What is TGS really worth?, page-28

Mongy you need to travel a bit...Australia businesses and government invest heavily in research, technology and the like but countless numbers of our good ideas move offshore because either its cheaper to get them to market, the greater population in other countries give faster growth opportunities, there is less interference by organised labour, lower standard of living expectations so people appreciate having a job more than most Australian, less regulatory framework around OHS which stifles productivity ...the list goes on...All amounting to an inefficient regulatory and labour framework...= Australia becoming a basket case if we don't lower our standard of living expectations.

My wife's cousin is a leading hand electrician/ instrument fitter in Northern Italy. He would be on 220k a year in oil and gas with these quals in the NW. He getss $33,000 euros per annum, no overtime, call outs only attract reimbursement for his fuel.... Its not just over populated Asian countries where volume of people force wage costs down...Its happening in the "western countries" as well.

Go and read the set of books by Harrry S Dent on how demographics and particularly aging populations move economies. I read the first one 2000 while in Italy and watched his predictions unfold in Italy having gone back every 5 years. One of the main things that will stop Australia going down the same path is targeted immigration to make our labour market more competitive.