In what sense a region's problem? The place of redistribution in Australia's internationalization strategy

Abstract

There is widespread acceptence of a view that the state has been 'hollowed out' as a direct result of rising international product and financial flows and, consequently, has few options except to deregulate product, capital and labour markets to maintain conditions for continued accumulation. This paper is concerned with both the veracity and the policy implications of these views. The work of Claus Offe is reviewed, advancing the paradigm that capitalism's sphere of operation is inseparable from the sphere of state operation. It is shown that to construct capitalism as capable of operating with nil or minimal state interference is exactly the position sought by capital. Deregulation ensues without substantial political contest. The representation of the state as an outside regulator of capitalism also favours capital in the way it confines redistributional powers. Consequently, the operation of production itself as a distribution process in capital's favour is largely unchallenged. This argument is applied to the Australian Labor Government's 1994 white paper Working Nation (COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, 1994). The key directions of Working Nation are analysed in the context of the Australian Government's internationalization strategy. It is shown that the main role of Working Nation is to append a redistribution policy to the internationalization strategy via new links between training programmes, welfare assistance and regional programmes. The effectiveness of the redistribution role of Working Nation and opportunities for different strategies are assessed.