ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has delivered its figures based on its survey of business on Norfolk Island. I have no doubt about the professionalism of these people, and they have been great guys to deal with.
Statistics is not my favourite subject, but I do know a couple of things about it. One is that the job of the statistician to produce the data, and it is some one else's job to make use (or misuse) of the figures to develop a policy or decide on a course of action. In this case, it will be Government.....our government and the Commonwealth government.
The other thing I know about statistics is that it deals with means and averages, and I suspect that yet again we are going to be averaged out to conform with middle Australia.
I am not really a student of economics either, and this is where I call "Blind Freddy" in to help me. Blind Freddy can tell you, even without seeing the ABS figures, that many areas of business have been doing it somewhat tough in the last year or so, through factors largely beyond our control - but not beyond our ability to "fix". And there has been a flow on effect to government revenues.
But these ABS figures are not altogether glum. It is plain that most of us have been hanging in there and keeping our heads above water. I strongly believe that this is because the way we do things here, within our contained island situation, gives us more flexibility and resilience than we would have under a system other than the one we have developed to suit our needs. We do not have the high overheads and the restrictive and costly regulatory environment that small business on the mainland deals with. Most of us "shop locally" because we just cannot set off down the highway to the nearest big centre. And there are strong loyalty factors in employer/employee relationships and business/client relationships.
Moreover, because we keep things on a small and modest scale as is fitting for a small island with a small population, we do not need to take big risks...and the bigger the risk, the bigger the loss in a downturn.
Now you may hear phrases like "depicting the economy" and "mapping the economy" of the island in relation to the ABS figures, but it does not take much imagination to know that these figures are only part of the story. Brian Finnegan admitted to me that they only describe one sector of the economy. For that matter, they only describe part of the business sector.....business with a turnover of over $3000, on the grounds that surveying businesses operating below this level would not have a significant impact on the results.
I would beg to disagree, and remind our Canberra friends that this is a small island that has developed its own type of economy to suit its small island needs. Even the February 20 booklet acknowledged there was a difference.
There is an enormous amount of economic activity on the island operating on a small scale. Quite apart from the areas where we have bartering and mutual help, just think of those people who fish for their families and friends, and sell the excess to the shops, restaurants and hotels. Or the excess vegetables and seasonal fruit that get sold. Quite important in a place that does not import fresh produce!!Then there are the cattle and pigs that go to the butcher, and the palm seed and the pine seed. There are small agencies and franchises that operate on a modest part-time basis, the market stalls, the artists and craftspeople who producing work for shops or on commission. the "occasional" caterers. You and I all know lots of people carrying on economic activity such as this. Then there are all the people, including school students and senior citizens carrying on business activity part time .... lawn-mowing, grounds maintenance etc. It may be "insignificant" in the Australia with its big government/big business mentality, but it has been keeping this place ticking over in a vibrant and resourceful fashion for decades.
So did the ABS Study ask the right questions?
Well, I am sure they asked the ones that Canberra needed answers to.
The true purpose of this ABS study was to help predict what government could expect to receive in tax revenue from business on this island.
And people with better economic credentials than me say it will not actually amount to very much.
But the high compliance and regulatory system that they will impose in order to collect it will cause enormous damage to the well-balanced mini-economic environment that has been developed to suit our island needs, and has served us well.
It would be far better for Australia to help us re-invigorate our economy, and mind their own business and let us mind ours!!