Yabby

Good point the low government debt is a good thing but this does not change the fact that the current account deficit is huge.
The problem is we trade for about two thirds of our needs, this is good, but we buy the other third on the never never, this is egregious.

We put people on the scrap heap and who benefits? Well the rich (Melbourne establishment) are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. We live we a government deception that we have "low unemployment". This is simply not politically sustainable we have had several riots (including the Sydney "race riots") the cause of which can be put down to misbehaviour of unfairly disadvantaged unemployed youth. We have beggars in the streets.

I have found another deception in the RBA statistics; what is a manufactured good? Well pelletised Iron Ore and Alumina qualify, that is, slightly processed minerals are "manufactureds". And what do they call a pair of boots or a pair of jocks? "Elaborately transformed manufactures". So when Ian McFarlane says that we exported 115 Billion dollars worth of manufactures he does not mention that this comprises mainly, minimally processed minerals.

Perhaps I am flagelating an equine quadruped totally devoid of its original functionality. But something must be done and I care.

The closure of Blundstone poses some real problems for
- the 360+ workers who have lost their jobs about 200 will never work again and 125 will be worse off
- the australian community who has lost the taxation on the Blundstone profits as the company will have set up an overseas parent in a low taxing regime like Nauru to take their profit

- the current account which consists of the
- balance of trade deficit increase as the boots are imported
- balance of payments deficit which increases as profits are taken offshore.

Yabby if you don't know where Australian manufacturing has gone how can you argue with people who are keeping track of the closed factories?

Harvey Norman now sells computer goods and that's the only thing I have bought there. OK yes I have bounced and sprawled across their bed range.

Yes I was interested in the $5000 relocation allowance and dismissed it when I realised that it was restricted to people with specific skills who had already lined up work in WA. Of no use to people travelling to WA to look for work who weren't boilermakers, welders, fitters, riggers, Haulpak drivers etc.

I don't believe the current statistics because I have lived in WA during a previous period of "low unemployment" that was achieved by taking people off the dole for the duration of the survey period. Of the 50 kids from my street looking for work in Perth only 2 of us managed to establish ourselves but then my tenure was cut short by lack of family protection. I have sat next to the head of social security for north west who absolutely didn't want any dole bludgers on his books. I would never expect to be able to survive in NW on seasonal work, so if I couldn't get a permanent job I would only go for a holiday i.e. always have my fare home. When I left WA my salary qualdrupled.

Brightspark, I don't think that we put anybody on the scrapheap.
Its not the Govt's role to put nappies on people and babysit
them from cradle to grave. Govt can create certain economic
conditions, its then up to people to take the opportunities.

If say the Blundstone workers want to go on the scrapheap,
that will be their choice. From where I sit, I see opportunities
and possibilities everywhere, far more then I had 30 years
ago. The young who are prepared to have a go, are simply
thriving! But others expect Govts to do it all for them
and hand them life on a plate. It just ain't like that.

Over here all sorts of companies are screaming for staff.
Those going out on their own, to be contractors, are booming.
Kids of 22, with a few employees already, in the building
and similar industries. The only "fiddled figures" that I
know of is people on invalid pensions, many who simply don't
want to work anymore. They will offer to work for cash,
mind you.

You guys wonder why manufacturing companies close down in
Aus. Well I don't blame alot of them. They are lumbered with
taxes and charges and redtape, dictated to by some unions
and one day the owners have had enough, the figures don't
add up anymore, so they pull the plug. Well duh, what do
you expect! Operating a business, taking a risk and
providing employment, is not compulsory after all.

I certainly would not try to run a shoe manufacturing business
in Aus, unless I had a niche market, where consumers were
prepared to pay for all these rules, levies, laws and
conditions. A number of companies make similar boots to
Blundstones, so its become more of a commodity product.
Last I read, the average pair of shoes left China for around
5US$ a pair. Why on earth would I want to operate in that
market?

Yabby the mission statements of one WA mining company is "We are in business to maximise profit, in a socially acceptable manner". IE it is the role of government to regulate the conditions under which corporations operate. That same company said in its compulsory safety training that in 1902 when the employee was responsible for their own safety there was 2.5 fatalities per day in their single plant operation. By the late 1970s when the company had to pay hefty workers compensation for injured workers there hadn't been a serious accident for 18 months.

Yabby I am not sucking on the government t*t and I don't expect I ever will, but someone has to stand up for those people who are being trampled by the lies and deceptions that society allows to proceed because quite frankly the Australian unemployment rate is very high.

The hidden unemployment rate is due to the definition of employment being " completing 1 hour of paid or unpaid work in the survey period."

Lets unpack that statement, as they say.
- People are only looking for work if they are ready to work tomorrow so this precludes students and other groups in training programs like work for the dole programs
- it doesn't matter whether you are paid or unpaid because you work in a family business or unpaid because you are a volunteer
- the survey period is a fortnight

ie so if you work for 30 minutes in a week you are by definition - - "employed"

While you continue to delude yourself that there is plenty of work to go round then you will permit great injustices to be perpetrated in this society.

As a babyboomer I could never understand how people tolerated the inequitable social conditions of the 1920s that lead to the rise of facism in the 1930s and the unbelievable cruelties of World War II, but I think I know now as that we are living in similar times.

Billie, you are quite correct. Businesses are not the Salvation
Army, nor the Red Cross. They risk shareholder capital to make
a profit. The other option would be to stick to safety and buy
Govt bonds. Clearly those shareholders who take that risk, should
have some reward if things work out. A large number land up losing
their shirts after all.

I don't believe that the Australian unemployment rate is as high as
you think it is. Yup, there are people sitting on their arses in
Sydney and Melbourne, blaming the system, as the world passes them
by. There are opportunities out there, if they bothered to look.
Meantime there is a large pool of unemployables. The ice and speed
addicts for instance. The people with mental disabilities etc.
No employer could afford to pay all their benefits. At the end of the day, all those benefits have to be paid for by consumers, or the guy
is out of business.

To suggest that people are living under similar conditions as in
the 20s, is quite laughable. Do you want the Govt to just put
your nappy on your butt, or to change it every few minutes for you?

Its up to people to get off their arses and make stuff happen.
The Govt is not a nanny after all..

Well Yabby I can't argue against an entrenched belief so I am not sure there is any point directing you to economic analysis of the derivation of the Australian employment figures.

You are quite correct to say there are more employment options in WA than the eastern states so if you are in the eastern states and you are interested in more work get onto the recruitment websites and start applying for jobs in the west. Remember that mining companies employ their workers on a "fly-in fly-out basis" IE fly in work 14 days then fly out for 14 days. So if necessary you can leave the wife and kids in Tasmania. If the shortage is as dire as its reputed to be then potential employers can conduct phone interviews and you can use familial support until the job comes along

There is seasonal work with small employers that you can pick up on the spot, tourism operators want clean smiley people in their 20s, and there is always harvesting work in the season for the rest.