twoUp2,Re-read my last sentence and think a bit harder - please!...

twoUp2,

Re-read my last sentence and think a bit harder - please!

Tasmanian produce can only come from Tasmania, hence it's competitive.

It's not just iron ore or lithium, copper, gold, LNG, etc etc that Aus has an advantage. We export lots of commodities because we have scale. Wheat, rice cotton, beef, and pork are all examples where we are competitive due to the scale of agriculture in Aus, particularly compared to Asia - which is not that far away. We are also competitive in industries where we sell intellectual property like legal, financial and education services. Licensing of pharmaceuticals is also a big biz in Aus.

Trying to make Holdens and Compete with Toyota, Hyundai, Ford (US), and Renault (ie low tech, large-scale manufacturing) is impossible as we do not have a big enough domestic economy to support these industries, and export markets are too far away. We do have some very good high-tech manufacturing but it is very specilised.

If Aus had countries of 50mil people on our east and western borders we may have been able to sell Holdens to them at a competitive price but any vehicle we export has to go by ship and our car industry was just too small and obsolete to compete. It was cheaper to import so that is why our car industry is gone.

Blame globalisation! The same thing is happening everywhere, especially in the US where manufacturing has left for cheaper markets. This is what Trump tapped into and why he succeeded in making Americans believe his BS about Making America Great Again! The cost of labour is the big problem but I know I won't work for $10 per hour, will you?

Aus has a competitive advantage in many industries but low-tech manufacturing (steel, shipping, trains, trucks etc) isn't one of them unfortunately as this leaves us in a vulnerable position concerning defense. I wish it wasn't the case!

HC