Billie, I think you will find that a lot of that accreditation stuff is tied up with
Worksafe, a so called duty of care and some litigation that has gone on. One
property owner in NSW I was told, was fined something like 200k$, after
a couple of his staff rolled the 4wd whilst checking cattle. It seems he did not
fulfil his duty of care, by sending them to an accredited 4wd course.

Daggett, just because you say something does not make it so. Fact is that
when petrol prices reach 3$ a litre at the pumps, you will most likely be one
of those screaming loudest, that Govts should do something.

Relying more and more on the ME for our energy is not a good idea for many
reasons, cost being just one of them. As oil heads for 200$ a barrel, even you
will have to rethink your position.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2230825.htm

There is no good reason why Australia could not use natural gas to power its
fleet of vehicles, at much lower cost then oil. As oil prices rise, people might
finally get serious about it, but the lead times on many of those gas projects are
something like 5 years.

We have only scratched the surface of even knowing how much gas is out there,
many areas have never even been drilled yet, as Martin Ferguson points out.
At the moment, the reserves we know of, are enough for 150 years.

With the global energy crunch getting more serious by the day, it’s a perfect time
to get serious about developing our gas reserves in the NW, for the benefit
of all Australians

I refer to posts by Billie and Tony Ryan about Australia's skills 'crisis'.

Regardless of the causes of this phenomenon, the prefered solution to date - increasing skilled immigration - seems to have failed.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/migrants-add-to-skills-crisis-study/2008/04/28/1209234761904.html

.

Redback

I agree. I don't think we have any fundamental disagreement.

Personally, I would like to see an end to all immigration and refugee programmes; and I suspect the majority of Aussies think similarly. I would go further; those who plainly do not respect Australian culture should be returned. But that's our problem. Decisions are made on the basis of what 15% of the population want. This is Government by Minority Lobby, not democracy.

According to my surveys, and depending upon specific issue, between 65% and 94% of Australians do not agree with government policy. I think that that just about sums up all of Australia's problems.

And I finally figured out who Yabby reminds me of; Cartman.

So, you long-suffering readers out there; whenever Yabby engages in his usual unilateral and sociopathic diatribes, just picture Cartman and this will become a hilarious exercise in entertainment.

Cartman, sorry, Yabby wrote,

"Daggett, I remind you that in 1942, there was hardly much worth calling “technology”, ..."

I think I was trying to make the point that in 1942 Australia manufactured almost everything it needed for itself and that it had a technological edge over most countries of the world. To quote Andrew Ross, "... during the war, Australia's industry was more self-contained and technically capable than that of Japan. ..."

"There were an astonishing number of technical and manufacturing success as well. Australia succeeded in making all the major armament categories used by the major combatants in the Second World War - excluding the atomic bomb. ... There was also an astonishing number number of original contributions in major equipment design and manufacture. These included medium tanks, fighter aircraft, medium bombers, small arms, radar, field artillery, optical equipment and the process of tropical proofing. ..." (Armed and Ready(1995) Andrew Ross, p433).

Obviously the world has changed since then, but if this country had a technological edge back then then it should have been possible to maintain that edge instead of becoming dependant upon imports for what we used to be able to make for ourselves.

Cartman wrote,

"Sure the Japanese did not invade Australia, the size of the place would have been one extremely good reason, given that their troops were already spread thin."

It's not really clear here what point Cartman is trying to make. The previously accepted view is that the US saved Australia from certain invasion at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Ross has argued -- and, as far as I am aware, no historian has attempted to refute his argument since he wrote the book -- that the Japanese Navy wanted to invade notwithstanding all their logistical problems and the size of Australia, but the Army vetoed that decision on the basis of its knowledge of the military and industrial capability of Australia. If that capability had not existed, the Japanese would have attempted an invasion. Ross has shown that the Japanese Army was correct in its appraisal of the situation.

Daggett, in 1935 the Australians realised that war was coming and that they
might not be able to import things like planes, from Britain etc during
war. So CAC was formed, they copied American plane and engine designs
to built the Wirraway. The point is, in those days planes and technology were
simple. Of course Australia was advanced by world standards, due to our
connections with the US and Britain. Of course we were ahead of Japan,
for the real Japanese industrial boom only really took off after the war.

In times of war, one can sacrifice things and gain others, that does not mean
that it makes sense to do them always. With increased specialisation in
manufacture, it is getting increasingly harder, the speed of change is
also become faster, as the speed of information transfer increases.

Take a look at the Walkman, which Sony developed. It was a huge hit,
worldwide. Along came Apple with the I-Pod, demand for the Walkman
collapsed overnight. Manufacture today is about great design, innovation
and economies of scale. Trying to copy Sony or copy Apple, to make their
products locally, would be totally foolhardy and cost consumers a fortune,
reducing their standard of living. It makes no sense at all.

Now Apple is a great example of clever people making clever products,
understanding what consumers want and are prepared to pay for. If workers
are paid a bit more or less, is rather insignificant.

What you are trying to do is turn back the clock 100 years and it won’t work,
sorry. The world has moved on, like it or not

Cartman, explain "Pig Iron Bob" please.