*In these circumstances, the hope that Australia can ever profitably manufacture any products other than a few specialised niche or boutique products, unless Australian workers are prepared to work for Third World wage levels, is a pipe dream.*

Funny that Switzerland, Germany, Japan etc, all have very healthy
manufacturing industries, none pay third world wages. I once saw
a documentary on the Korean shipbuilding industry. No slave wages
paid, again it is booming.

The main problem we have is that local manufacturing was for far
too long, protected by high tarrifs. It became fat, lazy and non
competitive. It increased costs for efficient industries, such
as mining and farming.

Slowly some specialised industries are emerging in Australia, which
are globally competitive. Like building ferries, specialised farming
and mining equipment. Forget trying to compete with China, making
consumer goods by the millions. You will fail and raising tariffs
will only lower everyones standard of living.

I note that Yabby has accepted my central argument that Australia will only be able to compete in specialised niche areas of manufacturing.

How much does he believe that we can ever earn from the sale of a few ferries, specialised mining and farm equipment? In any case, I worked for a farm equipment distributer for a while. It seemed to me that much more was being imported than exported and the same would be the case for ships.

Sweeping statements about how "Switzerland, Germany, Japan etc" are presumably withstanding the onslaught of competition from slave-wage economies as opposed to the record of Australia's presumably "fat, lazy and non-competitive" manufacturing sector are not helpful unless the substance of these claims are examined more closely and the differences acknowledged.

It's quite a while since I was able to find any of the famous German brand name tools in a hardware store which had been manufactured in Germany rather than in China, and I don't remember when I last saw an electrical appliance in the store that was manufactured in Europe, so it seems to me that in many regards, the European manufacturing sector may not be doing so well either.

To the extent that there is residual strength in the European manufacturing sector, I would suggest that it would have a lot to do with the way those countries have not embraced free-market laissez-faire capitalism whether or not they choose to use tariff walls.

Yabby wrote: "raising tariffs will only lower everyones standard of living"

That's a subjective opinion and, in any case, that is a choice that should be put to the Australian public as the choice to remove tariffs never was.

I think, unlike the case for Australia's lazy self-satisfied elites who are driving this country and the planet to ruin to satiate their own rapacious selfish greed, the majority of Australians would be prepared to pay whatever cost was necessary to make Australia self-reliant again.

Daggett, why on earth would Australia want to compete, making pairs of shoes
that wholesale for 5 $ or t shirts that wholesale for 3$ ?

I remind you that niche is where the money is and lots of niche means huge amounts
of money, for those that do it right. No wonder that the trade balances of Switzerland,
Germany and Japan, are all so healthy. They all do niche.

Bally shoes are still made in Switzerland. So are Rolex watches, Cartier watches
and a number of others. Pharmaceuticals, another niche industry. Hermes handbags
sell for 5000$ a pop and the fastest growing market for luxury goods is in fact China!

Germany is racing ahead with IT equipment, solar cells, etc. All niche industries,
booming.

The Australian company that builds DBS seeders, exports them to Africa, Asia,
all over the place. They would cost around quarter of a million $ each, but they
are way behind in filling orders, as they can’t find the labour in Australia. Western
Australia is the State of full employment!

If consumer goods were forced to be made in Australia, the losers would be the poor.
For their price would skyrocket, the poor could no longer afford them. I note that
even pensioners now can afford to own a few power tools and do their hobby crafts,
since China started making cheaper versions. Heavy duty industrial power tools
are still made elsewhere. There will always be 2 markets, one based on price,
one based on quality and niche.

Scanpan for instance, have been a huge hit in Australia. Made in Denmark, with high
cost labour.

That high tariffs lower standards of living is not a subjective opinion, its been analysed to death.
Keating, Hawke etc, understood all this 25 years ago, that’s
why they acted as they did. Sounds like you are 25 years behind the times Daggett :)

.

