Ang Moh says:Learn from Singapore's FT policy.

Singapore is indeed a place for big businesses. That is why this angmoh wants aussieland to follow Singapore's FT policy.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/what-australia-can-learn-from-singapore-20110310-1boi9.html

What Australia can learn from Singapore
Gina Rinehart
March 10, 2011 - 11:27AM
Comments 98 Vote

Mining queen Gina Rinehart says Australia must follow Singapore's lead and import guest workers to plug staffing holes. Photo: Erin Johansson
Australia could learn plenty from Singapore's success. Not least its lack of red tape and use of guest workers.

Given the recent news that Singapore has the second highest economic growth rate in the world, second only to Abu Dhabi with its very extensive oil and gas wealth, now is a great time to revisit Singapore.

Singapore welcomes investment, makes real effort to minimise red tape (even asking its people and businesses to point out time- or money-wasting red tape if they find it), has low taxes, low crime, enables guest labour, and has no debt. Singapore imports 80 per cent of its food, but still manages to invest hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide on behalf of its citizens.

Despite the country's small size, low population, and lack of resources and local water supply, Singaporeans benefit significantly from the country's policies. Its neighbour Australia is the complete opposite despite wealth generated from vast resources. Why this striking difference?

We make ourselves less attractive to investment. Think of those 300-plus Australian companies investing in West Africa, together with multinational companies that have been the largest investors in Australia over decades (for example BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto), that are now making major investments and commitments offshore.
Australia drowns in red and green tape. Fifteen hundred or more permits, approvals and licences are required to start major projects in Queensland, for instance. We have both state and federal environmental department duplication. Small companies, which were once the backbone of Australia, are increasingly finding the load too onerous.
Taxes make us less competitive. After the introduction of the GST, which was meant to reduce other taxes, we now face a messy MRRT and carbon tax, making Australia even less competitive on world markets. This will greatly affect our own citizens, particularly those on lower incomes. Why so? If you add tax to thermal coal, which accounts for 80-85 per cent of Australia's power generation, electricity prices will rise to cater for the cost increase, hurting those on low incomes the most. And the problem does not stop with our electricity bills going up. Every item that requires electricity, be it for production, distribution or storage, which encompasses most items we use, will rise in price under MRRT and/or carbon tax imposed on thermal coal. This again not only hurts our export competitiveness, but Australians on low and medium incomes, which includes a very large number of people.
Our crime record is unacceptable: we should all be able to live safely in our homes and suburbs. Taxation monies that should be spent on more, better paid, better resourced and better trained police are wasted – think of the recent federal government wastage on over-priced school kitchens (that don't even cater for pie warmers in winter), expensive insulation bungles, and dare I repeat, duplication of environmental departments.
Australia needs guest labour. Just think where Australia could be if we welcomed guest labour, even if limited to hot or remote areas or to unskilled and semi-skilled positions. This should be considered on humanitarian grounds alone. Please consider the terrible plight of very poor people in our neighbouring countries in Asia. We should, on humanitarian grounds, give more of these people the opportunity of guest labour work in Australia, so that they can feed and clothe their families and pay for medical and other pressing needs. Singapore, Dubai and even Europe have had guest workers for decades. Also, think about the lack of adequate services for our own war veterans, the elderly and the disabled, and how much better their lives and their carers' lives would be if we gave guest workers temporary visas to assist.
Skilled guest labourers are also badly needed in Australia. Media reports mention almost daily that major projects are being delayed due to lack of skilled labour and long delays in processing guest labour visas.
Australia has too much debt. We live beyond our means and continue to discourage and delay business development that could provide more revenue. We'll continue to grow debt for our children to be burdened with until our attitude changes.
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With good, responsible government, less tax, policies to welcome investment, and less red and green tape, Australia could be in Singapore's position over time. We could even hold hundreds of billions of investment funds for our citizens like Singapore's Temasek and GIC funds. Attitudes need to change before we can achieve Singapore's fortunate and compelling position.

It would be helpful if media reporting in Australia also considered the reasons for the stark contrasts between Australia and Singapore. Those media members who visited Singapore three or four decades ago and saw how poor the country was back then, should analyse why Singapore is now in such an envious position just decades later.

In recent weeks, for instance, brief media reports mentioned Rio Tinto and China entering a joint venture together to explore and develop mineral areas in China. There has been no thoughtful analysis of the likely consequences of more and more mineral projects being developed in China. For a start, should such projects proceed, they would take up a considerable portion of Rio's investment capacity, leaving less available funding for Australia.

