In the Consumer Interest: A Selected History of Consumer Affairs in Australia 1945-2000

EDITED BY SMITH, SIMON (2000) In the Consumer Interest: A Selected History of Consumer Affairs in Australia 1945-2000 Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business ISBN 0-646-40300-1 AUS $45 Someone once said that there is no such thing as the future or the present, we merely repeat the past again, and again. A depressing thought. However, this excellent review of the development of consumer affairs in Australia between the years of 1945 and 2000 clearly dispels that theory completely. This critical review provides serious readers with a review of the contents of the book and the value of the book for scholar, student or other interested readers. There has been much written and re-written about the state of consumer affairs in Australia, so one might be forgiven for wondering where this contribution fits. The final product is indeed a credit to the board of management at SOCAP for their vision, and to Simon Smith as the editor because, without the approach adopted, the book would be of less value to the reader and scholar. Smith briefed his authors well in the role they were to play in getting this history down on paper and the 'extra' inclusions to consider. To differentiate the work from other pieces, the authors were asked to write about their specialist areas and to consider three threshold moments of consumer advancement and identify three consumer champions who, in their opinion, have made the greatest contribution to the area. It will be no surprise to many readers to learn that Lionel Murphy is the most mentioned champion in the eyes of these authors. The book is structured in a compelling way with six broad chapters, containing a total of ten papers. Chapter one, The Organised Consumer Interest, has contributions from Robin Browne and Jane Panetta, and John Wood. This chapter is a logical place to start and provides a comprehensive overview that sets the scene for the rest of the book. Chapter two focuses the reader on the Financial Services sector, with papers from Kristie Dunn, Colin Neave and David Niven, and Simon Smith himself. Both papers are functional and convey large amounts of information for us to process but the placement of this chapter could be problematical for reader retention. Chapter three is the chapter that would draw many readers to the book as it considers the area of Communication, with contributions from Christina Spurgeon and Gerard Goggin. Spurgeon's work, however, falls a little short in terms of the regulation of the advertising industry, lacking a critique of the current scheme in any great detail, whereas in fact there have been dynamic changes since its inception in 1998. …