Don't expect anything better from a bunch of lawyers Bergo -...

Don't expect anything better from a bunch of lawyers Bergo - since when have they put ethics, morality, or common sense before the mighty dollar.

I agree it is a disaster for so many companies to fall into foreign hands - the losers will be all of us, having had the farm sold from beneath and having to rent our country from foreigners.

Much like the middle east, much of our wealth is based on commodities. We need to follow their lead and keep the benefits of these for ourselves rather than sell our wealth off to foreigners at discount prices. Much as I am no fan of Gough Whitlam, at least he had the foresight to see the error in selling our assets overseas and tried to do something about it.

Personally I would like to see all resource ownership in the hands of entities based in Australia and paying dividends to Australian based shareholders (of any nationality, just living and spending the profits here) so the money stays here rather than being lost to China/US/Europe. I would also like to see at least 50% of our ore being smelted in Australia - and even manufactured into finished product here - so we can gain about $US400 of export income for every tonne of ore smelted and thousands for every tonne of ore manufactured into finished product, rather than a dismal $80-$130/tonne for raw ore (and far less in the recent past). Ferrowest has the right idea.

Anyway, that is my whinge. Those who have sold out our country to foreigners don't blame me when we are living in an impoverished banana republic in 20 years time, being payed $10/day to work for a foreign corporation so you can afford to buy a few handfuls of grain to feed your family.