Coronavirus: coal-fired power, health system key to future: John Howard

John Howard has urged Australia not to abandon resources and energy productions.

‘The orderly response, the mercifully small number of deaths and the resilience of our health system are all remarkable examples of the strength of the Australian model,’ former prime minister John Howard said. Picture: Rohan Thomson

John Howard says Australia should not abandon resources and energy production, including coal, and must preserve its health system, which strikes a “sweet spot” between the US and European models, as it develops post-COVID-19 reforms.

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, the former prime minister also warned against increasing taxation or allowing government intervention in corporate failures and said there should not be a retreat on privatisation in moves to restart the economy.

Mr Howard praised the global success of the Australian model in dealing with the coronavirus, but said policies and values that had worked well should not be abandoned during the reform process to address the first government-induced recession triggered by a pandemic.

Mr Howard said it was important that “you hang on to the things that work”.

The former prime minister, who introduced reforms to the waterfront, the unemployment benefit, consumption tax, border protection, banking, gun control and industrial relations during 11 years in government, declared there was a need for “vigorous debate” after the COVID-19 crisis phase.

But he said there should neither be a return to old arguments nor an attempt to start everything anew.

“Obviously it’s too early to declare victory,” he said. “But, on the evidence to date, Australia has handled this terrible crisis better than many Australians would have dared to think and far better than many countries with which it is fair to make a comparison.

“The orderly response, the mercifully small number of deaths and the resilience of our health system are all remarkable examples of the strength of the Australian model.

“One of the most important messages we have to take out of this crisis is that we have done it well and we should be very proud of our institutions.”

Mr Howard urged the retention of private health insurance and the hospital system, and co-operative federation between the states and the commonwealth.

“The federation has a lot of weaknesses but it’s not broken and proved to be remarkably co-operative,” he said. “We have a very effectiv­e health system and what comes through very, very strongly is the seamless co-operation between­ the public and the private.

“I have argued for a long time that, on health, Australia has found the sweet spot between the laissez-faire indifference of the American system and the overly paternalistic, stultifying grip of the systems in many parts of Europe.”

On mining and energy, Mr Howard said the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy was “a brutal reminder to us of just how important our energy resources are and they will be fundamental to our economic recovery”.

“How anyone could possibly argue that somehow we have to ­reduce our reliance on our great export industries as a deliberate government policy has to be out of their mind,” he said.

“It is one of the great assets providence has given us.”

He said the energy and resources sector and a strong economy put Australia in a better position than most countries.

Mr Howard argued strongly against increasing taxes to pay the bill for the pandemic.

“I am not in favour of increasing taxation,” he said. “If everybody starts arguing that the way out of this inevitable recession is to increase tax then they don’t understand economics and they don’t understand the mood and temper of the Australian people”.

He nominated Australia’s egalitarian attitude as a strength of our system and warned against “reimagining” the economy.

“The egalitarian nature of Australian society has seen a ready assumption of the notion of shared responsibility and shared sacrifice,” he said.

He strongly supported the flat-rate JobKeeper payment of $1500 a fortnight for people who lost their jobs because of pandemic shutdowns, regardless of income.

“That to me was a no-brainer because that’s the way you would do it in Australia,” he said.

“Sure, you have a progressive tax system. But the flat payment reinforces the view that this is what everyone’s in.”

As demonstrations spread across the US against restrictions on work and movement, Mr Howard said it was important people saw that rules were universal.

“The last thing you need when a government is appealing to the population to exercise self-­discipline and make sacrifices for the common good is an automatic response from sections of the community that this is only going to apply to me and doesn’t apply to somebody else,” he said.

“Generally we haven’t had that because essentially the egalitarian nature of our society has meant that people have accepted them.”

Mr Howard said there had been mistakes in handling the corona­virus crisis and there were criticisms of the government. He understood the role of Anthony Albanese as Opposition Leader in making criticism, keeping the oppositio­n relevant and holding the government to account.

“I want a vigorous debate about how we handle the next few months,” he said. “I want a vigorous debate about what measures are adopted. But I don’t want this feeling that we have to change or reimagine the future as some people­ are suggesting.”

Scott Morrison has refused to be drawn on specific reforms or the role of the national cabinet as he concentrates on the pandemic crisis but said the government would look at policies and institutions with “fresh eyes”.

Mr Albanese and Labor’s Treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, have both called for an imaginative look at reforms and not to stick to old rules and ways. Mr Albanese is concerned that the government will use the crisis to allow changes to awards that will undermine workers and give tax cuts to business and high-income earners.