He said while some recovery might be effected by increased infrastructure spending, governments and the private sector were reluctant to commit to new projects, particularly in a year so heavily studded with state and federal elections. There is the general political backdrop, and there is political uncertainties. It's just an environment where people are not taking large and positive steps forward. As well, after the extensive tax reform of the past couple of years that benefited the business community, a list of more difficult, less tangible demands from the business community looms. Mr King knows 'reform' has become almost a dirty word.
Dramatic change produces dislocation, unemployment.
Still, he argues for a greater open market at every level. On the international stage, Australia should not waste too much time banging on the doors of the big trading alliances of North America and Europe in the vain hope that they will open their markets to Australian producers. On the domestic front, Mr King argues employers should be able to pay workers less in rural and regional areas because the cost of living is less than in the major cities. This is certainly not a policy that either political party is likely to take to the electorate later this year, and Mr King empathises with rural voters who claim they are treated as second class citizens or worse. Born in the tiny NSW town of Copmanhurst in what he says was a poor farming family, Mr King quit the rural life because of the dearth of opportunities.