With both leaders pledging to reboot manufacturing here, it is quite obvious they are both in la la land, as the only thing that will make manufacturing viable here, is welfare.

I say this because we have a unique situation, whereby wages are now too high for manufacturers to compete, yet, at the same time, these same wages are barely enough to survive on. That's SURVIVE, not LIVE.

So, it is my view that the only way to reboot our manufacturing, is for government to maintain real wages, while providing assistance to the manufacturers, in other words, wages must fall, and government must plug the gap.

Good luck with that, because one, we have no money left, and two, we have no money left.

Not only that, but we also have labors huge debt to service, along with labors unfunded promises to fund, and Kevins ongoing illegals debacle.

What idiot is going to start manufacturing something in Australia when they can hire employees in China and a lot of other countries.

For 1 months work overseas, in Australia you would be lucky to get 1.5 days work for the same dollar amount.

The only way to lower wages is an across the board percentage cut on everything.
No good cutting blue collar wages if dentists, doctors,lawyers and everyone else doesn't also.
Also if the wages get dropped business would need to drop prices instead of sit back and enjoy the profit windfall.

The only way I see that happen is in the event of another World War.

Can't see any substantial increase in manufacturing in Aus.

All our manufacturing investors went overseas, since Whitlam abolished tariffs. That is obvious to anyone that goes to a shop, as there are no, or very few, Aus made goods available.

The parties will soon forget their promises after the election.

Such a pity and if some countries engage in war (like china and japan) we will be short of goods. I feel for our future generations.

For Australia to compete in Australia against imported goods and services we must impose wage parody as tariffs to keep our people employed. It is pointless offering higher education in the hope we will build a better all employed society to people who have no desire to be higher educated or of lower IQ who prefer to work with their hands.

Australia has always been a producer of raw materials that have been processed here and created some of the worlds leading inventions. We had a clean food production that has given way to cheap imports and the introduction of diseases and inferior products.

Phillip, wage costs to businesses will have to drop for us to have any chance of competing in the future, BUT, governments must plug the gap, so the workers are no worse off. That is the key, most likely unaffordable, but the key none the less.

As for reducing profits, no, that shouldn't happen, because these profits will be needed to fund investment, the investment that will be needed to boost manufacturing.

You see governments prefer to assist business with borrowings, but refuse to attack the MAIN PROBLEM, wage costs.

As for China, those days are numbered, as their youth, tomorrow's workers, want what we have, and that will put huge pressure on China itself.

So the day may come where China ceases to be the manufacturing supe power, not in my life time perhaps, but it may well happen.

As we speak, Americas unions are pushing for a doubling of the minimum wage, and this could have huge implications with industries such as hospitality, because although the wages are very low, many do very well through their personal ability to attract tips.

Interesting times ahead, but our manufacturing businesses simply can't bring about rebuilding our industry without serious government assistance, and simply allowing an excelerated writing off of equipment is not the answer.

I am convinced that if we are to reinvent manufacturing here, governments need to plug the gap between affordable wages, and a livable wage.

Wages are only a part of the problem, & even a fairly minor part at that, in many areas.

I have mentioned here before, that I had to go offshore for some products, that were making here, or go out of business.

I could have solid brass chrome plated products, assembled with rubber gaskets, delivered into my Brisbane store, first from Taiwan, & then from China, for less than the cost of the brass to machine them from in Brisbane.

These products were being made from our copper & zinc ore. There is not a great deal of labour involved in refining metal, certainly no more than in transshipping it to Asia, & back from Asia, so I think there is something other than wages pushing up our prices.

We are being ripped off somewhere, somehow, & I don't have the knowledge of the metal industry to know where or how.

It is a similar situation in the car industry. Cars today are made mostly by robots. Labour must be a greatly diminished component of manufacture, unless over manning & ridiculously high wage rates are being paid.

I have heard of low skilled assembly workers getting $100,000 a year. If this is so, little wonder we are going out of business. The unions destroyed the British manufacturing industries, particularly the car industry, & it looks like our turn has come.