Yabby,

I'm fully aware that advertising has become a major reason for people buying imported goods.

The continuous insistance that tarrifs would make everything more expensive and of lesser quality, has resulted in people not buying anything Australian, because they think it will be more expensive and of lesser quality.

The whole system is reinforced and likely to continue indefinitely if government departments and education systems keep buying so much imported goods.

Once government departments and the education systems stop buying Australian products, the rest of the country is unlikely to buy Australian products also, and that is basically where we are at.

*The continuous insistance that tarrifs would make everything more expensive and of lesser quality, has resulted in people not buying anything Australian, because they think it will be more expensive and of lesser quality.*

I'd have to disagree there, Vanna. Australian manufacturing is
restructuring. If you look at specialised mining and farming
equipment for instance, lots of it is made here. Their problem
is that they can't find the welders, metalworkers etc to keep
up with orders.

Manufacturing is also becoming more specialised, we cannot make
everything. So cheap and labour intensive consumer goods are
made in China. But my Samsung LED was made in Malaysia, not
China. My Isuzu 4wd was made in Thailand. My Korg music machine
was made in Japan. My Prattley auto stock handler was made in NZ,
my Mig welder was made in Australia, my JD tractor was made in
Germany. My point is that these are all high value articles,
where quality, reliability, innovation etc are far more important
then just price.

Australia too, will develop its specialised niche products. Our
ferries are extremely popular, for instance. The other day I saw
a report on a company which makes large turntables and exports
them around the world. We export both specialised mining equipment
and specialised agricutural equipment.

The biggest problem for Australian exporters, is going to be the
value of the A$. Mining income is pushing it up, as other countries
race to push the value of their currencies down. That is bad news
for both agriculture and for manufacturing, for we are stuck with
the high costs, imposed on us by Govt.

Yabby,
I think you will find that nearly all equipment in new mines is now imported, and even steel framework is being imported and not being welded up in Australia. We sell other countries coal and iron ore, and import steel girders and welded framework.

I also think you will find that there are people who are reluctant to take up trades such as boiler maker work, because they can be laid off very quickly if there is a downturn. There is not enough constant work to take up some trades.

The loss of so much of Australian manufacturing has also resulted in a reliance on other countries such as China, as well as a loss of national pride and a general loss of innovation.

As an ex boilermaker, I certainly wouldn't recommend the trade to anyone.
Why would any kid with an ounce of brains want to endure the lousy pay an apprentice gets for 3 or 4 years, when they can make as much or more sitting on their can in an air conditioned cab of a truck, for the price of 3 or 4 lessons?
True, boilies on mine sites can make $150k plus a year, but so do truckies, with a lot less pain.
The good old capitalist laws of supply and demand should be pushing up wages for tradespeople in this country, since they are in short supply, but there's a way around that, isn't there?

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/LabourRelations/PDF/Publications/IndustryOverviewManufacturing.pdf

Vanna, I think we live in a different country, over here in WA.

WA manufacturing has been steadily increasing over the last 10
years. Much of that is for the mining industry.

To all those worrying about globalisation and foreign trade.
Forget it, globalisation is already fading and everything will become
local.
Read Jeff Rubin's book "Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller".
It is quite cheap, I think I paid about US$14 from Amazon.
It will change your ideas on all the discussion here on this thread.