While the subject of this little story was fanciful, a close variant could have been told based on any one of many actual examples at all levels of government, including some major regulatory initiatives in recent years. It therefore illustrates a number of failings in the way the legislative and other regulatory instruments of public policy have been developed. The key words are knee-jerk political responses, lack of analysis of costs and benefits, haphazard or limited consultation and, above all, a ‘regulate first ask questions later’ culture within parts of government; a culture that has been reinforced by a perception within the wider community itself that government action equals regulation.

All this needs to change if Australia is to meet its prospective social and environmental needs without compromising the economic growth that underpins living standards. For example, how we design the regulatory framework to achieve greenhouse emissions reductions looms as the critical determinant of the magnitude of the costs to our economy of achieving any particular targets.