I agree with most of this!

Revitalizing manufacturing is as simple as supplying what the industrialists need and then leaving them to do what they do best, which in our case is innovate!

And we could make that very possible by doing a few things right, from the get go.

The first being the world's cheapest industrial energy, via thorium reactors connected to micro grids; the second is massive tax reform and simplification to eliminate avoidance as well as eliminate tax compliance costs.

If the total tax take is 4% of the GNP, and the GNP is a measure of our combined unavoidable spend, then a 5% equally unavoidable expenditure tax will raise more revenue!

And given this simple stand alone measure would end any need for (7% averaged) tax compliance costs, find taxpayers better off by at least 2%; plus whatever they also save not having to pay most other taxes!

And a brand new poeples' bank supplying low cost venture capital to resident manufacturers and value adding processors, would compell local enterprise to prosper and grow globally!

All that prevents that is Government intransigence/governments who see such things as personal piggy banks!

We could keep a car manufacturing base, i.e., as an employee owned co-op; building carbon fibre electric motor vehicles. All that's missing is genuine vision and leadership! Ditto ship building, steel and aluminum/light metals smelting!

And given all component parts are produced by a single entity on a single site, remove all, the passed on cascading costs that quite literally treble the (multiple companies) cost on manufacture in this massively mismanaged country!

And given discretionary spending is the local domestic economy, after massive tax reform, create even more of it with the world's cheapest domestic power, via homemade biogas/ceramic fuel cells!

And just too easy, if we replace the ideology and dogma; absolutist assertions with the still missing reason and logic; and a blend of public and private enterprise, and based on a best practice, historical lowest possible price formula!
Rhrosty.

"Overzealous regulation by government has ripped out the soul of 'Western society'."

Regulation has indeed caused untold damage, but...
Since when did Western society have a soul?

If anything, then overzealous regulation has always been its soul!
Can you think of a time, at least since the Romans, when Western society was not heavily regulated?

"We need politicians who are committed to community economy"

We need politicians no more than we need snakes: let them all be exorcised out of our way, then people could form their own communities and/or economies or however else they choose to live.

Murray Hunter, you've got some things right but you're mostly wrong. Fiscal deficits do not cause failed governments – or at least, not for financially sovereign nations. The reason Greece is in so much trouble is that it surrendered its financial sovereignty to the European Central Bank.

National comparative advantage is a better foundation for the economy than protecting inefficient industries. The problem is our dollar is so high that it's damaging even efficient industries. It's economic policy, not industry policy, that's mainly to blame.

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Rhosty, you're spouting rubbish again!

Thorium reactors connected to micro grids would probably give us the world's MOST EXPENSIVE energy. Nuclear power is expensive to run and needs economies of scale to make it work. We have the potential for cheap power, but it will probably never be as cheap as Iceland's.

The total tax take is about a quarter of the GNP, not 4%.

Your comments about the car industry make no sense. How do you think the employees would be able to afford it?

Before you go ripping into me with you usual unresearched ideological diatribe Aidan; you need to read Thorium cheaper than coal.

And the reason being, thorium consumes around 95% of its fuel; whereas, oxide reactors, which you confuse with thorium, consume around 5%!

And even then the 5% waste product from thorium reactions is far less toxic and eminently suitable for long life space batteries!

And given their small size able to be built as mass produced modules and simply trucked on site almost ready to begin producing power!

Buried in bedrock adjacent to an industrial estate, able to eliminate virtually all transmission line losses, and therefore, able to supply power for less than half the lowest costing power in the country.

If as you say the 4% number is wrong, take it up with the ATO.

95% of corporate Australia have offshored their operations, and other multinationals are operating from Singaporean or Irish HQ's, all of which would seem to exclude them from our GNP?

If however, you include all income earning operations, be it a toll road or tunnel, rail or road freight, or multiple shopping malls or our foreign owned banks, excetera etc; then the GNP number is far larger.

But even if you're right, a single stand alone expenditure tax set at 18%, would be enough money to run a very streamlined Government sector.

18% of a 1.6 trillion dollar economy is still 380 billions; or around 30 billion more than the current gross tax take.

And given the fact it would still be unavoidable, end the need to shell out an averaged 7% as tax compliance costs; which in effect would be equivalent to an 11% tax rate, or if you will, lower in real terms than the 15% they pay in Ireland?

And given our tax would be unavoidable! See those companies operating offshore, paying far more tax than local operations.

Bet your sweet bippie they'd soon all become local operations and included in the GNP; and therefore allow the tax rate to be lowered! 5% infinitely variable perhaps?
Rhrosty.

Aidan, please engage brain before putting mouth into gear.

And an F- for failing as usual to do any homework, or requisite research; which likely explains why your essay is risible rubbish!

Try harder least you have to do grade one again and for the forth time!
Rhrosty.

Oh and by the way, there's no law that prevents governments from loaning start up funds to local co-ops, which would allow our home grown expertise to remain here and producing superior products.

Government can raise finance at half the cost of the private sector!

Co-ops are the only form of free market private enterprise that largely survived the great depression intact; and because everyone on the shop or factory floor has a vested interest in the success or failure of the operation; and therefore will share the pain or the gains.

And create a manufacturing model able to successfully compete with the emerging economies!

And almost without exception the best improvements come when those in the production line see and exclude the problems, along with any of the drones creating production bottle necks.

And given all the shareholders are in there with their sleeves rolled up; eliminate the dead weight of shareholder expectations, which dramatically lowers production and or borrowing costs; and possibly alters the knowlegable voting intentions at the AGM's.

Nor is there any example I can find, where such entity has grown to big to fail.

Given the emphasis is on maximized production and profits; rather than massively engineered equity/capital gains!

Right wing vitriol spouting Ideologues, endlessly extol the virtues of Government funded PPP's, except where the private entity is a tax paying co-op!?
Rhrosty.