Lesson for Labor’s Made in Australia campaign, page-66

No pintohoo my idea was not to measure employment but rather demonstrate that one idea or statistic in isolation does not explain how Australia is f***ed, which many of your posts try to do.

I am in agreement with you that Australia is in a very bad place in many regards, but I don't accept that the explanation for this is whatever socialist idea you happen to be running on the day.

Rather I believe that over many years, by all persuasions of government, supported by society in general, policies have been adopted which have resulted in Australia becoming a very high cost producer. This cost base combined with a very small domestic market, and poor proximity to any substantial international markets, means that unless Aus has a very strong competitive advantage it cannot compete.

This cost base impacts every aspect of society from constructing things (including all things renewable), operating and maintaining infrastructure (both private and public), educating the public, and caring for the less advantaged. I personally see no way out from this predicament and frankly I don't believe that political class has the mental firepower or leadership abilities to identify and execute any plans to address this problem. While productivity growth was strong the problem was masked but with productivity in the toilet (and not being discussed in any meaningful way by our political betters I can't see this issue being addressed.

I think the issues Aus currently faces are much more complex than can be discussed in any meaningful way on a chat room. And I certainly don't believe that throwing out one's personal socialist views in isolation adds to the discussion.