Yabby,

In some ways you're right we can get some foreign imports cheap and yes you make a buck or two when the weather is right and the $A is low etc.
But that doesn't work for everyone everywhere.

What the Supermarkets don't tell the public is that they stock that which they make the biggest buck on....Suppliers have to pay for floor space and enter into advertising, specials, and preferential cash flow benefits etc all of which pervert capitalism which doesn't benefit the consumer thus giving rise to Pelican and Banjo's observations.
It all boils down to the breadth of your assessment.
As a humanist I find that the only reason we get cheap o/s products is the exploitation of the less powerful....clear evidence that a level platform is so much bull.

*As a humanist I find that the only reason we get cheap o/s products is the exploitation of the less powerful*

Examinator, I strongly disagree with you. For a start, only around
16% of our imports come from China. Just look on our roads, something
like 80% imports. Not from cheap labour countries either.

Every single whitegood in my house is in fact made in Australia. Why?
Because then I can get parts, they are not as crappily made as
some imports, I think they are value for money. What has happened
however is that competition in the market place has forced
manufacturers to take notice of the consumer, something which they
hardly bothered to do, when we had tariffs.

I wish I could find the link again but about a year ago I read
a story on the net, about the history of a whitegoods manufacturer
in Australia, from the 60s-70s. The bloke who owned the place would
rather have been a farmer. When new models were released, they
did not even bother to test them, they reckoned that consumer complaints
would soon tell them if there were any mistakes.

One thing that I drummed into my staff when we were exporting seafood
around the world, was that customers mattered. I wasn't paying their
wages, customers were. When it came to quality control, would they
buy the product if it was their money? That paid huge dividends,
for next week those same customers came back, again and again.

Price is just one of many issues in the market place. People want
value for money. Fair enough. The only way you achieve that is
through competition.

Australia is simply too small a country to make everything and do
it well. So I buy Australian where that is the case, or the price
is within reason, but I won't go not eating guavas or grapefruit,
just because there are non available locally.

Our industries have to become globally competitive, as they have
in the US, Europe, Japan, Korea etc, all large exporters.

rehctub,
Thinking about your question a bit more, it seems that those areas of food production that can adapt to mechanization and bulk handling will survive and those that can't will fail.

Vegetable and fruit seem most vulnerable as there is high inputs such as fuel, labour and fertilizer. Imports will account for some sections of the local industry. That is of concern.

In Australia, we have a growing population, driven by immigration, which increases demand for food and the increasing urban sprawl removes much good productive land from production. I have never seen the merit in covering good land with houses, concrete and bitumen when there is large tracts of unproductive land.

Fishing on the east coast is nothing like it used to be. There are more recreational fishermen than ever and the professionals have become more efficient. This means there are less fish, leading to government buying fishing licences back and the establishment of marine parks, etc. to preserve some fish breeding stocks.

There would be big changes in our diets even now if we had to become self sufficient in food, as a country.

We talk about recycling but the waste in all areas of food usage is enormous. Most going to dumps to be scavanged by seagulls, foxes and rats. half a dozen chooks in backyards would eliminate most household putrid waste. The vast waste in the catering industries, bakeries and green grocers should be addressed. Wheat farmers used to keep some pigs to make use of damaged and low standard grain, but I believe that is history, by regulation.

Sooner or later we will have to address this aspect of waste and recycle it. In the meantimee I hate to think what would happen if our sealanes were cut off, say by regional conflict.

On Lateline Business last night, the Chairman of the ACCC announced that legislation was being passed that will now impose serious criminal penalties on executives of big business who engage in cartel behaviour.

If applied in the food and associated industries, this could well be the single biggest initiative that gets rid of financial leeches in the system thereby leading to lower food prices to the consumer.

RobP,
I would like to think that you are right and that the ACCC will act when the legislation is passed, but I will not hold my breath. I just read your post to Belly in his thread, which clearly shows the polys only think of themselves. They are all bastards.

The only thing that occured, in establishing Canberra, is that they stuffed up a good paddock.

* that those areas of food production that can adapt to mechanization and bulk handling will survive and those that can't will fail.*

Basically yup. Our labour is hugely expensive and lets face it,
Aussies don't want those crappy jobs like picking fruit anymore.
The industry now only survives with backpackers etc.

*I hate to think what would happen if our sealanes were cut off, say by regional conflict.*

Banjo, today everything is global. My John Deere tractor would stop,
if parts from overseas were not available. The plant that produces
bottles for Perth's milk, is made in France. If it breaks down
and no spare parts are available from France, Perth would have no
milk. The list is endless. Veggies are perhaps the exception, as
anyone can grow them in their backyard if required.

* I have never seen the merit in covering good land with houses, concrete and bitumen when there is large tracts of unproductive land.*

Well lets face it, alot of that land grew little but wool. The
wool industry is basically stuffed, now that the Chinese own most
of the wool processing equipment. The flock has dropped from 170 million
to 70 million and has further to fall. Wool will become a niche
industry, little more. That frees up one hell of a lot of land
for other uses.