Not without reservations

摘要

When the non government members of the prime minister's manufacturing taskforce delivered their report last August, all bar two recommendations were given in-principle support. A sovereign wealth fund and a gas reservation policy were two possible ways that the beleaguered manufacturing sector, suffering under high energy and labour costs and the strong Australian dollar, could be offered relief; both were immediately dismissed. Neither side of politics currently supports a reservation scheme. Kicked along by high-profile manufacturing executives (especially those with high energy needs), union leaders and others, arguments regarding a reservation policy came up regularly in the second half of the year.