Also Cheryl and Pericles,

Maybe this source is full of lies and you have other evidence.

Fruit and vegetables top the list of import categories at $1.7 billion in 2008-09, followed by seafood at $1.3 billion, coffee, tea, cocoa and spices ($1.2bn), cereals ($800m), dairy ($600m) and meat ($575m).

Chris Lewis:>>also, I was asking where Aust's future wealth was going to come from given ongoing decline of manufacturing, and smaller opportunities coming from services. Perhaps you have some answers to enlighten me, or is everything just dandy with the stuff in the ground.<<

Chris the only future is service industries; there is no way back to manufacturing on the scale of the 70's. You name it we manufactured it here up till 30 years ago. That was when the free trade agreements took our protectionist tariffs away and manufacturing died because of cheap imports. Our politicians signed our futures away with a bit of stiff arm tactics from the IMF and the World Bank. We are a banana republic, we live off what we did up or grow, they don't even let us value add to the resource, just dig it grow it and ship it. Any talk from any govt about revitalizing the manufacturing segment is spin if they do not bring in import tariffs.

Sonofgloin, you should remember that those tariffs only supported the blue collar workers of NSW & Victoria. All the the rest of the population, & particularly the other states were much poorer for that transfer of wealth to manufacturing.

As a bloke who worked in industrial raw materials, [plastics] when we lead the world in developing new applications, & techniques, I hated to see our industry die. However you must remember that an FJ Holden was over a years income for many. Imports have reduced prices.

I agree we have stuffed it up mightily, when we can import finished brass products for less than the local cost of the brass to make them. This does seem strange, when it's our copper, & zinc that made the brass.

I doubt the service industry is our salvation. Just today I closed my account with a phone company, when I could not understand the subcontinent accent of their call centre worker. This is the second, & I have decided my little protest will be that I will no longer do business with any company with an overseas call centre.

As for agriculture, it is about to get worse, rather than better. Many irrigators in the Murray Darling are about to be put out of production with the announcement of the new policy. This will please the greenies, who must want to eat imported somewhat doubtful food, & the South Ozzies, as it will ensure their man made fresh water water sky, & irrigation lakes continue to fill. This at the cost of much of the inland of three states, but that's Oz today it seems.

So hang on, enjoy your big house, while you can. I'm afraid my crystal ball shows a bark hut in the future of many of us, in the not too distant future. Grandfather was right when he said, "get a nice safe government job" we may all need one of them soon.

I think the people have already voted on this one. When the last
liberal Govt tried to free up the labour market, to make it flexible
and competitive, Australians voted against it.

They clearly want all the bells and whistles. Double time overtime,
termination payments if the business has to reduce staff and all
the rest.

In that case, why would any entrepreneur risk his money to create
globally competitive exports? Better just to focus on local
niche, which is a sure thing. Or invest the money at 6-7% and head
for the beach.

China buying farming land.
In my opinion, their motive is more to do with the fact that our farmers simply won't be able to produce food in ten to twenty years as their costs will outweigh their profits.

We are already fast approaching a position of 'net food importers', so with our wage costs, in comparison to OS, we are on a hiding to nothing.

NBN
I think the author is spot on here. Fast broad band will make taking IT overseas much easier. Let's face it. When one can employ a fully staffed office for the price of one executive back here. Simply do the math.

Our beef industry
For years now we have been crowing about live export, both sheep and cattle. Well, now we have rising competitors, whos herds dawft ours and there is one OS company, that is well established in southern america that is tipped to take our export market. They are gaining a strong foot hold here right now.

Remember, we currently export 85% of what we produce. Loss this and it will be game over.

Most of these issues raised are attributed to one common problem. High wages.

You see, our wages increase in line with the cost of living. Times get tough, so our government grants a pay rise.

This is where the problem is.

Wages, like any other expense, come from profits. If we increase expenses, while decreasing profits, we are heading south.

You simply can not continue to hurt the 'risk takers' or they will eventually stop taking the risks.

It's a pity none of you think of looking up the real things that matter when making such decisions. To start, the mined resources are non-renewable, once they're gone, they are gone for good. The raw exports are also non-value added, meaning that no employment is used to produce manufactured goods from them and though – when exported, requires reciprocal imports, and depending on the country to which the export takes place, we receive the goods that the companies in our country choose to import, so companies such as Target, K-Mart, Lowes, Bunnings,Wesfarmers, Trade Tools and a hundred others, buy in the Chinese clothing etc, Chinese and Japanese tools, and a thousand other goods, most of which we used to make and maybe some we still produce here in Australia. In a report by Bloomberg, they say Pohang from Sth. Korea, paid an estimated $US308.70 / ton for coal, while BHP Billiton, sold Premium coking coal (same type of coal), for $US98 /ton. Implying that we are putting too low a price on the coal that we are trading, and the reciprocal goods we receive are similarly reduced in value, being subsidised. Our manufacturing industries are being destroyed, and our “Professionals” in cabinet either don't have a clue or don't care, they are getting a great salary with all perks and a terrific super scheme if they get kicked out, so don't expect any great advances in our economy with them. The internet tells us that the land after open cut mining is of very little use, nothing will grow there, the value of export mining is grossly over rated, it has been causing more destruction to our own industries than any benefit we would ever receive.