Similarly, Rio's $3.5 billion initial investment in metallurgical coal in Africa received little media consideration. Given that this is just the purchase cost, more funding will be needed to improve and expand such a large coal opportunity, which supports more Rio involvement in Africa in competition with Australia. Why aren't there more headlines and articles asking why Australia isn't as popular for investment among multinationals and even our own companies? What will this mean for Australia's future?

What can we do as members of the public? Consider becoming a member of ANDEV (Australians for Northern Development & Economic Vision), at least as a first step.

Gina Rinehart is the chair of mining company Hancock Prospecting. A version of this article appeared in Australian Resources and Investment magazine.

Click to expand...

Some comments below which they already see through where this is going with an FT policy.

Comments
98 comments so far
This woman - born rich and privileged - obviously reads a lot of Ayn Rand..........

Ainslie ACT | Canberra - March 10, 2011, 11:40AM
What is the paperwork requirement to start an open-pit mine in Singapore?

cynic | Melbourne - March 10, 2011, 11:43AM
Great, we want to be like Singapore, a country where you can't drive a dirty car, there are three different kinds of vehicle registration, you can be whipped for minor offences, you can be fined over $10,000 for filling your car with petrol in Indonesia and basically every crime carries a huge fine. Oh and until not to long ago chewing gum was banned.

Add to that you would like to get all these nice cheap wage slave imported into the country to do all those menial jobs that no one wants, except those people doing them now of course.

Singapore may be rich, but it is not a free country, there are concerns about the validity of the election process with one party having consistently dominated elections for decades. The press is not free.

Yes there is duplication with State and Federal "red tape" and yes there is "green tape" as we try perhaps in vein to protect the environment from those who would use it without a care.

And lastly, funny someone who make a living out of clawing her fortune out of the ground in an industry that contributed to carbon pollution is against a carbon tax.

Self interest seems to be the driver for this piece, not the future commonwealth or common good of Australia and Australian.

James | Lane Cove NSW - March 10, 2011, 11:45AM
What a bizarrely overly simplistic view of the world. I'd be truly concerned if it wasn't such a blatant grab for cash by a businesswoman. It also is a thin veil over Rinehart's plans to replace her Australian workforce in WA with Chinese workers and pay them Chinese wages while they work under Chinese conditions. Rinehart would sell out this country in a second if the price was right, and to think she has the nerve to call herself a great West Australian.

Regards to Rose.

Steve | Perth - March 10, 2011, 11:53AM
What else could one expect from the richest women in AUS.

Mind you she inhered most of her wealth.

Guest workers. I grew up in a European country that used guest workers. It thought it was like turning a tap on and off.

Now it has a great problem because most of those guest workers did not leave and an integration issues has arisen over years.

Who benefits from policies advocated by GR? The masses? Not bloody likely.

nilton | sydney - March 10, 2011, 11:55AM
The model Ms. Rinehart would have us follow is not tiny Singapore- but precisely what failed so spectacularly in the U.S.

If Australians are foolish enough to follow failed policies put forth by billionaires, I suppose the nation deserves the same results America has gotten:

Falling real wages, a rapidly declining middle class, and a burgeoning underclass of working poor and often homeless impoverished.

In short, a society trending inexorably toward third world socioeconomic status.

Jexpat | Merewether - March 10, 2011, 11:56AM
Less red tape and less bureaucratic involvement in the nanny state would be a good thing, but then so would less taxes.

But before comparing to Singapore and seeing only a "rosy" country, remember there are only 5million Singaporeans spread over a country that covers less area than Sydney. So all the accompanying infrastructure of roads, sewerage and electricity take far less to maintain. Add to this an average wage that is less than $2000 a month, compound it with so much "cheap" labour and all you get is a recipe for a divided economy whereby Singaporeans are increasingly feeling frustrated by their Governments "blind eye" to their plight, and then ill-will towards this imported labour and it all adds up to an increasing disparity in wealth, and a class divide.

And perhaps most tellingly, before we laud Singapore for something it is not, remember that it is a single party democracy, where one family has in effect ruled since 1965 and active oppression of the opposition is part of the political framework...not to mention that a paper like the SMH could not exist in Singapore, you criticise too often and do not parrot the praise of the leaders enough.

