Can Australia be a self-sufficient country?

[WCfan22]

More the question should be is should every country be at a level of self-sufficiency?
But back to the main question I think that we here in Australia could and should be more self sufficient in this current climate.
Why do we have to export one product to then just import another product exactly the same?
The current Corona virus situation has plunged us as a country into turmoil. Crazy people buying every packet of toilet roll on the shelf. Seriously WTF. This action is based on out of country problems that do not affect us as a nation.
If we had/have more control over local assets instead of going the whole "sell it to China or some other big foreign company they will pay more" attitude then we would be in a much stronger position to battle adversary.
Sure we need foreign investment but it has to be at worst a 60/40 playing field in our favour with all major assets owned by Australian companies or governments .
I might be wrong but I as a proud aussie and think we should be standing on our own feet as we are a land of riches.
What do we think?
All opinions respected.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

We've shipped off our manufacturing so will always need our raw materials turned into finished goods.

We'll never be "self-sufficient."

 

[Upgrayedd]

I dont think any country can be. Plus with the way our retirement/superannuation is set out our bigger companies are not looking to 10+ years development of the nation.

 

[Gigantic]

Sure, but at the cost of what? Profit margins? No way, says the the big corporations.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Are we prepared to pay an extra 10K per car?
A starting price of 15 bucks a shirt?

Are you prepared to pay an extra 50/60 bucks on your monthly Big W buy, K-mart buy?

No Because we're a cheap lazy population. We don't even refined our raw material on our shores anymore. We abandoned thousands of jobs to make a close to 90% automated industry in mining more lucrative for woodside/rio/Chevron.

End of the day I dont think Australians would factor in our cost of living and safety record for a couple of dollars. Im sure people will moan high wages. While being utterly insulted at the idea that they are over-paid and can afford to spend a couple more cents on Australian made products.

 

[avac1991]

There are limitations to each country's resources be it the skill set of the people, the natural resources it is endowed with, its geography etc. Countries can be largely self sufficient.. but at a cost. It is truly cheaper to produce certain things offshore. Also, Australia's population is ageing. Which is why working holidays are offered to foreigners to cover jobs we aren't doing like farm work. Can we survive solely on our own people and our own resources? That's a big question we have to think about.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Our resources alone says Yes, easily.

 

[MrWalker30]

There are limitations to each country's resources be it the skill set of the people, the natural resources it is endowed with, its geography etc. Countries can be largely self sufficient.. but at a cost. It is truly cheaper to produce certain things offshore. Also, Australia's population is ageing. Which is why working holidays are offered to foreigners to cover jobs we aren't doing like farm work. Can we survive solely on our own people and our own resources? That's a big question we have to think about.

most countries can be self sufficiant but its laws and regulations they are bound by.

What is the Lima Declaration?

The Lima Declaration is a UN-led initiative that seeks to “flatten” the world’s production to redistribute wealth to give all nations a “fair share”. It is an international trade agreement similar to…

www.cirnow.com.au

Lima Declaration: How the UN ended Australian sovereignty

The deal that unlocked the gates of the First World.

tottnews.com

its been later revised as the paris and kioto agreements but its crippled successful countries like Australia and USA and allowed china to become a super power they are today, we lost our manufacturing, most of the steel works, oil refinerys etc thats why we are a service based economy not a manufactoring
we should be

coountries like norway at least hand a nationally owned oil drilling company that has allowed them to grow a sovereign fund to around 1.1 trillion dollars

Norway's $1tn wealth fund to divest from oil and gas exploration

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund was created to invest North Sea oil profits

www.theguardian.com

Australia is the stupid rich kid that had everything gifted

 

[sabre_ac]

Should we be self-sufficient in times of crisis? Yes (in terms of bare essentials)

Should we aim to be self-sufficient in the modern economy? Depends on the cost and what we forego, I'd argue we should focus on being world leaders in certain areas as opposed to being self-sufficient.

 

[Gigantic]

After the nightmare of coronavirus, let's manufacture a better Australian dream | Van Badham

We used to have a thriving domestic sector. After this crisis, Australia should have one again

www.theguardian.com

 

[00Stinger]

Not when you have such a high minimum wage

The same flogs posting on facebook to boycott items and products not made and/or sourced from Australia are wearing clothes all made in Sri Lanka, driving cars made in Korea and using their phones made in China

 

[truedemon]

Not when you have such a high minimum wage

The same flogs posting on facebook to boycott items and products not made and/or sourced from Australia are wearing clothes all made in Sri Lanka, driving cars made in Korea and using their phones made in China

It can easily be done as we have the resources but policies won’t allow
We have all the materials to manufacture batteries, solar panels wind turbines etc but we dont just ship the product to China

there has been a proposed project called the iron boomerang first came to light in the 70s
A railway lone through the middle of Australia to the Bowen basin to the Pilbara to carry the coal and iron ore the products to make steel with stew works based on Queensland and Western Australia with the ability to supply steel to SE Asia and South America

there are a few Options but for the past 40 odd the country has been run by nuff buffs as well as bogged down with red and green tape make it near impossible to have anything take off

 

[dustysnecktattoo]

I always thought we already are self sufficient!!

