At this point the "money" proposed that under the mantle of the UN Development Organization and in league with the World Bank and the IMF the money should leave high cost environments and move to where they could take advantage of the defenseless. The only problem was national import tariffs and protectionist legislation (the fence we used to have around our most precious resource, self reliance).

One year later The Lima Declaration was penned and here in Australia it was passed into legislation by the Liberal government of the time, and with the full support of the Labor opposition the fence came down. I was fourteen when my father (a unionist) methodically went through what it would mean for our independence and Australia’s future. He said that we would be a net importer of goods and then food and at that point we are fooked, sadly all he said has come to pass.

No wages paid to the rank and file has ever seen them moving into Vaucluse and shopping at Double Bay, unlike some Labor power brokers that you alluded to. The Labor party went from a vehicle for social justice to an "ideological cause".

Ah Sonofgloin, just blame those evil politicians for giving
consumers a choice. How shocking!

Perhaps its time that we called a spade a spade and blamed parents,
for raising a mob of brats, giving them life on a plate, so they
now expect life on a plate.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/8379416/gen-y-slack-and-spoilt-says-boss/

Its something that I have noticed here in the country. Those
parents who were tough on their kids, they are all thriving in
life. Those who got it on a plate, they can't cope when a little
adversity comes along.

Judging by the article, I doubt if some are employable either.

Everybody is employable there's always someone that wants their shoes polished.

Yabby adversity breeds resourcefulness, no doubt. But lazy gen Y or not, they did not dismantle our manufacturing base. You fail to understand that this transition from self sufficiency to being a net importer is not a positive movement.

In fact you embrace it as a boon for consumer choice, here is just one example where our politicians made decisions contrary to our best interests in the name of consumer choice:

Jan 2005 - When Australia signed a free trade agreement with Thailand in January 2005, the then Howard Government claimed car manufacturers would reap the benefits in terms of exports. Instead the exact opposite has happened, with Thailand imposing hefty sales taxes on imported Australian cars. Meanwhile cars made in Thailand are selling like hotcakes here.

And a related article:

24 Jun 2005 ... 'The new investment will show the world what we at Toyota already know: that Thailand, one of Toyota's largest production bases,”

Bloody amazing we drop our protection in January and Toyota invests in further production in Thailand in June, in preperation to supplying Australia.. Traitorous politicians and their lackeys such as yourself have no credibility other than to other apologists.

I agree with your post yabby, and understand my Friends concerns with the death of manufacturing .
But ask your self this why is that big tin shed so full of buyers?
And the products so often not Australian.
Consumers want to buy on price not country.
I in particular am unimpressed with gen y.
Judge mental, uncaring and rude for a start.
Willing to sit around and not work and likely to be locked up smoking the dope they buy with our tax's for a few days.
Unlikely to ever muster the Wil to change anything that other generations had.

Sonofgloin, indeed all the 4wds that I have purchased for ages,
are made in Thailand. I drive Isuzus, which used to be badged
as Holdens. Now they sell them direct.

Australia has never produced 4wds and most of us don't want to
drive 6 or 8 cylinder petrol utes. So what on earth is wrong with
us buying them from Thailand?

The fact that they are now cheaper, reduces our input costs and
I remind you that around here in WA, most of what is produced is
exported. We need to be globally competitive, out inputs need to
be competitivley priced.

Clearly Gen Y have no intention of knuckling down to work on
a production line anyhow. They won't even take jobs on offer on
the meat chains.