http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220383
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220385
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220388

Chris Lewis, correct but i think it is high time we went back to full tilt, protectionism like we had between 1945 & 1972.

i would do it differently to a tarrif barrier, like we had.

Some people cannot make it into the "smart state", we need MORE ordinary jobs for people who do not have the intellectual horsepower &/or self discipline to do 7 to 10 years at uni as we can no longer afford to keep them on welfare for life.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220396

Curmudgeon, before 1972, we had full employment, some goods were not perfect, but everybody had a job & our nation was stronger, richer, more independent, it is the old "lesser of 2 evils" argument.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220397

Chris Lewis, now you are getting somewhere, but we dont even have a "mining" industry, that would indicate refining/smelting & export of steel, etc.

Exporting raw rocks is quarrying.

If you can afford fancy decorations try buying some "Italian" marble which is quarried in SA, then exported back to the land of OZ as finished product.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220413
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12758#220424

Rhian & Curmudgeon, fine, look at life for the ultra poor in the USA who dont have socialised medicine like we & Britain do. Life expectancy is "not good", same as it is "not good" for Aboriginal people for different but similar reasons.

We should be looking at fair trade.The shipping industry of 80,000 vessels produces many time more real pollution than all the vehicles on the planet.It is a waste of energy and a cause of real toxic pollution.

We don't need most of the junk we buy from China.It is of poor quality and costs a fortune to dump.It is time to look at quality of life,spending time with family and a real education.

It is all about corporate greed rather than catering for human need.

Formersnag

... and removing tariffs requires us to get rid of public medicine why, exactly?

Like Curmudgeon, I accept that there is a disparity in life expectancy between rich and poor. But the trend for both is improving. If the poor are living longer and the rich are living longer still, life expectancy is improving but inequality is increasing. They are not the same thing.

In Australia, the gap between life expectancy for indigenous and non-indigenous is appalling. There are major problems measuring indigenous life expectancy, and comparisons over time are hard because methodologies have changed. However, it is almost certain that life expectancy for aboriginal people is improving, as it is for non-indigenous people

*we need MORE ordinary jobs for people who do not have the intellectual horsepower &/or self discipline*

If that were the case Formersnag, they'd clearly be knocking down
doors to grab jobs at the meatworks, hardly intellectual jobs.

The reality is that meatworks rely on 457 workers, as Aussies don't
want the jobs. You can't go putting people on drugs onto a meat
chain either, employers have a duty of care to be concerned about.

Next thing you'd send broadacre farmers broke, by massively
increasing their input costs. You already rode the merino into
the ground with high costs, now you want to do it to crop growers
too, who rely on China for reasonable cost herbicides plus other
inputs.

Then you want to deny poor people affordable household appliances,
kiddies clothes and all the rest.

You need to think again Formernag, for the public are clearly voting
with their wallets every day on this

China is a breathe of fresh air for our economy. Without them,
mineral prices would still be on the floor. They now buy 25'000
tonnes of lamb from us, which is making a huge difference to the
market. Trade is benefitting both economies. If some of us can
compete in the global economy, its time for the rest of you to get
off your butts and do the same.