Yabby; Wa is and always has been 'remote' when it comes to servicing the rest of the country. This is why WA is often non-competetive in the market place.

Now if you (the farmers) were willing to pay the excess freight, then I dare say you would fetch simmilar dollars for your goods. Trouble is, you don't pay the freight, the buyers do, hence the lower prices on offer to WA farmers.

There is no reson why processing plants can't be set up there to process meat rather than exporting live.

Now as for keeping butchers honnest, well the general public do a pretty good job of that.

In most cases if something is cheap for us to buy, we (the industry)specials it as we, like the majority of businesses, work on margins.

Belly; I am not talking about 'pre-existing' jobs. Take the insulation project.

Why did we have so many out of work while at the same time we imported tons of 'low grade' insulation?

You can't tell me we couldn't have set up factories here.

Why? Because it was the 'easy option', that's why.

Value adding means 'add value to something we sell as raw goods'. Has nothing to do with competing with private industry.

Now as for your socialism comment. If we continue to sit on our hands and continue to support 'non-productive' people, something is going to give, prob sooner rather than latter!

We are already seeing predicted holes in our budget to plug holes in other areas as there is simply not enough to go around and, we are still only just over 20 million! How can we cope when we are 30 millon or 50 million?

The time has come to end the 'free ride' that so many have become accustomed to! (seniors exempted)

*This is why WA is often non-competetive in the market place.*

Rehctub, the marketplace today is global. Frankly, without WA,
the rest of Aus would be a banana republic, for over here, 10%
of the Australian population generate around 50% of Australia's
exports. You guys make a living by trading houses with each
other and call in an economy.

My point is don't come preaching to WA about the live trade, for
its an issue clearly above your head and its critical to WA farmers,
whose market is the global economy.

*Now as for keeping butchers honnest, well the general public do a pretty good job of that.*

Well cleary not, for the general public are not in the saleyards.
Given the figures that you are quoting, the general public are
also being screwed by many butchers.

Rechtub/banjo I see confusion in both posts.
rechtub our live sheep exports started with a market requirement.
People wanted to kill their own sheep in their own way, can you give evidence they would buy meat?
Would it be easily stored kept.
Would an end to live exports lead to one extra job, or would another country take up the slack.
Banjo, you talk to the wrong ALP/Union people, yesterdays men.
Market forces drive us, we can stand on the side of the road and be left behind, stay as we are and starve after our big holes in the ground are empty, or progress.
Please do not think in terms of a few roadside rest areas, it was not what I intended.
Clean toilets built by these people tracks roads a whole rest area built and looked after thousands of them.
A National tourist track, pack packers camps kept clean, made and maintained by new employment people.
A job much like a life boat forever or just while looking for something else.
Surely we over looked 5% being full employment? why do that number not get a job?
How many never want one?
Fair go mate also should mean every one has a go, no free loaders, and fairer outcomes for tax payers ,what better tax spent on giving some one a job?

Banjo challenged me for not thinking like his view of an ALP member or trade unionist.
I have found much in rechtubs posts here that is unlike the very right wing person he appears to be.
I others too, define how I should think.
But rechtub, you took the stick to Labor for importing that insulation, spoke of building factory's to build it.
Are you sure? would it cost more? maybe twice as much, we must not forget Labors waste bloke,
In fact market forces drive us, not now or as far as I can see in the future can we try to use patriotism to justify paying far more for anything.
I want Australian jobs, full time not casual.
I want IR to be about fairness and equity, and both sides to understand unionists are human, and in fact the consumers who keep industry rolling.
Insulation while we are at it, it proved my point any government can have a Peter Garrett.
But they all have the same public service cover ups, endemic in such places is cover up of total failure by those high paid and well trained in self defense state local federal we must do better.

Dear Belly,
You are starting to sound more like your mothers son.
There is a scripture found in Luke 14-26 that doesn't seem to fit, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
That is a curly one, have you any idea what Jesus is talking about. I guess we need to look deeper to get an understanding of how God thinks because his way of thinking is different to mans. Also have a look at Jesus words to Peter in the last chapter of the book of John for many people believe Peter is the rock to build your life on, very shaky ground.

Yabby;10% of the Australian population generate around 50% of Australia's exports.

You are talking about 'resourses', not live export. Huge difference!

Given the figures that you are quoting, the general public are
also being screwed by many butchers.

How do you come to this conclusion?

Belly, my comment on live export has nothing to do with whether or not those countries would buy processed meats, it has to do with creating jobs here and replacing aid funding with 'value added products' as oppossed to cash.

Now as for 'free loaders' you and I are on the same page there.

>>But rechtub, you took the stick to Labor for importing that insulation, spoke of building factory's to build it.
Are you sure? would it cost more? maybe twice as much,

Better to cost twice as much and have zero unemployment, don't you think? Even single mothers could work there and disabled persons could run the office.

I say again, we must find a way to create jobs for those out of work without effecting existing markets and I think the answer lies in 'value adding'. Insulation in my view was a prime example.

The importers of this insulation would have made a killing, yet we could have made it here with minimal wage costs as we already pay people to do nothing!

Continued