Hawke and Keating were wrong. There is a strong case for tariffs
The Hawke-Keating-Howard era got rid of tariffs. But in their place, they brought in a range of imposts that never existed before, or at least not to the same degree.
The Hawke-Keating-Howard era is endlessly lauded as the “golden age” of reform in Australia. In no small part, this is because, in a sharp break with the past, our country – on a bipartisan basis – decided to dramatically cut tariffs.
Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that those still around from that period have reacted so negatively to the idea that their approach to trade policy may have been flawed from the beginning.
