Thread: Why we should buy Australian

Originally Posted by Pickles2

..
You are looking at things through rose coloured glasses mate.
Things are NOT that simple anywhere.
Try making clothes in Aussie,...try competing with Rivers?!! have a look at ANY stuff you buy,....most of it will be made in China,...why is that? There are squillons of products that we all use, every day, that are ALL made overseas. Why is that?...If it's so easy why doesn't someone make em here?
It is NOT easy, & for reasons that I've mentioned many times before,...it will not change.
Frantic & others can put all the "numbers" up they like,....won't make any difference,....if it was true,....why ain't it happening,.....I'll tell you again,....because it ain't that easy....If the majority of Aussies see a good product at a cheaper price, they'll buy it, & if Aussie "manufacturers"can make a product O/S at a cheaper price, that will actually sell the product, that is what they will do.
Of course there are many on here that think they could fix the problem,....they produce "numbers" (and that's all they are,...numbers!)they know better than ALL the Polies, & some very smart business minds, ...yeah right!
I now stand by to be flamed, by those who can,.....in their dreams,....fix everything!!....BUT are these people actually trying to run a manufacturing business themselves, or just telling others how it could work, by telling them the "numbers"?
Pickles.

Unfortunately pickles unlike most of this rant numbers don't lie.

Numbers that show we actually make a lot of goods better and cheaper than overseas competition, BUT, the numbers also show far larger foreign govt support for job creation through manufacturing.

Steel, China just wrote of 20 times the debt of our local Arrium on one of its part govt owned steel makers ,along with all the export incentives and the quote"we will cut excess production and stop dumping globally " by their leadership only to increase both production and exports every month since saying that.

Numbers that show a car made in the USA gets DOUBLE what our govt "can't afford to give" and that show the largest car maker in Europe, and occasionally globally , is 20% govt owned! Along with all the benefits and protection they get.

You also know that numbers show clothing costs in oz where around 50% labour (another number) whereas Steel or car manufacturing is down to around the 2-10% mark. Being high tech and lower labour costs mean transport design and govt support play a much larger part than wages. When our govt is doing zip compared to say Thailand offering ZERO TAX for 7 years guess where the accountants decide to move production?
But you keep on ignoring the numbers and listen to the latest headline.

Frantic,..at least, although we are probably on "opposite sides", at least we can speak to each other rationally.
I reckon the one thing at least that we would have in common, is that we both try to buy Aussie when we can.
Regards, Pickles.

I remember reading a while back that Germany actually was the biggest protector of its car industry once a wjole lot of hidden subsidies were included, such as free land and tax exemptions from all levels of government.
Its not easy but the examples I gave before show it can be done, if we stop being so short-sighted and consider the overall long term benefits.
For example we are very good at research but terrible at turning those discoveries into businesses because we dont give startups enough time to become profitable. We need 10 year planning, not 2-3 years.
An example is the Gonski education plan. A distinguished businessman proposed a long term plan to focus education on the greatest needs, but instead of doing that we only have 4 years agreed to and the rest is up in the air. That's short term planning, but we need long-term planning to be successful.
You can't have an economy based on innovation and advanced products unless you make a long-term commitment to high quality education.

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

..... but we need long-term planning to be successful.
......

The idea of long term planning from government is wishful thinking!
We have a system of government that is predominantly media focused, and with that comes the inevitable situation where they will only plan for anything up until the next election... ie. every 3 years.
And we have a system where the two major forces in government with supposedly diametrically opposed philosophies, can't really be differentiated(for all intents and purposes), yet their only real mission seems to be to counter any thought process offered by the other party!
And that's it!

The only real way forward is one of two options:
1/. longer terms(I say yay! to less frequent elections).
The other benefits of such a system would be manyfold.
or
2/. continue on with the current system which is evolving into a more European looking parliament system where many smaller parties form coalition blocks and hence governments.

Came across an interesting example of local vs imported yesterday. I was comparing hybrid camper-caravans from MDC and Lifestyle.
Both are 12 feet long and both have an extending rear bed section. Both can have internal shower-toilet if wanted.
The MDC one is imported from China and the Lifestyle one is made at Slacks Creek in Brisbane. Allowing for specs and options, both are in the $44-48,000 bracket.
So, similar campers at similar cost.
Some online research found a number of complaints about the quality of MDC campers from buyers, but plenty of praise for the Lifestyle.
So there's an Aussie product which seems to be excellent quality and is made here for a similar cost, creating more local jobs.
The wife and I were sufficiently impressed to decide to further investigate the Lifestyle vans ahead of our retirement.
Confirms my belief that local businesses can be competitive if there is the will to commit for the long haul.


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Asbestos found in second batch of building materials for Queensland Government tower - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Just my two bob's worth. I normally try to buy local, but after E-mailing a large 4WD business,[ Land Rover] regarding buying an Ashcroft ATB LSD , to find out the details of what was needed for a proper job, they did not bother to answer my E-mail. Now, the job is time critical. We are going away in October, so, after no news from the Aus. mob, I contacted the Ashcroft mob. Paid for the diff on the 4/09/2016, received same today. Even after postage, cheaper than buying here. If the local business can't be bothered, I can't be bothered dealing with them. Guess where I will be buying the HD CV's and half shafts?

Dumped steel creates dramas | Illawarra Mercury
As usual certain reports surface a few months late.
Basically no level playing field when other govts discount and support their manufacturing sector with a main aim of bankrupting other countries heavy manufacturing sectors that require generations to build and decades of commitment to maintain,let alone expand.
They realise that western governments and companies operate in 1-3 year election and profit cycles so if our govt/corporate leaders can show a profit for 2-3 years by shutting local production down, the eventual massive price increase for the imports and Job losses will show up as a problem for their replacement in 4-10 years.
Once a blast furnace is "blown in" after being constructed or relined it has a continual operating life of 20-25 years, 365 days 24 hrs non stop. Even on "down days" they are still burning coke and melting ore.