Australia has released a review of its government assistance to industry for 2006-07, including subsidies, tax incentives and tariffs.
Among the highest receivers of government support are the automotive sector, textiles and the dairy industry. The total bill for the measures covered in the review amounts to A$ 15.7 billion gross, or A$ 8 billion net.
The review, produced by the Australian Government Productivity Commission, comments that "assistance generally benefits the industry that receives it but can penalise other industries, as well as taxpayers and consumers."
It says that many assistance programmes are "not based on sound rationale", and points to a number of areas that should be reviewed, including drought relief, defence procurement, and ethanol.
The review stresses that "particular attention is needed to ensure that assistance induces new activity, rather than dissipating funding on much activity that would have occurred anyway."
The full report, Trade & Assistance Review 2006-07, is available on-line at: http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/78332/tar0607.pdf