A - March 10, 2011, 11:56AM
This country needs to stop thinking immigration and think guest workers. Once the peak load is done these workers go home to their country and wait for the next job. They do this the world over and it works everywhere else so why not here I ask. Gina is correct and we can have it all if we take guest workers. We think they are all coming to live as they did for Snowy Project and they will all be at centerlink when projects are finished. Stupid way of looking at it. Let them in for mega projects, they live in excellent camps, they fly home for rostered leave and they leave the country when the project is finished. Its not cheap labour, its skilled labour and these guys build mega projects all over the world that are top class. Lets not have union idiots saying they are taking our jobs. We dont have the people to build these plants and we cant train them fast enough and everyone knows it so lets not lose the opportunity to build a world class resource industry just to appease a frightened few. Grow some balls politicians and copy what Singapore, Canada, Ireland and Middle East have done to build their industries and allow guest labour. Vet them, screen them ensure they are qualified but stop looking at this as migration and look at it as allowing Australia to be all it can be. Well done Gina and wish more like you spoke up

Brian - March 10, 2011, 11:57AM
What most do not realise is the vastly complicated and largely under the carpet taxation systems in Australia. These consume huge amounts of public money to collect + all the huge array of licenses and permits needed to do the most simple things.
We need a proper tax review not the pretend review called the Henry review, that starts with four very simple things.
First is the total amount of revenue collected by all forms of taxation.
Second is the total cost of collection.
Third is the number of people employed by all the various collection agencies.
Fourth is an estimate of the total time/costs for compliance by the public.
Then you chuck out everything and start again.
You should end up with two taxes, income tax, at the same rate for companies and personal tax, and GST. Nothing else.
Costs of compliance and collection would be massively reduced. We would all benefit by paying less tax and benefit hugely from the massive rduction in compliance costs this would bring.

abcian | Cardwell - March 10, 2011, 11:58AM
If only we had guest workers then we would all be better off,I cant see it myself.
Strange from a woman who donates to an NGO that combats human trafficking in asia...
Singapore is no paradise,it has no opposition party and lacks many basic freedoms.

mrhump | phnom penh - March 10, 2011, 12:00PM
Being an ex-Singaporean, I feel that I am in a good position to respond to some of these points.
What has been said is true, but dig a little deeper and you discover the reasons for it, and judge for yourselves if that is the price you are willing to pay.

Low taxes: True, personal income tax is very low there, and I pay in a month what I would have paid for the year in Singapore. But consider that other taxes and tariffs are prohibitive. 90K for a Mazda 3 anyone? The flip side for low taxes is a user-pays health system, legislation where you can sue your children for parental support etc. Low taxes = no social support

Investing billions of their citizens' money: This is because the superannuation in Singapore is managed by the quasi government fund, the CPF. And as an aside, Temasek is a non transparent organisation, and run by the PM's wife (or at least used to be). Infer what you wish from that.
..............

WW | Melbourne - March 10, 2011, 12:01PM
...continued :-)

Workers struggle in Singapore, with the low pay and cost of living, unless you're a high paid exec in a multinational or the government. Guest workers may have something to do with that, but I'm no economist.

And politics. Would you like to live in a country where opposition politicians regularly get sued, and declared bankrupt and hence cannot run for office? And where 84 of the 85 elected MPs are from one party?

While Singapore may have lessons for Australia in how to be run as a corporation, Australia has lots of lessons to teach Singapore, like democracy, freedom of speech, showing our children that there is more to life than academic achievement, and not branding them as failures when they do not fit the norm.

Gina may wish to have Australia be like Singapore, and it would be great for people in her position, but for myself, having lived in both, I've made my choice, and Australia it is.

WW | Melbourne - March 10, 2011, 12:02PM
Has this woman actually lived or worked in Singapore, on the surface peaceful, yet one of the most undemocratic nations in the world?

James - March 10, 2011, 12:08PM
Steve your narrow minded view on life is founded on ignorance. You cannot bring in chinese workers on chinese wages nor have chinese conditions. Get a grip you isolated person. Skilled labour coming in here has to meet Aus trade recognition guidelines, has to pass English tests that some Aussies would fail and have to have prior experience AND have to be paid the same as any other worker on a project governed by an agreement as 99% of our mega resource construction projects are. You bring in the skill you use it and you send it home once the job is done. Its that simple. You can train up all you like but they will all be unemployed after all these projects are built and then all on the dole. Once built these projects will be staffed by Australians, run by Australians and serviced and maintained by Australians many of whom will get excellent training to run these projects. The help is needed to build them all and skilled Filipinos and Indians have built such projects all over the world. This protect Aussie jobs bs is narrow minded and short sighted to say the least. Wake up Australia and shake off this old fashioned draconian view point that limits our growth.

Brian - March 10, 2011, 12:10PM
Typical comments of an inward looking nature smothered in inferiority complex from people who have not lived and worked overseas or understand Asia.

I agree with Gina. As an Australian expat living in Singapore there is a lot we can learn from Singapore as they from us.

Andrew | Singapore - March 10, 2011, 12:14PM
Singapore is a one party democracy, hardly something we want here.

I also question on brining in poorer people and paying them low wages, the only people who really come out on top at the companies that exploit them. I have no problems with brining people in to work, but they should be paid Australian wages.

Hammer | Hawthorn - March 10, 2011, 12:15PM