yum beer said:
The need for us to be involved in 'the wold economy' is squarely to blame.....
if we had no imports produced in countries with disgustingly low wages and poor conditions then the Australian car industry would be as strong as ever.
So would every other industry that has gone down or is sliding down the gurgler.
**** the world economy, why do we need to drag our arses down to the low living standards of developing countries to feel good about ourselves.
Stop importing shit, make it here, sell it here and everybody has a job, a house and money in their pocket, not just the industry fat cats and politicians.
Us Aussies are always quick to blame others. The reasons for this is that we've (mainly the government) has created a country where its too expensive to do business, unless your in the service industry where you can mark cheap imported products up by 400%. Laws that encourage real estate to balloon (i.e. negative gearing) are increasing the cost of leasing, buying, renting premises, not to mention the fact that everyone is paying more for mortgage or rent - they need to get it from somewhere (so costs of products goes up to increase peoples income). And in general too many rules, regulations, and red tape around everything make the end price of a manufactured product very high in Aust.
Yes some goods are made with cheap labour, and there are problems in that regard - but thats only a part of it. Look at what Germany for example is doing. They manage to keep costs down (through a system that doesnt encourage property speculation, and possibly the Euro working in their favour), and produce high quality manufactured products that nobody can match, in specialist industries. For example a massive machine that digs tunnels, electrical equipment, cars, or the Braumeister
. And they encourage apprenticeships, as well as having a massive family business sector (and mentality). Germans and German companies also avoid going into debt if possible too, even if they grow slower.
We need to leverage our vast skills and high quality of education, and offer something more than just mining (And I am in mining myself). And direct our investment dollars away from property, which is a non-productive asset.