OECD says Australia needs reforms
The Australian government needs to reform policies immediately if the country's economy is to continue growing strongly, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
The Paris-based group said, in a report issued today, that Australia's extensive reform programme had been “remarkable” and was still producing benefits. However “the pace of reform has recently not been as strong as it could have been”. It said improvements were needed in competition policy, industrial relations, taxation, infrastructure services, the health and welfare system and education and training if Australia was to sustain its economic growth. Many of the OECD's recommendations echoed those put to John Howard's centre-right coalition by Australian business groups in the run-up to the federal budget in May.
The OECD's concerns included Australia's high marginal tax rates, low tax thresholds and “distorting” state taxes which it said were uncompetitive by international standards. The country's industrial relations also needed reform “to increase the flexibility of the labour market, reduce employment transaction costs and achieve a closer link between wages and productivity”.
Since the research for the report was done, the government has backed some of the reforms suggested by the OECD, such as the introduction of criminal penalties for price-fixing and bid rigging, which were announced by Peter Costello, the treasurer, yesterday. However, the government is unlikely to support the report's recommendations on promoting competition for Telstra before selling its 51 per cent stake in the telecommunications company.
The OECD, like the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said Telstra “should be required to divest its cable network and its shareholding in a major pay-TV supplier”, Foxtel. While Mr Howard has resisted calls for a thorough review of healthcare, the OECD warned that the projected long-term rise in health costs in Australia was unusually rapid by international comparisons.
Australian productivity levels were also well below those in many other OECD countries, as were participation rates among some population groups. The report said: “Maintaining high per capita income growth will become harder to achieve as the large ‘baby boomer' generation progressively moves into older working age brackets.” However, international comparisons of employment ratios, participation rates and structural unemployment suggested there was “ample room for raising labour inputs in Australia. It is especially important to improve incentives to join the labour force in the first place and remain in it.” While Australian education levels had improved “remarkably”, literacy levels still remained low compared with other OECD countries, while drop-out rates in secondary education remained high.
OECD：澳大利亚需立即经济改革
如果澳大利亚经济想继续强劲增长，该国政府就需要立即进行政策改革，经济合作与发展组织(OECD)表示。
总部在巴黎的经合组织在今天发布的一份报告中说，澳大利亚的大范围改革计划一直很“出色”，并且仍在使澳大利亚受益。但“近期改革的步伐没有达到应该达到的水平”。该组织表示，如果澳大利亚想要保持其经济增长，就需要在竞争政策、产业关系、税收、基础设施服务、卫生福利系统以及教育和培训等方面加以改进。澳政府5月份即将公布联邦预算，国内各企业团体对约翰?霍华德(John Howard)所领导的中右联盟提出了一些建议。经合组织的建议中有许多与前者相一致。
经合组织担忧的内容包括澳大利亚较高的边际税率、低起征点以及“扭曲”的州税。经合组织表示，以国际标准衡量，这些是没有竞争力的。澳大利亚的产业关系也需要改革，“以增加劳动力市场的弹性，减少就业交易成本，并在工资与生产率之间形成更紧密的联系”。
自从为该报告进行的调查完成以来，澳大利亚政府已支持实施了经合组织建议的一些改革，比如国库部长彼得?科斯特洛(Peter Costello)昨天宣布，将对价格操纵和串通投标等施以刑事处罚。但在澳政府售出它在澳洲电信(Telstra)的51%股份前，它不大可能支持报告中关于加大这家电信公司竞争的建议。
与澳大利亚竞争和消费者委员会(Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)一样，经合组织表示，“应当要求”澳洲电信“剥离其有线网络和它在主要付费电视供应商福克斯澳讯(Foxtel)中的持股”。尽管霍华德先生抵制了对保健事业进行彻底审查的呼吁，但经合组织仍然警告说，与国际上相比，预测澳大利亚保健成本的长期上升是异乎寻常的快。
