Business-government relations in Australia: Cooperating through task forces

Abstract

The relationship between businesses and government in Australia is examined in this article by considering how government can provide a stable set of rules for business players to act within, and adapt them to changing conditions. The competition paradigm of simultaneous competition and cooperation is illustrated by two case studies of government intervention in the Australian wool and financial services sectors, in which government periodically uses independent task forces to review and propose future directions for industry policy. The task forces are independent of both business and government, attempting to find policy solutions that will be acceptable to the range of players in the game..