Dear rehctub,

Good on You!

Here's wishing you all the success possible.
People like yourself deserve every bit of support
from the public - and you'd certainly have mine
if you lived in our area.

Thanks Foxy

Good luck with the Butcher shop, R. I hope there's no supermarket nearby. As for the imports, I thought everyone was ecstatic about global free trade? The nay-sayers were shouted down. Well, this is what it means to all third world countries as we're becoming, having lost our manufacturing, clothing, car and other industries...indeed most other ways of making ourselves independent.

@tub

i agree with you on foodstuff coming out from china
caveat emptor
there are chinese there who are the product of the cultural revolution...they do not care two hoots about moral issues

as to your question on why cant we support australian grown food and esp so when there are massive unemployment

quick and simple answer... cost of production is just too high...all bec of the unreal wages demanded

@foxy

i do not agree all consumer products coming out of china are crap
you get what you pay for

let me give you an eg

a product made in australia cost $100 on the shelf
a similar product imported from usa or germany will set you back by $110-120 (cost of importation and slightly better in quality)
now, you can get a cheap china made product at $30 ( must be the christmas lights you paid for)
alternatively you can get one that is as good as that made in australia for $60
and if you are prepared to pay for quality, the chinese can get that made for you at $80...as good as the german quality

so, do yourself a favour... and do australia a favour
please tell one and all, you get what you pay for
dont use the chinese as whipping boys

the farm services chaps in my town learnt that 10 years ago
the owner swore never to use chinese made products... "only aussie made' he said.
i gave him the above illustration
and guess what?
90% of his goods in the shop are now from china and he makes 2 trips there a year to procure more goods
and the entire community here is educated to the real world

thks

Platypus 1900: "90% of his goods in the shop are now from china and he makes 2 trips there a year to procure more goods
and the entire community here is educated to the real world"
The real world of 7% Australian unemployment and rising. The solution that you avoid proposing, is for Australian wages to fall to the Chinese equivalent. Have you seen how those workers live?

@ybgirp

we live in a global world
think-tanks all over knew this 50 years back

my medical doctor cousin migrated to scotland 25 years ago
he thought he will be immuned from the plague of low cost 3rd world countries

how wrong he was
the internet changed that
internet transcribing meant he now got to contend with his peers who used indians resources

i dont have all the answers but i know all these "buy only made in aussie" ostrich talk is not real

@foxy

try to buy the $60 christmas lights and your next christmas will be merrier (and you would have saved $40) ... and continue saving so we do not have to borrow from the rich asian countries or the ME countries