Australia has to simply industrialise or perish, IMO.
We are 80% there, IMO, with an abundance of cheap raw resources, cheap energy , a well educated workforce, an established 1st World rule of law & access to Global Capital dominated by our friend the USA.
And to those anti-Aussie downrampers who maintain we cant do it due to high Aussie wages, then think again: -manufacturing (even in China) is becomming more automated so that manufacturing labour input is becomming less important. This is evidenced by already industrialised countries such as Germany, Japan & Korea where average manufacturing cost of labour (including social add ons) are equal to or higher than that of Australia.
The key to being globally competitive is mostly economy of scale and this is why, IMO, we should be the major global supplier of Steel & Aluminium and basic manufactured products where processes are governed by CAD?CAM & not by human labour.
In the past te manufacturing agenda was hijacked by Trade Unions and Labor Governments who knocked any form of development that was not labour intensive ie: Jobs-Jobs-Jobs.This has been politically divisive.
Instead we need national Visionaries who simply redefine what industrialisation means in the 21st C: -Add Aussie value to our prime exports of minerals & energy and to fairly share that added value with all Aussies.
this, IMO, will lead to a wealthier Australia similar to that of Norway or Saudi Arabia .
All we have to do is to double Australia's trade income by adding value to exports and the rest is up to the Government to ensure that all Aussies benefit. last year we had a Trade Surplus of $20 odd billion; just imagine if this were to be $200 Billion!
