Out of favour sector, page-61

" and they were producing blood high quality cars in the end too." Yes they were, in the end. After they were forced to compete. After the removal of the import tariffs which they had hidden their inefficiencies and average quality behind for 50 years. Yet still nobody was buying them, they were producing a product that Joe Public largely didn't want and competing in an industry controlled by foreign interest. Yet you'd still throw more good taxpayer's money after bad, which could have supported many more people in your beloved public health system or built the odd public school or a university or trade college or two. The fact is, the demise of the Australian car industry is much more nuanced than the simple removal of taxpayer funded subsidies, most of which ended up in Detroit.... supporting US workers. Yet those who think Australia should follow some Trumpian "Make Australia The Lucky Country Again" protectionist utopia continue to make it the poster boy industry for trade barriers. Look, I took no joy from the end of the car industry in Oz as I reckon it was punching way above its weight, but it was controlled from boardrooms far away in a country that didn't give two hoots about the plight of workers in Elizabeth or Geelong and I reckon your loyalty to it is misguided.

Let's get past this, we are way off topic. And to be clear, I have not commented on ideology; I am neither a conservative nor a socialist; don't colour me red or blue, or green for that matter.