Labor car industry policy - State & Fed - at odds!

[Crazy Dazz]

We need to acknowledge that the majority of Australians live in the SE corner, and for some reason there seems to be a shortage of stuff to dig up there. When the government has successfully destroyed all manufacturing, what exactly are you people supposed to do for work? Keeping in mind that when all industry is gone, there will also be no further need for all those employed in the public service, banks, and “head offices.”

[GREGL]

Agree 100% Dazz , we buy chinese wire for only one reason , price ! No one and I mean no one will pay the extra dollars for Australian made netting or mesh in the market we deal in metro and rural . We have had 9 100 mtr rolls of top quality wire made in Oz sitting here for over 12 mths.
It doesn't matter how you try and market it , it comes down to price . It will last a lifetime but at 30% extra ( approx. $40 ) your fllogging a dead horse . Mind boggling !

[mik]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

It’s not just the motoring industry.
I live in WA and work in the Mining & Construction industry. It’s not all beer & skittles, but yeah, by and large life is good.
The thing that ***** me off is this.
People including Joolya ***** about the “2-speed” economy, but instead of doing something constructive they resort to mean & envious policies such as the mining tax.
So tell me this. Australia produces the best natural produce food in the world. So WHY does most of the food we buy come from SE Asia? Please explain why an Australian fishing in the Southern ocean is hamstrung so that it becomes cheaper for boats to come all the way from Taiwan, take the fish back to Asia, and then export it to us? Why does my canned and frozen food come from everywhere else in the world, whilst SE Australian cannery workers lose their jobs?

Many people don’t realise this, but Australian expertise leads the world in Mining, Processing, and Project Management. Australians are sought allover the world despite our salary requirements being so high.
Yet when building an Australian designed processing plant and mining operation IN Australia, the steel comes from China, the heavy equipment comes from the USA, Japan, and Europe, components from all over the world, and all our consumables from China? This booming industry COULD help support other industries in Australia, particularly the Steel, Manufacturing, and food sectors in SE Australia. But No.

My most recent project was working in SE Asia, for an Asian company. They brought in Australians because they recognised our expertise. To import specialised components from outside the country, we had to prove that they were completely unobtainable in-country and then pay massive import taxes. If there was a local company that simply imported the goods, we still had to deal with them.
Every other country in the freakin world prefers and protects their local businesses and industry.
Contrast that with Australia. The joke of it is that the steel & components coming in from China is ****. They lie, they cheat, then delivery inferior crap that doesn’t even match a simple drawing. But hey it’s cheap.
On a previous project we had to get our piping from Thailand. It’s cheaper than Australia, but nowhere near as cheap as China, unfortunately Chinese piping is beyond ****, it is simply unusable.

Safety standards in Australian Mining & Construction are world’s best practice, but guess where all our PPE comes from? Asian sweatshops. We know this stuff comes from sweatshops where safety and human rights are ignored, yet our government turns a blind eye.

Sure, Australia should not be a player in EVERY industry, and there are some where we are at a competitive disadvantage. Realistically we will always struggle to be competitive in industries that are highly labour intensive. But tell me why it makes sense for us to export our iron-ore, coal, and LNG to china, let them make the steel, and then import it back again. Steel-Making is not labour intensive, its capital intensive.

The underlying problem is that we have politicians that are interested only in making themselves popular with gifts of cheap trinkets, and we have far too many naïve simpletons who are seduced by what is right in front of them, without realising what is being stolen from them and their children. When the AUD goes up, everybody gets happy and starts planning their next Bali trip. Who cares that it is being kept high by other countries continuously selling their currency short to make their industries and farmers more competitive. When another Australian factory closes, yes we get upset, but we fail to see the link. A government that increased our cost of living by imposing import duties would be unpopular, never mind how many jobs it might save.

There is no point talking about a “level playing field.” China is not even playing the same sport. It’s like being in a cycling event, when all your competitors are on motorbikes.

It REALLY ***** me to look at the current sales figures. Who are the companies soaring up the charts? Hyundai, Nissan, Mazda, etc. Companies that don’t invest one red cent in this country or employ a single Australian in manufacturing.

The other problem is that the exchange rate DOES move, dependent on commodity prices. Unfortunately the effect is largely lopsided. Whilst our currency remains high, local construction is unprofitable, and no company in its right mind would commit to future investment. I'm not predicting doom & gloom for the mining industry anytime soon, but when the exchange rate does swing back all those European & Japanese cars are going to get effing expensive again.

Nicely put Crazy-Dazz, a couple of things also , i think mining is also energy intensive, as is much of the manufacturing.
We could also ask ourselves why are getting policy that purposely makes energy more expensive, ie Australia less competitive??

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by mik

Nicely put Crazy-Dazz, a couple of things also , i think mining is also energy intensive, as is much of the manufacturing.
We could also ask ourselves why are getting policy that purposely makes energy more expensive, ie Australia less competitive??

Another big problem, given the size of the continent, is transport. What many people don’t realise is the exponential increase in costs caused by high transport costs. Just to transport the FUEL they need to regional cities adds 20~30 cents a litre, that pushes up the cost of all transport further, which makes everything more expensive, which means you have to pay people more just to live there, which in turn further spirals costs upward. So what does the government do, they stick a massive excise on fuel and are going to slug it with the carbon tax, brilliant.

Do you know WHY FIFO is all the rage? Because ultimately its cheaper. How stupid is that? During the mining boom, housing prices in Perth went through the roof, yet its still cheaper to live here than most of the regional centres. The cost of regional housing is crazy, partly because of the governments corrupt zoning policies, but also because everything must be transported.

Australia literally has gas coming out its ****. ALL our cars and trucks should be running on LPG, CNG, and LNG at a few cents a litre. Instead Australian consumers get ****** over whilst we sell off most of the gas to China.