Billionaire Gerry Harvey: nation’s day of reckoning ‘inevitable’

Prominent retailer Gerry Harvey says Australia has the worst energy and industrial relations policies in the world, but is still doing well; however, whoever wins the election we still face a daunting black hole of debt when the reckoning comes. And it will.

Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey.

Self-made billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey is not even bothering worrying about minority government, a hung parliament or some mishmash of Greens and teals calling the shots after the election, warning a “day of reckoning will come” no matter who is in charge as we rush into a black hole of debt fuelled by the worst energy and industrial relations policies in the world.

Mr Harvey, who co-founded the Harvey Norman retail chain that has hundreds of stores across Australia, Asia and Europe, said if Australia were a publicly listed company he wouldn’t buy shares in it, in fact he would probably short it, as the nation is inflicted with decades of governments that have done nothing to improve the economy but are instead lazily relying on the “lucky country” to sustain our wealth and living standards.

“Well, the thing is the history of government in Australia in the last 20 years is pathetic, and it can’t get much worse. You’ve got an energy policy that’s been, over the last 20 years, completely stuffed up, our energy policy in Australia is probably one of the worst in the world,” Mr Harvey told The Australian.

“So you look at that, and then you look at our industrial relations problems, again, we would be up among the worst in the world. But then you look at our standard of living and it is among the best in the world so you have got this strange situation – how does Australia keep going so well?

“How do we do so well, doing so many things so badly?

“What has the government done in the last 20 years that’s been good? You can nearly say we don’t need a government, we’re doing well without it, we might be better off. The whole thing in Australia is the engine room is small business right across Australia, that’s the engine room, small business, as well as commodities and agriculture.

“And so we live off iron ore and coal and agriculture, we are just the lucky country in that we’ve got all these things to carry us through it.”

Mr Harvey’s scathing comments come as the business community braces for an election campaign that could start as early as Sunday if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pulls the trigger for an April vote. Mr Harvey describes the upcoming federal campaign as a contest between “who can spend the most money”.

Many corporate leaders, investment professionals and business figures are concerned about the growing chances of no clear election winner, raising the prospect of a minority government or the Labor Party relying on a coalition of Greens, teals and independents, which could stymie much-needed economic reform.

But Mr Harvey remains pessimistic no matter who is charge.

“It’s an interesting situation, because if you look at Australia as a business, you’d say, oh dear, you don’t run it very well. But could you run it better? You couldn’t possibly run it any worse.

“So if the teals get in, or the Labor Party get back in, or the Liberal Party gets in, I think business will just keep going the way it is,” he said.

However, a “day of reckoning” will come, he added.

“But one day, yes, it will be a day of reckoning. Is it a year away, or is it five years or 10 years? But one day we, can’t repay the debt, the debt that we’ve got. It’s impossible, the way we run it.

“So then the day of reckoning, you’ve got to figure out when that is, and as it approaches, whoever it is in charge at the time, whoever is government, they will just print more money.

“So you go further into the black hole.”

Perpetual CEO Bernard Reilly, who runs one of Australia’s oldest financial institutions, was concerned about the impact of a hung parliament on vital decision-making and economic reform.

“The experience in the past with hung parliaments or minority governments has been that it really does slow down decision-making, it makes it hard for business to get on with running business. So I think it would be a challenge for the business community if we end up with a hung parliament.

“And it wouldn’t be great for the economy, because you really need decisive decision-making in being able to manage the trajectory of inflation, the regulatory environment and the economy.”

Originally published as Billionaire Gerry Harvey: nation’s day of reckoning ‘inevitable’