Bazz Have now and long before we met here had a great deal of respect for you and your actions in our hobby.
Hasbeen too we clash like young bulls but are not as far apart as you may think.
But let me say this wages and the 20% of workers who are in unions are not this country,s problem.
The high dollar has more impact than anything.
Bazz you find a coming holocaust that does not exist.

More work has been done on covering up new power and fuels, than finding answers.
If over night [and it will never happen] we ran out of petrol products new fuels would arrive the next day.
This country is not in trouble not in debt enough to drown us and if our life was to begin today we would not see bankruptcy or even bad times for this country bought about by workers wages
Reducing workers to under paid under privileged is not an answer.
Consumers must consume and to do so they must have the capital to do that.
Are we so sad a bunch we want to introduce suffering on those who work for a living?

Belly said;
If over night [and it will never happen] we ran out of petrol products new fuels would arrive the next day.

No Belly you misunderstand the problem.
We will NEVER run out of oil.
It is just that it will become too expensive.
Its expense will suck down our GDP and that will result in zero growth
as Europe is now very close to.

Actually there is no alternative to oil coming over the horizon as
nothing has the energy density of oil and its products.
1 Litre of petrol will drive your car for 12kms, try pushing your car
for 12kms and that will give you an idea of the energy density.

I have said many times and will continue to say that if a worker can hold a full time job (38hrs), as a floor sweeper and earn a decent wage, we have a major problem, because those without skills, or choosing not to use them need to work more hours, or a second job if they want a decent wage.

After all, if we pay our cleaners $40K per year, how much should we pay our police?

We are simply going to be the best paid, least worked people in the civilized world, simply because wages will be unaffordable.

As for anyone thinking we can retain our manufacturing industries, keep dreaming I say.

But the least we can do is stop the 457's and retain what jons we do have for our people.

If the likes of the mines can't find skilled staff, either train them, or dont mine, it really is that simple.

Typical small minded small business;
"full time job (38hrs), as a floor sweeper and earn a decent wage, we have a major problem, because those without skills, or choosing not to use them need to work more hours, or a second job if they want a decent wage."
Yep, how much should we pay a bloke to chop up dead animal carcasses? Not much skill in that. If these people had their way they would reduce society to a mass of menial minions, who's only function would be to serve their butchering masters. Naturally menial servitude doesn't include themselves as they "deserve" to be the elite, after all they perform the vital function of chopping up dead animals.
Will these people's thinking ever leave the 19th century?

I see Butch is still at it. If you pay floor sweepers on butches terms there would be no floor sweeping going on. He lives in a world of two centuries ago. How much wage reduction would you like. 50% or more.
Nationalise all mining in AU. That would give Gina a pay cut.

Paul1405,
I do concede that skil plays a major part in the rate of pay but it should not be the one & all. Value for work performed must be the bench mark. Let the bloke who chops up animal carcasses have a week off & don't have a stand-in. You'll only be too happy to pay him a little more when the carcasses pile up & start to smell. Many so-called menial tasks are extremely important yet the pay is not reflecting this. just watch some highly skilled & highly paid surgeon do his thing if the lowly cleaner didn't do his job. Or the prestigious professor get to his Uni if the service station mechanic doesn't fix his flat tyre etc. It's all a matter of value. Too many people do not offer anything of value in return for their pay, especially many public servants.