While it has mostly been doom and gloom this Covid-19 has produced one good and exciting upside. Our leaders have mooted a return to, if not large scale, substantial scale Australian manufacturing. It started with masks and other PPE items for our frontline medical people when Chinese supply lines were severed.. Then our Govt asked CPAP pioneer ResMed to produce ICU ventilators. Now the sky is the limit to what we can produce locally and even export to the world. Do we recall in the 60s and into the 70s when just about everything sold in Aussie shops was locally made. That was before we were swamped by cheap imports when someone suggested an equal trade playing field. We lost at least half of our manufacturing base within a decade.
I also believe, that this could be an upside, if our leaders grab it with both hands
We have the workforce
We have the land to build modern factories
We have people, talented enough to reverse engineer, anything, and make it ourselves
Unfortunately, in the early days of lockdown number one, our leader said that the Government was not in the business, of being private enterprise
Or words to that effect
I remember Johnny Howard congratulating BHP for building a new , modern steel making factory in China so we could get cheaper steel in Aus. I like to know what the people in Wollongong and Newcastle though about that .
Hopefully that was the old Australia. The new will cease doing business with a nation that bullies and threatens economic hardship on a partner because it says and does something of which they disapprove. The new as Tony alludes to, will re mechanise our cotton wooled factories and instead of selling our resources..such as superior iron ore to the Chinese Commies so they can make a superior steel, we make our own to build our infrastructure.
Most people will not pay double or triple the price for the same item, how do you think we can undercut Asia's labour rates?
People will conveniently forget National pride and take the discount, just look at this crisis we can't even isolate for a week to help fellow Australians avoid drowning in their own body fluids. So how in hell are they going to fare with a 300% price hike.
A lot will depend on the state of the economy and the cost of living. 300% cost hike is speculation. Agree we can not compete with the Commie's 'sweat shop' prices but we can make products affordable to Mr and Mrs average if we are be sensible and above all not greedy. We are a resourceful and resilient nation.
Richie
-- Edited by Richie148 on Thursday 16th of July 2020 07:21:29 AM
China owns so much. They are not so stupid to buy outright. It appears that the percentage overall is low, but They use shell companies. Or they set up several small companies that each own a part of a larger company that is then part of a larger group. They have their fingers in every pie. I found out yesterday they are into corporate services in Australia so they have access to all our and government details. I have also been doing some work checking out company structures looking for Australian Owned products. The CCP own so much its frightening. About all they don't own is Australian Manufacturing because they don't need to. What they don't own they buy and we the ordinary Australians are victims of the large corporations. These obscenely rich export everything they can get their hands on then import inferior stuff back from third world countries. Most notably food. They poison the minds of our children with their CCP schooling in universities.
Inflation is definitely in the wind. Its a pretty bleak outlook for us travellers. We will have to be very resourceful and resilient.
I also did some research into these Commie shell companies that are infiltrating Australia. The govt is aware of this practice and intends doing something about it by imposing a tough new national security test for all foreign takeovers.. not just some as is the present situation. This is aimed squarely at China who the govt says may be eyeing off Aussie companies in trouble because of the corona virus. No doubt this will further inflame relations with Beijing.
Whats to stop China buying Australian Company shares on an overseas stock exchange? Thats what I don't understand how they are going to do much about anything. They have left it too long.
