KEY POINTS:
The sitcom Yes Minister always cut a bit too close to the truth for those actively engaged in politics. One of the occasional characters was a banker, always dressed impeccably in a dark pinstriped suit, with a distinctive pink copy of the Financial Times tucked under his arm.
He was always available for appointment to various boards, mostly quangos (quasi non-governmental organisations). But he had his limitations.
As an apparent leader of the financial community, such a banker was once asked about a story in that day's Financial Times. The banker replied bluntly to James Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby with the disarming words (and I paraphrase): "Don't know. Never read it. Can't understand it."
Suitably impressed, the minister then appointed him to review some flaw in government policy at Westminster. The minister could be certain the outcome would be to his liking.
Those days are long gone.
A few days ago, Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Wayne Swan outlined Canberra's approach to the A$20 billion ($24.75 billion) Infrastructure Fund, established in the 2008 Budget. The members of the fund's board were announced.
As previously made public, the chairman is Sir Rod Eddington, who is executive chairman of JP Morgan in Australia and New Zealand. Sir Rod has a distinguished background in business, in Australia and abroad, including a stint at British Airways.
There follows a mix of members, representing different skills and the geography making up the federation. What is missing is perhaps more interesting than those who are named.
It's no surprise that Terry Moran, the new Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is a member. PM&C obviously has a deep interest in how the fund is to work and where the money is to be spent. Already - from resource and port projects to motorway links and a new metro rail infrastructure - demands are emerging for the fund's resources, from the length and breadth of the commonwealth. No surprise, either, that Treasury Secretary Ken Henry is on the board.
But under the Hawke/Keating governments, a position would have been reserved for the president or secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. This was de rigueur for the life of these Labor governments. It seems to be no more.
Indeed, as reported in the Australian Financial Review this week, the secretary of the ACTU, Jeff Lawrence, has written with some justification to the PM about the unions' lack of representation on an inquiry into the Australian tax system, headed by the Treasury Secretary.
As the commentariat in Canberra now acknowledges, Labor's base in the trade unions has been routinely consulted on policy but the unions have neither veto over an agenda nor an exclusive right to drive one.
In New South Wales, where the power unions endeavoured to prevent the Iemma Labor Government from privatising part of the electricity sector, the State Government simply insisted it would prevail, with support from Canberra. Labor governments are asserting the primacy of the parliamentary wing of Labor politics.
So the Infrastructure Fund is composed of a mix of senior civil servants and business and industry representatives. They range from Treasury's Ken Henry through to Kerry Schott, CEO of Sydney Water, which controls a vast empire in that metropolis and is responsible for all manner of services: drinking water, industrial usage, recycling and reuse and the maintenance of ocean outfalls, which send treated sewage some 10km or more out into the Pacific Ocean.
My colleague, Ross Rolfe from Babcock & Brown, which has extensive interests in infrastructure, from ports and roads to energy, is also there from the private sector. Rolfe comes to the task with a fine record of service in the Queensland Government. Mark Birrell originally hails from the Liberal side of politics in Victoria but is now the chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, a peak industry group. He may be expected to be another serious contributor to the fund's deliberations.
Heather Ridout is arguably the most effective and articulate spokesman for business in Australia at the moment. She is the CEO of the Australian Industry Group, having begun her service in public policy as a researcher for a Liberal senator some moons ago.
The AIG, unlike the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), maintained extensive and strong links with both sides of politics during the period of the Howard Government.
While the AIG obviously had a preference for a liberalised labour market, it was not in the front rank of those extolling the virtues of WorkChoices and damning Labor's proposed rollback to a fairer, more regulated system on the shop floor.
The ACCI, on the other hand, was well out in front, arguing WorkChoices' merits right up until polling day. Nothing wrong with that in a democracy. But no one should be surprised that the Labor Government is continuing to deal with those it viewed as reasoned and reasonable players during Opposition.
The business agenda has plenty on the list. The Rudd Government has moved decisively towards an emissions trading scheme for Australia and with links to a global market. Professor Ross Garnaut reports later this year on climate change, and policy discussions may be expected to be vigorous. As well, business is already being held to a greater degree of accountability on its carbon footprints.
Understandably, workplace relations remain high on the scale of business concerns as the emerging federal system, to be discussed with the states, works its way through Canberra's deliberative processes.
The tax inquiry, which is likely to be as sweeping as the Howard Government's review which produced the GST, will be of real consequence when its report is delivered at the end of 2009. Expect business to keep this in constant focus.
To be fair, more than a little has already been achieved on the business agenda. The Business Council of Australia has campaigned long and hard on issues like breaking infrastructure bottlenecks and the need for more skilled workers to be generated by the nation's education system. Already, the Budget saw moves in these directions and the Rudd Government has made it clear that immigration levels will respond to the economy's needs for skills.
So while it's early days, business seems to have started well in building relations with a new Government which most commentators expect to be around for a while.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Prime Minister sitting comfortably with billionaires at a charity function in Sydney just the other day. But the PM is comfortable in most circumstances and in most surroundings, regardless of income levels and backgrounds. Perhaps the more important point was that the billionaires were comfortable sitting with the Labor PM.
Stephen Loosley, a former federal president of the Labor Party and a senator, chairs the business advocacy group Committee for Sydney.
