Recent article says we have lost 120,000 manufacturing jobs in Australia over the last 10 years.
Preamble. I'm from Adelaide and not so long ago we had a shoe factory operating in the CBD called Slatters.(now apartments)
I'm still wearing my Slatters shoes though pretty old. For one pair of Slatters I probably go through 4,5,6 pairs of imported. Slatters is gone like many of our home spun industries. It's not just shoes but socks, toasters, radios, crockery, microwaves - take a look around your house or go to your local CHEAP as shop. We are importing and buying a lot of crap products.
I'm not bagging China - good luck to them - but should we close factories to support the non sensible free trade principle that is non existent.
Try and digest this in a simplistic argument.
1) 1000 workers earning say $40k/yr. Total wage of $40 million.
2) @ 15cent in the dollar that's $6 million tax
3) Lets say $30 million spent - $3 million GST
4) The last $4 million goes on mortgages - money moving around in our
banking sector.
5) 1000 workers now unemployed. They go on Newstart say $300/week.
Round that out to $15 million/year in Centrelink payments.
6) The standard retraining for these workers is in the service
industry (waiters, florists, forklift drivers etc). This sector is
dominating our workforce.
7) We lose our skills as a workforce.
8) We put those that have lost their jobs under enormous duress.
9) France and Germany the powerhouse economies of Europe support
their industries by subsidy. USA is now encouraging their
manufacturers to come home (ie New Balance )
10) Question. Considering our real unemployment and under employment
figure is over 20% are we completely stupid as a nation not to
subsidise our manufacturing industry (as well as supporting new
innovation in the sector).

That's Australia Mate ! A Labor Government is simply compounding the selfish nature of the population. The decent Australians have been pushed aside since the Goaf Whitlam circus.
Just look at the forum, it's full of those who believe they're owed a living.
Anyone with some get-up & go is immediately pounced upon by the bureaucratic maggots hitting them for permits, licence fees & all sorts of other economy stifling idiocies.
There's no incentive ! That's why manufacturing has gone down the Labor-provided shute.

Jumbuck>> 9) France and Germany the powerhouse economies of Europe support
their industries by subsidy. USA is now encouraging their
manufacturers to come home (ie New Balance )<<

Bloody amazing Jumbuck….all our manufacturing jobs in the First World have been lost because of the abolition of protectionist tariffs. Now we are going to buy them back with our taxes.

When the UN, World Bank and IMF drew up the Lima Agreement, the cry was share the wealth with the Second and Third Worlds……but the only ones to prosper were those who now have so much power and wealth that they can’t count it.

Yes, we need to get manufacturing going again.

Why, non-food manufacturing still represents 65% of global merchandise exports, and agriculture less than 10%.

As Katter and Palmer said yesterday, wealth is created by producing something.

Not sure about Coalition, but indeed it will be a better option than Labor in terms of major parties. Costs need to be addressed.

....As Katter and Palmer said yesterday, wealth is created by producing something.

So true, yet this was identifieid years ago, yet we chose to ignore the warnings.

I remember back in the 70's, my parents used to say that one day we will no longer repair things, we will simply throw them away and buy another. Commonly known as the throw away society, and how true was that.

If you look at our employment markets, so much employment is funded through the taxes paid by other employees.

The plain raw facts are, that manufacturing WILL NEVER survive in this country again, unless government subsidizes the industries for ever and a day.

Now we have one huge problem with that, NO MONEY!

I am sorry gentlemen to disrupt your anti labour tirade but the globalisation trend was started by very right wing governments in the US and UK (Thatcher & Reagan) and has been continued on by BOTH sides of government since. They have of course sold out to big business who now own the governments.
This has allowed them to move their factories to Asia and very cheap labour.
They are now in the process of importing VERY cheap labour here to run mines that cannot be moved offshore as in 457 visas.
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/foreign-prostitutes-wanted-on-457-skilled-work-visas/story-fncynjr2-1226660651907
The only answer to this is to support any pollies that are willing to stand up to the present regime and bring in strict tariffs.
This would mean that you would have to forgo your smart phones and all the other junk that you find so essential but in the long term you would learn how to manufacture again and have jobs.
Our so called governments fool you into supporting one side or the other, when in fact they are both the same with different labels.