Humans are rarely persuaded to change their opinions, even when proffered cogent argument to the contrary. To get that bias out of the way, let me limit this post to your opinion on issues with which I agree, and focus on the means of effecting economic results that we would both like – more value add to occur in Australia, for instance.
You tend to use words like “we”, “us” 'our, and “Australian” when you opine on what should be done, but Australians are not colony beings like ants that are genetically determined to follow rules for the common good. Humans may as Adam Smith wrote be induced by self-interest to effect the common weal. As a whole, humans can only be made to effect the common good if they are managed, and probably coerced. Who in your Utopian Australia is going to do the managing and coercing?
In 45547132 you wrote, “. . . we need a better way to select Ministers who can plan, provision & execute economic change.” I agree, but how? The masses are by definition effectively sub-median for any category one selects that can be relatively ordered – intelligence, ethics, self-sufficiency, etc. They are not going to elect a team of Benign Wise Ones to effect the common good, because they tend to elect people who pander to their self interests, or at least promise to pander to them.
On being parochial, or rather, nationalistically Australian, that is easier said than usefully put into practice. How does one stop local firms selling out to foreigners? BHP used to make steel products, in Australia, then it hived off its steel-making to focus on mining. Since then much of the steel-fabricating business ended up belonging to Liberty House Group, a UK company, substantially owned by Indian-born Sanjeev Gupta – see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjeev_Gupta. Much steel making and fabrication has already been lost, and Mr Gupta could easily decide to focus all his firm's steel fabrication somewhere else. In similar vein, Australian business entrepreneurs can simply relocate if it suits them. Atlassian has its registered office in the UK, it is listed on NASDAQ, has its head office in Sydney, does not have a sales team, and most of its customers are not in Australia. I have no idea where Atlassian pays income tax, if it pays any, and at the drop of a hat it could relocate anywhere to optimise its tax obligations.
On Aluminium, it is a disaster area, and a team of Benign Wise Ones is unlikely to make a success of that sector. General opinion is that Rio should never have acquired Alcan. Google “aluminium losses” and read for yourself. A recent news item is “Rio Tinto aluminium smelter under review as prices drop and ...www.theaustralian.com.au › business › mining-energy. Feb 12, 2020 - Rio's latest threat comes as analysts warn it could be cheaper to close Australia's remaining aluminium smelters than keep them open.” https://www.qmeb.com.au/mining-giant-may-shut-down-metal-operations-due-to-high-electricity-prices/ from 2019 reads, “The company’s Pacific Aluminium subsidiary recently posted a full year loss of $137 million across its Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand operations.”
