The state of the Australian National Line neatly illustrates several of the worse aspects of policy and administration by this Federal Government: failure to stand up to union power; paying Labor mates large amounts of money for consultancies; selling the national silver to meet profligate recurrent spending; dithering and postponing hard decisions if it faces any public backlash.
Having for years not stood up to the Australian Maritime Union, the Government has allowed ANL to become hopelessly uneconomic. It could hardly give it away. It then appointed former NSW Premier Neville Wran for a fee running to hundreds of thousands of dollars to work out what to do. It has now postponed any decision on whether to sell ANL because it fears maritime unions will strike, sending export and import industries into chaos and causing public disquiet a short time before an election.
The Government has a quandary of its own making. Whether it decides to privatise, keeps public or does nothing it will get richly deserved criticism.
It is a sad day that the Government cannot recognize the strategic and economic need for a trading nation like Australia to have a national line and to have the courage to make the decisions necessary to make it run efficiently. It is a sadder day that having failed on that score it is so paralysed it cannot organise a quick, cheap retreat through a sale.