it meet at the seat of Government’. The Victorian Parliament we included matters in the other states and House was, in fact, where Federal Parliament sat until 1927 (the adopted a more federal focus. Victorian Parliament met at the Royal Exhibition Building). (Old or) Provisional Parliament House was opened by the Duke and The recent change in federal government opens Duchess of York in Canberra on 9 May 1927, a temporary structure up new business opportunities, particularly the until New Parliament House, on Capital Hill, was opened by Queen government’s new emphasis on climate change, Elizabeth 11 on 9 May 1988. carbon trading, water, industrial relations, education, information technology and the Lindsay Tanner’s new book Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy. traditional sectors. You will have my review next month. For many years, our other publications have included the well-known federal government This edition is a little smaller, covering just 30 days and no federal Departmental Wall Chart (NOW AVAILABLE at 03 parliamentary sitting days. 9654 1300 or www.affairs.com.au). We conduct seminars and informal luncheons and meetings in Only two coffees to read this. Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. Most people have their clipping services and a range of email products/newsletters/etc. At the end of the month, Letter from Canberra gives a broad overview of what has been going on, not just in one industry but across all industries and INDEX the world of business and government generally. IN APPROXIMATE ORDER OF INTEREST OVER THE PAST MONTH Objective. Independent. Read it on the plane. Or at a coffee shop in New York. And then give it to a GOVERNANCE 3 BUSINESS 10 friend who is interested in Australia. CARBON TAX 4 DEFENCE 12 CLIMATE CHANGE. ENVIRONMENT. 5 EDUCATION 12 To subscribe, please visit www.affairs.com.au IMMIGRATION. REFUGEES 6 INFRASTRUCTURE. TRANSPORT 13 FOREIGN AFFAIRS 6 JUSTICE 13 ECONOMY. TAX. BUDGET 7 HEALTH 13 BROADBAND & IT 8 SOCIETY 14 Published by A.B Urquhart & Company Pty Ltd trading as Affairs of State. Disclaimer: Material in this publication is general INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS. EMPLOYMENT 9 AGRICULTURE & WATER 15 comment and not intended as advice on any particular matter. Professional advice should be sought before action is taken. Material is complied from various sources including newspaper articles, press releases, government publications, Hansard, trade journals, etc. © This newsletter is copyright. No part may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, WANTED. SENSIBLE UNIVERSITY STUDENT, MAYBE WITH photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written A BACKGROUND IN POLITICS OR LAW, INTERESTED IN A permission from the publisher. Affairs of State respects your privacy. While we do believe that the information contained in PART-TIME INTERNSHIP. PLEASE CONTACT. Letter from Melbourne will be useful to you, please advise us if you do not wish to receive any further communications from us. 03 9654 1300 OR [email protected] 2 LETTER FROM CANBERRA GOVERNANCE A. Sheridan said that Rudd had subtly but effectively from the federal government, a rate second only to managed to undermine successor Julia Gillard, who that of the Northern Territory. The fact that Tasmania All Labor, no party had last year been opposed to Rudd’s own emissions produces very little in the way of resources, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s trip to Queensland in trading scheme. receives almost 70 per cent of its budget from federal early April, which was supposed to help win votes, funding, has fostered ‘the sentiment that the island was tarnished by fighting within the Labor party, Switzer slam is bludging off the rest of the nation.’ Denholm also according to The Australian’s Michael McKenna. The Peter Switzer, television host and occasional quoted Troy Harper, chairman of the peak Tasmanian events McKenna singled out included the withdrawal columnist, wrote a scathing opinion article in The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who said that of Anthony Chisolm as a candidate for the ALP’s Australian that slammed politicians’ handling of Tasmania was ‘a mendicant state and should grow up national secretary (see next article for final results), small business issues throughout Australia. He made and take responsibility for ourselves, or else surrender local Labor brawling, and Kevin Rudd’s show- reference to the New South Wales Labor Party’s its statehood.’ stealing visit to Queensland with foreign dignitaries recent electoral thrashing, lamenting that nobody and performance on the ABC’s Q and A. knew who successive Small Business Ministers were Labor finds policies taxing in the because they hadn’t made any positive changes polls ALP’s internal woes during their time in office.