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The Forum > Article Comments > Australian manufacturing swamped by the Chinese tsunami? > Comments

Australian manufacturing swamped by the Chinese tsunami? : Comments

By Greg Barns, published 18/1/2006

Greg Barns argues the face of Australian manufacturing will change markedly over the next five years.

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A friend of mine (hey Trixie) works in the manufacturing industry. He loves this song. The drop Kick Murphy's version though.

Worker's Song (Handful Of Earth)
by Ed Pickford
© MCPS

Come all you workers who toil night and day
By hand and by brain to earn your pay
Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread
Have bled for your country and counted your dead

Aye, the factories and mills
The shipyards and mines
We've oft been told to keep up with the times
But our skills are not needed now for they've streamlined the job
With lawyers and computers our lives they'll rob

Ah but when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
They'll give us a gun and push us to the fore
And expect us to die for the land of our birth
Although we never owned one handful of earth

We're the first ones to starve, the first ones to die
The first ones in line for that pie in the sky
And we're always the last when the cream is shared out
For the workers working when the fat cat's about

Now for all these things that the worker has done
From tilling the fields to carrying the gun
He's been yoked to the plow since time first begun
And I'm afraid I'm afraid the race is not run

For when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
They'll give him a gun and push him to the fore
And expect him to die for the land of his birth
Although he never owned one handful of earth
Although he never owned one handful of earth
Although he never owned one handful of earth
Although he never owned one handful of earth

Wonder why? (A future)
Posted by rancitas, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 5:45:17 PM
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I say to you - what about our Australian workers' culture? What about Auustralia's small business culture? We do what ever other importers want to cater to their cultural needs. But what about ours?

Unionists, workers and sensible bossses have fought hard to ensure our culture of a fair go in relation to working conditons and pay is sustained.

So lets be proud of our culture. Lets do unto them as they do to us in relation to culure and insist that they pay their workers decent wages and insist on proper working conditions - otherwise no import (stick it up your jumper with all your ill-gotten gains China boss and "Aussie" importer) or stick a heavy tarriff on the imported product that equates to that that is ripped off the Chinese worker.

While you're at it, let's make all these big share bludgers get off their bums and earn their own wage instead of dipping into the hard-earned pay packets of honest men and women.

I want to see a future written on the faces of my friends - on the face of my country. (Dreadlocks)
Posted by rancitas, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 6:25:37 PM
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Well finally Greg has written something with substance.Within ten yrs nothing of consequence will be made here.

China is smart ,hungry,and keen to learn.They are not shackled with taxes for social security,fear of litigation or stupid Govt bureaucracy.If we think we are the servants of the US now,China will totally enslave us with their cheap labour and guile.China's social security is the strength of their family unit.Our strength is the taxing the incentive out of life to pay people not to work.

China's will and intent to achieve is unrelenting and we are consumed with a hedonistic lifestyle that is both decadent in work ethic and national solidarity.

Already custom made items are being made there and as their knowledge of quality improves,so will or industry diminish.

The Balance of Payments will continue to soar and our Govts just tinker with the edges in the hope of, "She'll be right mate."

So if China goes to war with us in the future,can we sheepishly ask for bullets to defend ourselves?
Posted by Arjay, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 9:14:49 PM
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Pericles- well written and informed post! BD- your post was a bit like religion, lots of dreamer stuff, but not very logical :)

Fact is even right now, abbatoirs in WA simply can't find staff, so export orders are being lost. Aussies can choose to not take jobs like that, which are not the most pleasant. So your theory of all these Aussies wanting to work on Aussie production lines are wrong.

Hey leave farming and mining alone, they are two industries which have shown that they can be internationally competitive. Doing a France economically speaking, is bound to fail. For all those costs to do that, are then burdend on the efficient, making them less efficient and less likely to be competitive. Its already the case.
State Govts are free to cut payroll tax on export industries if they wish, none have done so. So Govts tax exports, rather then assist them.

The sensible thing to do is what Pericles suggests, also concentrate
on innovation and leave the large scale mass manufacture to the Chinese. After all the biggest beneficiaries of cheaper shoes,
cheaper clothes, cheaper all sorts of things, are in fact the poor.

Yup the world is changing, get used to it. The most permanent thing in life is change.
Posted by Yabby, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 9:41:38 PM
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The Chinese move into Australian markets is more of a cancer than a tsunami.
In the Electrical Appliance industry all the major manufactures Sunbeam, Philips, Breville, Electrolux have gone off shore. They are under pressure from consumers for a cheaper product and from shareholders to maintain a profit.
The double edge of the going off shore is that all the support industries are disappearing as well. With Off Shore product cheaper than cost of Australian Wages many service companies are closing because it is no longer viable to repair Off Shore Product. Who wants to pay $150- to repair a VCR that you can buy a brand name VCR ex-China for $98-.
In Adelaide our local economy relies heavily on manufactures such as Electrolux. I can see a time in the not distant future with the bosses at Electrolux in Sweden start to wonder if its worth keeping the factories open in Adelaide to produce product to complete against $200- Washing Machines from China. Already we are seeing traditional small and medium furniture manufacturing businesses winding up because they cant get their product into the big stores because the National Chain Buyers only want the high profit bulk Asian Product.
The question is when all the factories are closed and all the tech schools who support the factories close who will buy the goods? And will we be passing on to our grandchildren a massive balance of payment debt that sucks up our GDP trying to service it?
Posted by Trev, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 10:01:01 PM
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Dear Yabby
the only kind of person who would write like that is one who can (Like King Hezekiah when told by Isaiah the prophet that he had screwed up big time, but that the disaster won't happen in HIS lifetime) say "I'm alright Jack, won't effect me".

In fact do I recall correctly you sold your award winning export company ? and are probably sitting quite pretty at the moment.

The point you missed is this... The chinese will not stop with 'large scale low cost consumer' manufacturing, they are continually upping their quality and the tech level of all they do. So, contrary to the government mantra of "We have to go 'value added'" THEY are going 'value added' and in time, (Just like the frog in the beaker of slowly warmed water) it will kill us.

Do you REALLY believe we can continually dig stuff out of the ground ? (it does have finite limits) or alternatively, how many FARMERS can we have in this country ?
Then,WHAT will become of the large numbers of unskilled manufacturing workers who are now out of a job and at a loose end. ?

Now Pericles is always berating me for being a 'would be follower of a Tryant' but I suggest, the TYRANT of whom he speaks (Who I have no interest in following) is the one who will take advantage of the widespread social disconent of THOSE very unemployed workers, and it could conceivably lead to very ugly social disruption. (soft speak for revolution)

Your comment "The world is changing, get used to it" is a bit lame :) sounds like you are one of the group who just look around 'wondering' what happened rather than MAKING it happen.

To be honest, I have about zero faith in our 'political nobility' to do something, Nobles have never looked after anyone but themselves. We will be sold out no matter what. -me ? My citizenship is not of this world :)
But I would rather at least SPEAK on behalf of those who probably have little hope.
Posted by BOAZ_David, Thursday, 19 January 2006 8:27:42 AM
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