Individual.

I concur. We need greater scrutiny and consensus about where all resources go, including academia.

My concern is just how we get the right balance in regard to the private-public mix, whatever the right mix is.

Unfortunately where industry is concerned I think the horse has bolted.

When I came out of the navy, I finished the BSc in engineering I had started, [in one year, I was paying back then], & went into the plastics raw material.

At one time, about 63 or 4, we were supplying raw materials to 6 different TV manufacturers. From memory, Krysler Admiral EMI Echo AWA HMV & at least one more.

I was responsible for developing an ABS plastic formulation suitable for refrigerator door liners. Once perfected we had 6 customers using it in their fridges.

We also supplied 4 companies making telephones. Along with washing machines, vacuum cleaners & kitchen mixers, there were dozens of appliance manufacturers.

Can any one name any company still manufacturing such stuff here today?

Hell we don't even have anyone able to repair the stuff today. God help our grand kids.

Too true Hasbeen, too true !
The other company would have been Philips or Astor.
Remember the AWA factories on Parramatta Rd, the valve factory and TV plant ?
Remember AWA at Nth Ryde ?
Manufactured two way radios for industry, aviation, Marine, broadcast
transmitters, defence & stacks of others. Designed sophisticated
approach software & systems for airports an defense etc etc.

What does AWA do now, Runs Keeno, duh--

There seems to be an army of screen jockeys employed in the finance
industry, making nothing but money.
We would be better off if they were down the mine digging coal.

Unfortunately where industry is concerned I think the horse has bolted.
Hasbeen,
Yeah, but don't forget that horse is now getting old. There's a hybrid in the early stages of evolution & things will start to change in the next five years. I see it in the changing attitudes of the younger with sense. Quite the majority of the smart are in fact querying so much blatant unaccountability & they are in fact agreeing with me re National service & flat tax. Sheer economics & Law & Order will dictate the introduction of these policies. It's merely those who are hanging off the apron now who are getting very defensive when asked to be accountable.

Individual, the problem is that our economy has become one based on retail spending. Over half our GDP is derived from money spent on goods and services going to the household. 1/3 of that is money redistributed from taxes as welfare benefits and a further 1/3 is from income earned working for Government or organisations funded by government either directly or indirectly. The rest is largely derived from money earnt and spent by people who are themselves providing services that are paid for by the other 2/3, such as retail shop assistants, hairdressers, beauticians, etc, etc, etc.

If you've read Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, they're the group who were allocated to the "B" ark...

A few years ago Tony Abbott, when he was Howard's Health Minister, gave an interview on the 7:30 report, where he inadvertently but clearly made a distinction between "the taxpayer" and "the consumer" when talking about some proposed reforms to health funding.

At that stage most median income families still paid some net tax, but the largest consumers of health services were clearly not net tax payers, especially after the cost of providing them access was taken into account. Abbott made the point, which is very strong, that the interests of the "taxpayer" were at odds with the interests of the "consumer" and that his job as Minister was to try to balance those competing demands.

Since 2010 more than 50% of median income families pay no net tax. They have moved from being "taxpayers to "consumers". That makes the job of trying to balance the competing interests much harder, since "consumers" are now the majority of voters and "taxpayers" are mostly just corporate entities with no vote at all.

They do have the option of choosing not to participate by moving offshore though and lots have done so. Where does that leave the "consumers", when there's nothing to consume?

Have you read Animal Farm lately?

Antisceptic,
They're , devoid of sense, taxpaying consumers who pay GST after paying for everything else. Sadly, they're the ones propping up the public service.