AUSTRALIA'S MARGARET THATCHER MOMENT

Margaret Thatcher came to power in the UK on the 28th March 1979. It did so on the back of a decade of dysfunctional government policies driven by militant trade unions which, bit by bit, destroyed British industry. I know. My family was there and ultimately emigrated as a result. My father was a chief plannng engineer with Rolls Royce aero engines and played an important role in the development of the RB211 engine which powered the Boeing 747. My uncle (his twin) ran the foundry which manufactured the blades you see inside the cowling at the front of the engine.

Rolls Royce became bankrupt or close to, and a generation of skilled engineers, including my family, were asked to take (very) early retirement. Skills lost for ever.

I recall clearly the tales of their frustration with the destruction of their workplace by union organisers. The impact destroyed their careers and the company as it then was. This was an era where British steelmakers were forced to buy British coking coal even though it was more expensive and British car manufactures had to buy British steel, even though it was more expensive.

Not only were inputs more costly, but productivity was low. These industries, and the jobs and families they supported were forced out of business, and ultimately only were revived by foreign capital, foreign management, and the passage of the 1980 Employment Act which commenced the process of trade union reform.

This destruction of skills and a generation of families is happening here in Australia TODAY. Instead of Rolls Royce, take a look at what is happening at some of Australia's technological and manufacturing icons: Cochlear, Resmed and others. These companies run the risk of being exiled or destroyed by the abuse of trade union power. That abuse has and is being facilitated by the Rudd, Gillard, Swan, Shorten government.

Their crocodile tear response to placate those "workers" who are switching to Abbott in droves is a Manufacturing and Innovation Statement which plans to use centralised government planning and the Canberra bureaucracy to drive innovation. I don't think so. What it will do is to further drive the innovators and the much vilified entrepreneurs offshore.

There will be more of this from a government desperate for revenue as a result of four years of ill conceived spending and who believe that good policy is to hobble initiative and business as part of their class warfare strategy. There is not a dollar in the bank to encourage either innovation, entrepreneurship, or the venture capital industry to finance such admirable objectives.

The forthcoming Federal election needs to be Australia's Margaret Thatcher moment. The new government needs to emulate Singapore which is a beacon in how to turn pro-business policy into tangible benefits for the whole of the country.

These old school socialists presently in charge will have a lot to contemplate in their voter forced and well funded retirement as they try to avoid responsibility for ruining the modern progressive Labour Party which did so much to improve Australian business under the Hawke-Keating governments.