Reith the reformer should secure business backing

IF ever there was an internal party matter that business should get involved in it is this Saturday's Liberal Party presidential contest.

110617Peter Reith

IF ever there was an internal party matter that business should get involved in it is this Saturday's Liberal Party presidential contest.

Former Howard government minister Peter Reith is challenging former Victorian state treasurer Alan Stockdale for the presidency of the Liberal Party.

Reith is just the sort of organisational president of the Liberal Party business needs: a reformist at heart, tough and prepared to pressure the parliamentary team to seek government in order to achieve outcomes, not just for the sake of attaining power. He is ideologically in tune with business on issues ranging from industrial relations to tax reform.

It isn't that Stockdale is opposed to Reith-style ideas. As Victorian treasurer he was the brains trust behind what Jeff Kennett did to fix the state after the John Cain years. But he doesn't have the clout on the national stage to press policy agendas in the same way Reith does.

It is rare for business to inject itself into internal party matters. But in the lead-up to Saturday, we have already seen senior business figures who have the ear of the federal Liberal council making calls and trying to persuade members to support a change of presidency. More should take up the cause between now and Saturday, because Reith's accession really would lift the economic credentials of the conservatives.

Tony Abbott took over as Howard's workplace relations minister in late 2000 -- gaining his promotion into cabinet -- when Reith was reshuffled sideways into defence following on from his son's unfortunate misuse of a government-funded telecard. The scandal precipitated Reith's decision to walk away from a parliamentary career, killing off his political ambitions before time.

Hated by the Labor Party, Reith provided the ideological ballast Liberals needed early in the life cycle of the Howard years. From waterfront reform to the first round of industrial relations reforms negotiated with the Australian Democrats, Reith balanced ideological zeal with pragmatic political tendencies. He knew how to keep an open door to business, but not blindly follow their suggestions.

When Liberals were selling GST reforms, Reith was an important player behind the scenes. He had been burnt once on tax reform during the Hewson years in opposition: selling a GST as shadow treasurer and paying the political price in the aftermath of defeat. This meant he was not a prominent at selling the GST in the 1998 election and afterwards, but that's not to say he wasn't a key driver behind the scenes. If there is one significant concern about an Abbott prime-ministership it is that he is no friend of business. An old fashion DLP man from way back, Abbott could just as easily have joined the Labor Party as the Liberal Party. Once in government -- and let's face it the polls suggest it is just a matter of time -- many Liberals worry Abbott wouldn't focus on economic reform as much as he should.

Abbott has admitted economics doesn't particularly interest him and while Labor likes to try to tar Abbott with the Work Choices brush, the truth is he was one of the members of cabinet warning against radical IR reform ahead of the 2007 election. Business is now arguing for a fresh embrace of IR reform in the face of concerns with the Fair Work Act, yet you can

bet Abbott won't have the

bottle to support such steps.

True liberals in the Liberal Party, such as Joe Hockey, Jamie Briggs and Andrew Robb, who are quietly pressing for IR reform, need the backing of a strong figure like Reith as party president to ensure Abbott doesn't just see winning the next election as about throwing Labor out of office.

Taking important reforming steps once in power will be important if the current generation of Liberal leaders want to avoid a repeat of the Fraser years: the last time a Liberal government took over from a Labor outfit that failed in government.

Abbott needs a figure such as Reith running the party organisation to remind him what his priorities should be. One role Reith would nicely slot into is to remind business the Liberal Party should be their natural choice.