Re: Brisbane airtrain

["Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP>]

Brown Family <lbrown2@bigpond.com> wrote in article
<3b24442f.14129234@news-server.bigpond.net.au>...

Because I made a post which made similar points to Michael, and because I
am a devout protectionist, I would like to answer your post as well.....

> First, I would like to start off by asking Michael what sort of a car
> does he drive? Are his clothes made here? shoes? computers? Would
> Michael mind paying 10-50% more to buy locally made? How long would a
> government last if it bumped up prices by that much? The introduction
> GST would be like the pimple on an elephant's bum compared to the
> re-introduction of tarrifs on foreign made goods.

I don't drive, but when I did, I only ever drove Aussie-made used cars. My
clothes are generally made here, though I will admit that it's often hard
to find Aussie-made clothes when living on a budget - and what few Aussie
made clothing there is, was probably made by 'outworkers' working in
Australian sweatshops in Third World conditions. My computer was
manufactured in Taiwan, which at least is not Red China, so profits go to
an anti-communist ally and firm trading partner in Asia. I am led to
believe that there are no Aussie made computers, ever since Osborne went
belly up. And yes, while it is true that a revival of trade protection will
drive prices up on goods which are mainly imported, I would think that it
is a justifiable price to pay for more local jobs, local industry, and a
revival in domestic manufacturing and employment.

> Second, why should Australia buy locally produced rolling stock when
> it can be imported quicker from overseas? 

Because state owned railway operators such as CityRail and QR, being
government agencies, have an obligation to this nation, and this nation
first. If a government railway were to entirely buy its equipment from
abroad, there would be an outcry from local interest groups, and there may
be an electoral backlash. And private railway operators - along with all
other private entities who operate in our economy - also have an obligation
to the government (at whose pleasure they are allowed to operate) and the
people and economy which it serves to help preserve local industry.

> Price is not the sole
> factor, especially these days with the A$ as it is. 

You are right price isn't the sole factor. Patriotism, community relations,
brand image and relations with governments are also factors. As for
technical excellence, Australia has shown that it can compete on this level
too. For a small and isolated nation, we sure are an inventive lot, read up
on our history of inventions and technological progresses.... This isn't
the Third World, we have a skilled workforce and a good education system!
"I am of the opinion that Australians make the best machines in the world."
-- Hugh Victor McKay, Aussie entrepeneur and inventor of the Sunshine
Harvesting Machine.

> Most of
> Australia's motor vehicles are imported and sold at a far higher cost
> than the local manufacture. Why? For many reasons of which cost is not
> a major consideration.

What considerations would they be? Are you saying that when you buy a car
or a major consumer purchase, place of manufacture doesn't play any part in
your purchasing decisions? You'd rather spend $4,000 less on a Korean made
small car than on an Aussie made small car to save on money - and tales of
how Korean manufacturing workers are treated by corporations will make your
blood boil if you have any sense of social justice - while employment in
Australian manufacturing disappears and our balance of payments suffers and
Australian aggregate debt marches inexorably skyward?

> Here is a bit of interesting news:
> http://www.theage.com.au/business/2001/06/11/FFXIHJ6PRNC.html

Note how that article says that Australia has one of the least protected
automotive industries in the world. I dare you to visit Mr. Zapakopolous of
Pascoe Vale and put forward your arguments that his job at the Ford factory
should disappear on the altar of 'global reality'. You might then want to
console Mr. Jones on the dole queue in Altona and explain to him that the
fact that he was retrenched from the Toyota factory in the 90s was all in
all a good thing, as it helped to make Australia a more competitive and
efficient place. I would also suggest that your health insurance policy has
good orthopaedic coverage as they might just beat the s**t out of you.

> Now, I don't hear too many people jumping up and down saying that we
> should all buy locally manufactured vehicles. 

Never heard of the Ausbuy campaign? The "Australian Made" or "Advance
Australia" campaign? Automotive trades unions? Local manufacturing lobby
groups? They have been jumping up and down saying exactly that for decades
now.

> So why should we
> disadvantage the rail companies from buying overseas?

I would like to re-phrase that question - "So why should we allow the rail
companies to accelerate the deterioration of our balance of payments and
aggregate debt and put local blue-collar jobs at further risk by allowing
them to buy overseas?"

> Higher costs for
> vehicles or delays in production mean less passengers due to increased
> fares and rolling stock more prone to breakdowns, The rail companies
> are any more inclined to losing money than Fred Nurk wants to pay more
> tax.

I fail to see the connection between 'higher costs for [rail] vehicles or
delays in production' due to industry protection and 'rolling stock more
prone to breakdowns' causing patronage decline. Could you please elaborate?

> There is no point in making a rail company buy locally when foreign
> made cars can be bought without any disincentinve.

So let's re-introduce the disincentive! Trade protection has served
nation-states well for hundreds of years, including our own, there's
nothing to stop a revival of protectionist sentiment among those whose
hands are on the levers of policy making.

> There are no
> tarrifs against importation so Australia now has to compete with the
> rest of the world.

I am one among hundreds of millions of Westerners who says "NO" to
competition with Third World near-slave labour. You just can NOT compete
against compliant, non-unionised 50-cents-an-hour serfdom.

> Welcome to Global Reality. Get used to it. 

Oh, the winds of change can do an about-turn oh so quickly... and they
will... 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction' applies
to politics and social science just as much as it does to physics. And when
the winds DO change, globalist ideologues such as yourself will be left
scratching your heads after being swept away in a veritable blizzard of
anti-global sentiment.

Australians First, mate.

Regards
Bradley