topic Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy in Community Spirit

ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

icyfroth — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:24:32 GMT

Iconic Australian car maker GM Holden’s announcement this week that it will end car production in Australia by 2017 is exactly what Paul Keating intended when he floated the dollar and slashed tariffs in the 1980s.

And he’s been cheered ever since by the same Labor and Liberal politicians, media pundits, and union leaders who today are wringing their hands over the loss of 3,000 Holden jobs.

Australians must fight back—by rejecting the consensus line that the Hawke-Keating reforms were somehow great for Australia, when in fact they ripped apart our agro-industrial base and turned the economy into a financial casino and colonial raw materials quarry.

If it is hard to accept that the destruction of manufacturing jobs is intentional, hear it from the architect. The following exchange between Paul Keating and Kerry O’Brien, broadcast on ABC TV on 26 November 2013, the third episode in a four-part interview series, reveals the deep disdain Keating had—and has—for the “blue collar” factory jobs his tariff cuts started to destroy in 1986.

O’Brien asked, “Looking now at the state of manufacturing today: the rustbelts around the major cities; industries like cars and steel and shipbuilding still in trouble; so many skills lost, jobs exported to Asia; are you still sure it was the right thing to do the way you did it?”

Without hesitation, Keating replied, “Oh, absolutely! I mean, it advanced us donkey’s years…”

Pointing to the human toll, O’Brien countered, “But many of those working people were now staring at lost jobs. Many of those working people in factories, in various jobs, skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled—gone.”

“Yeah—gone,” Keating responded defiantly. “You know what they found? A better job a week later, in a growing economy, with employment growth.”

Rising to his theme, Keating continued, “We got them off the factory floor. The aim was not to leave them doing repetitive jobs on the factory floor, but to get them off the factory floor doing better professional jobs in the big service economy of Australia. I mean, all these people got picked up.” [Emphasis added.]

Keating’s brazenness left O’Brien gobsmacked. This period was the beginning of the rise in unemployment that eventually peaked at over 11 per cent, and only came down through statistical manipulation and the permanent shift from full-time unionised jobs to part-time and casual jobs. O’Brien said, “You make it sound so simple: ‘a week later they had another job’! Do you really think that’s how it worked out?”

“No, no, the labour market in Australia had grown by 25 per cent,” Keating defended. “We’d created 1.7 million jobs.”

O’Brien: “A lot of those jobs were in totally different sectors of the economy. A lot of those jobs were in the service sector.”

“Exactly!” Keating exclaimed, happy that O’Brien was making his point. “So what would you want to be? Line up at 7.30 in a blue collar, or work in the service sector? And people said, ‘Thank you, I’ll take the service sector.’” [Emphasis added.]

Keating then described a woman he met with health problems from working in a textile factory, and said, “This is what slave labour [sic!!!] was all about, under the tariffs and under the quotas.” [Emphasis added] (He made no mention of the conditions of the Asian factory workers on cents per day who took over the jobs of Australian unionised factory workers.)

Solution: Glass-Steagall, a National Bank, and tariff protection

Citizens Electoral Council leader Craig Isherwood today laid out the pathway to reviving Australian manufacturing.

“Keating is arrogant enough to boast of what most others try to disguise behind economic theory,” he said. “Once you understand that everyone in the major parties, the media, and the leadership of the unions who support free trade actually want to destroy manufacturing, and that it isn’t an ‘unintended consequence’, then it is clear how to save it—dump their policies!

“Australia must return to being an economy in which production is more valuable that finance. To do that, we need to split up our banking system according to the Glass-Steagall principle, so that banking that services the daily economy is protected from investment banking that gambles on derivatives and makes more money from shutting down factories than from investing in them.

“Australia needs to go back to a National Bank, as the old Commonwealth Bank was under Ben Chifley. It was the Commonwealth Bank in 1947 which provided the credit for General Motors Holden to start manufacturing Australia’s first mass-produced car.

Even GM in Detroit wasn’t willing to invest. Australia developed a car industry, not to service a ‘market’, but because Chifley had the vision of Australia having an advanced manufacturing capability, and he had the Commonwealth Bank to invest in it. To restore that advanced manufacturing capability, we must return to the vision and polices that developed it.

“Australia must dump free trade and return to tariffs. All of the free trade theory that the present generation of Australia’s political leadership have been indoctrinated with is garbage.

Chifley initiated advanced manufacturing in Australia, but it only lasted and flourished as long as it did because the great Country Party leader John ‘Black Jack’ McEwen fought for ‘protection all round’.”

Isherwood concluded, “This is not an economic debate, it is a political fight, over the future of our nation. It is time for Australians to break their traditional alliances with the parties that are betraying us, and join in the fight with the CEC.”

