Australia's economy is doing well.

[Swampy]

Analysts had thought it was a satellite of the Chinese economy, but, while the Chinese economy has slowed, Australia's economy is sufficiently diversified so it's still doing OK. Well done, mates!

[Sir John]

Agree to a point, but remember that China and Japan are by far our 2 biggest export customers, and BOTH are as fragile as a house of cards. If they fall over our terms of trade will go through the floor. Now roughly even, to a massive trade deficit. And all those mines have been built with borrowed money which has to be serviced and repaid!

Our overall economy is NOT "diversified"!! Over 80% of our export economy comes from the mine and the farm!

Our government debt, federal and state combined is fairly good by international standards, and is about 30%+ compared to most of the G20 at 100%, and worse! The unemployment rate is pure BS at 6%, and added to it is most of the 'disabled' at about another 8%. Our inflation rate is good. less than 2%.

By far the most important is the fact that we have thrown out the socialists, and installed a Conservative government with a clear view of the situation and what has to be done. Hopefully they have the backbone to actually do it! They are doing OK so far.

It will take a decade to turn the mess around.


JMO



SJ

[Swampy]

Mar 24, 2014 13:36:11 GMT -5 Sir John said:

It will take a decade to turn the mess around.

It will take a decade to turn the entire global economy around.

[Premier1]

Australia has a high cost of employment base that is a major handicap, the cost of skilled labour here is 50 per cent higher than in the US (total cost of employment per employee). A good example is a Western Australia state designed and was built luxury motor vessel (I forget the brand, something with coast in it) that sold for about $1.5 million until the builders took their production to the US and now the vessel is imported into Australia and sells for less than $1 million.

However, the end of the Agricultural Age resulted in millions of people losing their jobs but the Industrial Age created new and more jobs over time. The Information technology Age began in the late 1990s and there will be many new jobs created, quite a few have been already. The IT Age will also be a time of less need for human labour and robots will replace us. But this means new different jobs too, example trained pilots to fly unmanned aircraft performing numerous tasks. I have watched a small helicopter crop spraying on a farm, the pilot and truck driver sitting on the tray of the truck with the remote controller in hand. When the job was finished the aircraft was landed on the back of the truck, secured and taken to the next job.

I am concerned that young people have not been prepared for the shock of the new world and the impacts on human life as we have known it. A book I recommend was written in the late 1990s by two British stockbrokers: The Sovereign Individual - the end of the welfare state, how to survive and to prosper.

The writers explain that most jobs in future will not be as employees, contractors will be self employed and will need to make their own provisions for expenses such as holidays and sick leave. There will be far fewer company offices as contractors will work from their homes for businesses. Many people will buy and sell on the internet as the trend is already taking place. Governments will have to rethink revenue collection methods.

My question is what people will do in life in the future. During the 1970s I was told that future generations would not know what work is, that is what work was in those times. And that people would be paid from consolidated revenue to pursue careers in the arts and many other areas of occupation. Will creeping socialism and/or Islam impact adversely in the future on the world? After all both have been a problem for some time and in various nations the people are demanding that these problems are dealt with. Yet the nation best served to lead now has creeping socialism in power. A POTUS who recently told EU countries that they must do away with coal burning electricity generation at a time when the anchor point, Germany, is building many new coal fired power stations to lower electricity costs, so called green or renewable energy sources are unable to maintain grid demand, nowhere near it, and at much higher costs than traditional coal/gas fired methods. Germany needs to boost its industrial strengths and the POTUS wants them to stop???

Australia has strength in the economy as compared to many other nations, and our new government has plans for infrastructure projects and even a huge agriculture food production irrigation area in the far north covering three states to feed Asia Pacific's developing nations population growth. Indonesia has agreed to increase the live beef export quota from Australia and is investing in Australian beef cattle properties as shareholders.

Be in no doubt, the years 2007-1013 were bad years and the legacy is $670 billion of gross debt created from zero debt, over $120 billion of budget deficits racked up, current financial year Budget black holes of unfunded commitments. Our economy and financial position is far worse than it was in 2006/07. And despite the 6 years of socialists in government being mining boom years producing record high revenue streams. Much of the revenue and borrowings were squandered.

I think positively, the future can be good if we make it good, if we ignore the pleas of socialists wanting to form government again.

[Swampy]

Well said, Premier, well said.

[Swampy]

The government wants to cut the deficit in half - I hope it succeeds.

[Sir John]

Swampy,

It is all relative, and "doing well", compared to many in the G20, means little.

Australia is waking up to the path we are on, and that path leads to the same destination as the EU, Japan, and the USA. That is why the socialists were thrown out last year. Thank god we do not have 'Food Stamps', and no OZ pollie would dare offer free cell phones!

SJ

[Premierme]

I have almost returned home from Western Australia and while there I visited the gold fields where I met by chance a well known local identity who has been in the mining business, family and own businesses, since he was a teenager. He told me that there is not far from Kalgoorlie a new mining venture that contains Gold and various other minerals including, SJ, a huge Silver deposit. The WA mining potential yet untapped is huge, Iron Ore is of course big but add a long list of other minerals and energy resources and it is clear that mining will remain a substantial contributor to the Australian economy for hundreds of years to come.