Yabby,

I notice, you have dodged my point about giving the Australian public some say in whether or not we should rebuild a healthy manufacturing sector by the use of tariffs, if necessary.

How about quantifying exactly what proportion of the export incomes of the countries to which you refer is made up of these specialised and boutique products? How does the income earned by Switzerland by export of luxury items compared to what it earns by banking? How does the income gained from those specialised Australian exports to which you refer measure up against the income gained from export of minerals and real estate? I would suggest to you, in the scheme of things, very little.

In any case, can the world afford economy afford much longer to support the wealthy elites who have the incomes to buy the Rolexes, Hermes handbags etc? I somehow doubt it.

If the free market propaganda peddling for the last three decades had any basis, then Australia would have already arrived at a state where we would have a healthy manufacturing sector. It wouldn't be held out to us as it is by Senator Kim Carr as a dream yet to be attained at some indeterminant point in the future.

We are now living with the consequences of having allowed our economy to be opened up to global free market forces, that is the destruction of much of the manufacturing sector we once had and the transformation of the basis of our economy to the unsustainable export of our mineral wealth and the sale of real estate. No amount of wishful thinking will change that until our governments begin to actively intervene in our economy again.

The issue is not about competing on the world market with exports from slave-wage economies. The issue is about making this country sustainably self-reliant and giving everyone within it a dignified means to earn an income.

Friend Daggett... you are talking to the proverbial brick wall. Yabby is another of those who will never respond to empirical challenges; and who is so isolated from his/her fellow humans as to be either oblivious of the misery in which one in five Australians now live, or simply not care.

Yabby's is the signature sentiment of the elite's blow-jobbers; the drones who nibble and lick the bloated queen; and we are not talking worker bees here, but termites who chew away on the foundation timbers of Australian sovereign independence and prosperity.

These are the political groupies who so slavishly worshiped Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Button, Gareth Evans and John Howard as these traitors sold out the Australian nation.

In my more self-indulgent moments, I like to imagine these treasonous criminals lined up on the gallows; although I suppose our softer hearted Aussies mates would probably settle for 'Life with Hard Labour'.

I would not argue, after all, one day's labour of any kind would kill them anyway.

But getting back to your central observation, much to Yabby's chagrin the decision is neither mine nor yours. In a democracy, it must be the consensus of all Australians that we restore tariffs. I imagine that you, as well I, will be happy to go along with the judgement of our fellow Aussies. But democracy is really what Yabby hates.

Daggett I certainly did not dodge your question. For anyone who thinks a bit, it is
bleeding obvious that the Australian public vote every day of their lives with their
wallets, as to which companies manufacturing in Australia, are any good
and offer customers value for money. Just recently I bought a Mig welder for
3500$. I bought Australian made, as I wanted quality, not an el cheapo that only
half works. Similarly, when BHP or other companies buy new equipment for
their workshops, price is only one factor, certainly not the dominant one.

Why do you want to deny consumers the right to vote with their wallets?

Luxury items are just one of many niche products made by countries with intelligent
manufacturing industries. You might be fascinated by cheap consumer goods, but
open your eyes to the real market. Cheap consumer goods are only a small section.

Why do people buy Miele household appliances, Grohe taps and a whole host of
other things from a place like Germany? Because bargain price appeals to only
a section of the community and economy. Go to your supermarket, you will see
Hero jam, Lindt chocolate, none of them cheap and made with slave labour.

Niche is where the money is, from specialised mining equipment to you name it.
Why on earth should Australia compete in areas where it does not have a comparative advantage?

You might not like the new millionaires, but I gather from CNN that China now
has one million of them, in $ terms. Nearly all became wealthy in the last 10 years.
They are prepared to pay for status, so why not sell them expensive dreams?

Australia’s biggest problem in developing a competitive manufacturing sector
will be not enough skilled labour. Good staff are always hard to find and they
will be snapped up by the booming mining sector which can outbid industries
such as manufacturing and agriculture.