The Industries Assistance Commission and the Making of Primary Industry Policy

Abstract

: The Industries Assistance Commission has been a new ingredient to the policymaking process for Australian primary industry. The traditional process contained a number of features — close association with the Country Party, Federal/State bargaining, a powerful Department of Primary Industry and myriad non‐departmental authorities — which together led to policies which were ad hoc, complicated and often based on social rather than economic criteria. The Whitlam government, with the support of the Liberal Party, but against the opposition of the Country Party, included the examination of assistance to primary industry within the scope of the IAC. Advising on primary industry was a special challenge for the IAC. The Commission devoted considerable energies to expanding its own resources into this field and establishing working relations with other institutions working in this area. Since 1974 about a sixth of the IAC's resources have been devoted to inquiries into primary industries, though the workload has decreased in recent years. The consequence of the IAC's entry into the field has meant primarily that other actors in the process, such as State departments and industry organisations have had to supplement their own resources by the employment of professional agricultural economists to write their submissions. The style of debate has been indelibly altered. This, rather than the direct impact of the IAC's recommendations on assistance to primary industries, stands as the new institution's greatest achievement.

Antipodean agricultural and resource economics at 60: agricultural adjustment

“…The style of debate has been indelibly altered. This, rather than the direct impact of the IAC's recommendations on assistance to primary industries, stands as the new institution's greatest achievement’ (Warhurst , p. 15).…”

Rural Adjustment Schemes: Juggling Politics, Welfare and Markets

“…By the 1970s, rural policy was being formulated in the context of economy wide policy and was moving away from industry-by-industry support. The rural policy green paper and the formation of the Industries Assistance Commission signalled the injection of increased economic rationality into the policy debate (Warhurst 1982). This trend continued through the 1980s and 1990s as statutory marketing schemes were dismantled, regulation removed and, as a result of general macro-economic policy, the sector was further exposed to the international economy.…”

Associative Deadlocks and Transformative Capacity: Engaging in Australian Organic Farm Industry Development

“…Policy dimensions of organic farming are particularly under-researched; 5 with the only real emphasis being on discussion of certification schemes and implications for the power of farmers in supply chains. This is in strong contrast with scholarship in the farm sector more 4 The figure cited is that Australia accounts for only 1.6% of the country's total agricultural land area and falls below the 2.4% average of OECD countries (Pillarisetti 2002). generally, within which fine-grained analysis of the relationships and capacities of the state and associative structures is longstanding and well-established (see, for instance, Warhurst 1982;Lawrence 1987;Connors 1996;Halpin 2005). This omission also extends more generally to infant industries in agriculture and other primary sectors.…”