 

[truedemon]

I always thought we already are self sufficient!!

we were! but under the lima agrements we had to slowly deindustrialize by gough whitlem, then socialist bob let the unions nuts with the wages to make manufactoring at near unsustainable levels

i should ad we have all the recources, product to be fully self sufficient but we are governed by to much green tape to do so

 

[Spirit Level]

Not if we want to maintain our current quality of life

 

[truedemon]

Haven’t seen it in full due to work, but gives a good understanding of The Australian banking systems and Australian sovereignty &how globalists will will eventually ruin it

 

[Kwality]

I always thought we already are self sufficient!!

We don't have enough timber to cater for the housing boom 'nobody in Australia predicted'

Between devastating bushfires and a housing boom no-one saw coming, Australia's sawmills can't meet the current demand for timber across the country.

www.abc.net.au

'Timber supply can't keep up with demand as housing boom comes after Black Summer bushfires

......the construction and forestry union forecasts the sector will not be able to meet demand fuelled by the national construction boom.

Key points:

• The pandemic has fuelled a desire in many Australians to search for more living space
• Bushfires in 2019 and 2020 also damaged timber plantations and have contributed to the shortage
• "Stress levels are through the roof" in the construction industry, according to one group

The Commonwealth's HomeBuilder program, which provides grants for people building or renovating homes, is being cited as one of the main drivers of construction activity across the country.'

Try buying anything to fit out a house & you will know 99% of fittings (lights, a stove ) 99% come from Asia & there is a container shortage to ship anything in.

A shipping container shortage is snarling global trade

The shortage of shipping containers is yet another symptom of the havoc the pandemic has wrought on international supply chains, causing rising freight prices and inflation.

qz.com

 

[Upgrayedd]

Materials in general re up the wall. My work we are dealing with insane prices for copper, pvc ect. and generally, short supply of random materials you would never think of, which is pushing some projects and works back a few weeks, blowing up costs

Pricing in general isnt rising either, most builders are copping it on the chin, it's pretty competitive and its not like with rising costs companys are seeing record profits. In terms of the pandemic, shipping costing and freight has been messed up. No country can be self sustaining, Look at china who want to punish us for sticking our noses in "their" business and trying to punish industrys left right and center, but on the other hand copping iron ore prices twice the cost of what it was on a good period 3 years ago because of the issue of getting a steady supply from India/Brazil

 

[Seeds]

More the question should be is should every country be at a level of self-sufficiency?
But back to the main question I think that we here in Australia could and should be more self sufficient in this current climate.
Why do we have to export one product to then just import another product exactly the same?
The current Corona virus situation has plunged us as a country into turmoil. Crazy people buying every packet of toilet roll on the shelf. Seriously WTF. This action is based on out of country problems that do not affect us as a nation.
If we had/have more control over local assets instead of going the whole "sell it to China or some other big foreign company they will pay more" attitude then we would be in a much stronger position to battle adversary.
Sure we need foreign investment but it has to be at worst a 60/40 playing field in our favour with all major assets owned by Australian companies or governments .
I might be wrong but I as a proud aussie and think we should be standing on our own feet as we are a land of riches.
What do we think?
All opinions respected.

Oh ffs are we really this economically illiterate. we are all far richer with trade. we trade for the same reason you individually aren’t self sufficient. You don’t produce your own food, build your house, build your own tv, make your own clothes, run a hotel resort to provide your own holiday’s. You would be dramatically poorer if you tried. It’s the same with countries that try to be self sufficient.

if we tried to make our own clothes and electronics then clothes would be three times more expensive. As would electronic goods. This is because labour costs are much higher here. With electronics we also wouldn’t get all the new tech from other countries. If we decided to go self sufficient in the eighties we wouldn’t have iPads or mobile phones. We would be backwards compared to the rest of the world unless we stole their tech. Which isn’t exactly self sufficiency now is it.

economies of scale, comparative and absolute advantage. look these concepts up and actually understand them. We would lose the benefits of all of these making us considerably poorer.

and lets Not even get into the concept of how trade reduces the incentive for war.

or better yet if you arent an economist stop trying to pretend to be one. You don’t pretend to be a doctor. You listen to your doctors. Just listen to your economists And stop with this utter anti trade nonsense.

the only reason we should consider not trading is when it’s only with one country or a small group of countries for political purposes. I.e. to hurt them cos that’s what self sufficiency does. It hurts countries. During wars we try to blockade countries and drive them towards self sufficiency cos we know it will make them weak and powerless.

 

[endure]

Yes. If done correctly it could work perfectly.

 

[Kwality]

Yes. If done correctly it could work perfectly.

IF we are to leave our energy wealth in the ground in a world that is energy poor, we need to be aware of the potential of aggression.