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polocross58 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:31:50 GMT

You get a tick from me for that, Icy

I have no party loyalty, but Labor consistently prove beyond dispute that they are the scummy bottom of the barrel

History tells the same tale. It was interesting to learn from various books that Labor has always been notorious for corruption, going right back to the early years of the last century. So it's a mindset, from the look of it, with people with a certain mentality (favouring corruption, low-lifeism, lack of intelligence, etc.) supporting a Labor party which demonstrates same, time after time

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

lakeland27 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:44:57 GMT

@polocross58 wrote:
You get a tick from me for that, Icy

I have no party loyalty, but Labor consistently prove beyond dispute that they are the scummy bottom of the barrel

History tells the same tale. It was interesting to learn from various books that Labor has always been notorious for corruption, going right back to the early years of the last century. So it's a mindset, from the look of it, with people with a certain mentality (favouring corruption, low-lifeism, lack of intelligence, etc.) supporting a Labor party which demonstrates same, time after time

what a load of bigoted nonsense.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

spotweldersfriend — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:46:15 GMT

The libs have been in power roughly fifty per cent of the time since Australian manufacturing went into decline.What have they done in their time in office (including 10 years under Howard) to revitalise manufacturing ?

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

izabsmiling — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:49:33 GMT

Polocross58: So it's a mindset, from the look of it, with people with a certain mentality (favouring corruption, low-lifeism, lack of intelligence, etc.) supporting a Labor party which demonstrates same, time after time

does that include supporting the NDIS ?

both major parties did that you know .

Not OK by you ?

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polocross58 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:49:37 GMT

Well maybe you could explain how Paul Keating, who'd had only one brief stint of paid employment after leaving school at 14 and after being sacked for arrogance

could emerge later on with 5 million dollars plus?

The Sydney Morning Herald ran a double page expose of Keating's mysterious millions back in the day

Investigators had tabled every cent he'd legitimately earned

They'd taken into account the price his father's fibro house raised and tabled Keating's share

They listed the expenses of the Keating household: four children private schools, stay at home spouse, etc.

and of course they knew to the cent everything he'd earned in politics

There was nothing to explain how Keating had amassed a multi-million dollar fortune

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

lakeland27 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:54:10 GMT

what are you on about ? back that lie up.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polocross58 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:55:43 GMT

Then we have the Hazel Hawke affair

Hawke and Hazel built their retirement dream home and the media stated at the time it had stretched them financially

Then Hawke divorced Hazel in order to marry his mistress

Keating, then PM, took it upon himself to grant Hazel a generous sum per annum, just because. From memory, it was in the vicinity of quarter of a million per annum

Ok. Joe Blow divorces his wife to take up with his mistress. And Joe doesn't want to share the proceeds with his wife of what was intended as their dream retirement home that was going to stretch them financially

What happens to Sheila Blow, Joe's ex-wife?

Well, in ordinary circumstances, she'd fight Joe in court for her financial entitlements. It would set both Joe and Sheila back as far as legals were concerned. In the end, unless Joe's mistress could buy Sheila out, the dream retirement home would be put on the market and when the bank was repaid, Joe and Sheila would get to share what was left. And both Joe and Sheila would have to get by in their older years on whatever they had or could earn. Sheila would probably have to rent and she'd receive the age pension and that would be that

But thanks to Keating's generosity via the taxpayers' pockets, it worked out differently for Hawke and Hazel, didn't it ?

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

cherry*135 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:00:38 GMT

Businesses need to perform or they will perish.. nothing to do with the Govt of the day. Is it the Govt's fault that consumers choose other car brands than Holden when they buy a new car?

Opening post Citizens Electoral Council progaganda.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

lakeland27 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:58:52 GMT

i dont need a bigoted warped history from you. prove what you said about keating. are you panicking like NW ?

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polocross58 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:59:28 GMT

You're the voice of reality and sanity

and Kudos to you 🙂

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polocross58 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:01:43 GMT

i dont need a bigoted warped history from you

--------------------------------

Well it's more than obvious that you need to educate yourself, particularly when it comes to political history

It would be appreciated if you'd attend to that asap

to save me the job

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

lakeland27 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:06:09 GMT

sure polosocks . if you have something to teach anyone its the art of longwinded tripe.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

spotweldersfriend — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:19:19 GMT

How about Lyall* Howard (John's father) and dummying in PNG?Where does a returned serviceman get a hold if that much money? *Aptly named.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

polksaladallie — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:19:39 GMT

Is there a full moon today?

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

spotweldersfriend — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:22:52 GMT

Can't answer that.?I can in two words and the first is Jack.

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

pct001wine — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:29:37 GMT

Someone's a precious petal today lol

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

pct001wine — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:31:35 GMT

How come you're getting off scot-free Lakeland You're putting in the slipper better than I and looking (may I say) relatively unscathed

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

lakeland27 — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:37:30 GMT

they'll get around to me later i guess

Re: ALP and Libs Destroy Australian Economy

spotweldersfriend — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 06:39:53 GMT

Then it's my turn 😄