a good article by peter hartcher, where he includes a comment from the great paul keating..."I mean, did we ever hurt anybody liberating them from the car assembly line?"
the quote, in the context of a bit more of the article..
"Paul Keating, who ended the worst of Australian protectionism to rejuvenate the economy, was asked in 2000 what he'd say to blue-collar workers who lost their jobs as a result of his reforms.
His answer: "What do I say: What is your new job like? One of the 2.5 million created since the early 1980s. People have found better jobs. I mean, did we ever hurt anybody liberating them from the car assembly line?"
Since he said that, a further 2 million jobs have been created in Australia, none of them in the iron lung of subsidised car making. There is no Keating visible in either party today to tell the people the truth and take Australia into the realm of competitive reali
