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State, territory and local government assistance to industry

Industry Commission inquiry report

This report was released by the Commonwealth Government on 23 February 1998. The report contains the findings of the Industry Commission's public inquiry into assistance provided by State, Territory and Local Governments and their instrumentalities to Australian industry.

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  • Contents

Preliminaries
Copyright, Signing Page, Contents, Abbreviations, Terms of Reference, Key Findings, Overview

1   The nature and extent of assistance to industry
1.1   Introduction
1.2   Background
1.3   Definition and measurement of industry assistance
1.4   Government assistance to industry
1.5   Interstate economic rivalry

2   Policy Issues
2.1   Introduction
2.2   Appropriate economic development policy
2.3   Why selective assistance is provided
2.4   Real world problems in providing selective assistance
2.5   Assessment of the impact of State assistance
2.6   Industry policy: a State or Commonwealth responsibility?
2.7   Competitive neutrality
2.8   Commonwealth-State fiscal relationships: their effect on industry assistance
2.9   Local governments and regional organisations

3   Options for improving performance
3.1   Introduction
3.2   Improving transparency and accountability
3.3   Existing agreements between States
3.4   International agreements and their relationship to State assistance
3.5   Options for an Agreement on industry assistance in Australia
3.6   A role for the Commonwealth
3.7   Summary

Appendices

A1   State government assistance to industry
A1.1   Introduction
A1.2   Nature and extent of State government assistance to industry
A1.3   Disclosure and evaluation of industry assistance
A1.4   Detailed compilation of individual States’ assistance

Attachment 1A   New South Wales
A1A.1   Introduction
A1A.2   New South Wales Government assistance to industry
A1A.3   Institutional arrangements
A1A.4   Detailed information on NSW Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1B   Victoria
A1B.1   Introduction
A1B.2   Victorian Government assistance to industry
A1B.3   Major projects and recent special assistance
A1B.4   Institutional arrangements
A1B.5   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1C   Queensland
A1C.1   Introduction
A1C.2   Queensland Government assistance
A1C.3   Institutional arrangements
A1C.4   Queensland Government Purchasing Policy
A1C.5   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1D   Western Australia
A1D.1   Introduction
A1D.2   Western Australian Government assistance to industry
A1D.3   Institutional arrangements
A1D.4   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1E   South Australia
A1E.1   Introduction
A1E.2   South Australian Government assistance to industry
A1E.3   Institutional arrangements
A1E.4   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1F   Tasmania
A1F.1   Introduction
A1F.2   Tasmanian Government assistance to industry
A1F.3   Institutional arrangements
A1F.4   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1G   Australian Capital Territory
A1G.1   Introduction
A1G.2   ACT Government Assistance
A1G.3   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

Attachment 1H   Northern Territory
A1H.1   Introduction
A1H.2   Northern Territory Government Assistance
A1H.3   Detailed information on State Government industry assistance programs and schemes

A2   State and Territory budgetary assistance to agriculture
A2.1   Summary of results
A2.2   Background
A2.3   Data sources
A2.4   Methodology
A2.5   State and Territory budgetary assistance

A3   Local government involvement in economic development
A3.1   Introduction
A3.2   Sources of revenue
A3.3   Reviews of local government involvement
A3.4   Regional groupings
A3.5   Summary of local government survey results

Attachment 3A   Local government survey
A3A.1   Summary of results
A3A.2   The survey
A3A.3   Response
A3A.4   Results

A4   Commonwealth assistance
A4.1   Extent of Commonwealth assistance to industry
A4.2   Tariffs and other measured assistance
A4.3   Commonwealth budgetary assistance

A5   Distribution of Commonwealth assistance by State
A5.1   Methodology
A5.2   Changes in Commonwealth assistance
A5.3   Manufacturing
A5.4   Agriculture

A6   Review of the US literature to industry
A6.1   Introduction
A6.2   Broader interjurisdictional competition in the United States
A6.3   What States do in the United States
A6.4   Size of assistance packages offered in the United States
A6.5   Competition for economic development
A6.6   General comments on the state of thinking in the United States
A6.7   Does State assistance make a difference
A6.8   Who pays, who benefits?
A6.9   Suggestions on what should be done

A7   Modelling the effects of State assistance to industry
A7.1   The scenarios
A7.2   Key model characteristics
A7.3   Budgetary assistance by all States
A7.4   Estimating State tax expenditures (revenue forgone)
A7.5   Estimating local government assistance
A7.6   Bidding the Grand Prix from SA to Victoria

A8   Consultant's report on evaluation methodologies
A8.1   The survey
A8.2   Results
A8.3   ACM-Telstra ‘Special Issues — Government Assistance’ Questionnaire

A9   Consultant's report on evaluation methodologies
A9 1   Summary and conclusions

A10   US National Governors' Association policy on economic growth and development incentives (1993)

A11   European Union rules on State assistance to industry
A11.1   Government assistance and the European Union (EU)

A12   Canada's internal trade agreement
A12.1   Introduction
A12.2   General rules of the agreement
A12.3   Investment incentives
A12.4   Institutional provisions
A12.5   Assessment of the Internal Trade Agreement

A13   International obligations
A13.1   Introduction
A13.2   The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
A13.3   CER Trade Agreement

A14   Federal economic characteristics
A14.1   Australia’s federal framework
A14.2   Broad fiscal characteristics
A14.3   Broad economic characteristics

A15   Inquiry process
A15.1   Inquiry processes
A15.2   Inquiry Participants
A15.3   Informal discussions/list of visits undertaken

Bibliography

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