AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTAL STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE
COMPETITIVENESS OF AUSTRALIAN IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
The purpose of this research is to review policies and initiatives of the Australian government that are intended to improve the competitiveness of Australian industry in the evolving global economy. Increasing regional exclusiveness in international economic organization (the European Community, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Association of South East Asian Nations, and others) strips away traditional markets for countries such as Australia, while simultaneously making it more difficult for such countries to gain entry into new markets (Pugh, 1994, p. 4B). Aggressive and frequently unfair trading practices by economic superpowers such as the United States and Japan create additional problems and barriers for mid level economies such as that in Australia. In this review of Australian policies and initiatives, comparisons are made, where appropriate and relevant, with those of the United States.
The findings of this review are presented in four major discussions each of which is interrelated with each of the others. The first discussion covers the contemporary state of the Australian economy, while the second discussion addresses the effects on and implications for the Australian economy of international economic organization, the third discussion examines the industrial policy of Australia, and the final discussion considers Australian initiatives and strategies directed at other Pacific Basin economies.
Selected measures of Australia's economic performance over the November 1992 October 1993 period are presented in Table 1 which may be found below on this page. As the data presented in the table indicate, GNP growth was strong and steady, although unemployment levels remained unacceptably high, and industrial output was uneven.
Selected Measures of Australia's Economic P...