Accord And Discord: The Differing Fates Of Corporatism Under Labo(u)r Governments In Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

After many decades of strong similarities, the 1980s saw Australian and New Zealand public policy moving in different directions. In particular, the establishment in Australia of a corporatist Accord and the strong reliance by the Labour government on an incomes policy negotiated with the union movement contrasted with the exclusion of New Zealand trade unions from policy-making and adherence by the Labour government there to a platform of economic rationalism to moderate wage demands. This article offers an explanation for this recent divergence between the two countries and seeks to exploit this analysis to contribute to the corporatist literature. The main conclusion drawn is that while the structures, capacities and strategies of unions and employers were important in understanding the recent divergence between the countries, a vital but often neglected factor was the respective roles of the arbitration systems. In Australia, the arbitration system came to play a central role in both administering the corporatist incomes policy and fortifying the newfound strength of the central union federation, while the abolition of compulsory arbitation in New Zealand eliminated the opportunity for arbitration to provide similar institutional support for corporatist ventures.