Rudd in hot seat over car tariffs

August 9, 2008

EARLY in John Howard's prime ministership, he made a significant transition from hard-bitten economic ideologue to political pragmatist by choosing to freeze the car industry tariff.

Roll forward 11 years. Steve Bracks has reviewed the position of the car industry and opened up a fresh debate about protectionism in the sector. Kevin Rudd's response to Bracks will define him in the same way the tariff debate in 1997 helped frame perceptions of Howard...

Kevin Rudd can derive little political utility from softening his image in the way Howard did 10 years ago. Rudd may have styled himself as an "economic conservative" but is no economic hawk in the way Howard was in Opposition. The problem the Rudd Government faces, not on a metric of substance but in terms of public perceptions, is it talks a good book but hasn't achieved much. What Rudd decides to do on tariff reform in the car industry is a key symbolic test for the Prime Minister, even if in historical terms the tariff debate, given automotive industry tariffs started out at 57% and are now down to 10%, is quite marginal.