What does Australia have to offer once our mining resources are exhuasted? Real estate is way overpriced which flows on through retail and various other things combined with overpriced labour, where are we going to be in 15 years?
At present we are living in a fool's paradise that could collapse around our ears at any time ....
If we think that mining alone will keep us afloat with the standard of living Aussies demand , then we are in for a rude shock . In my humble opinion it will take far less than 15 years before things start to go downhill.,..
Look around you & you can see the signs of decline right now !
Australia actually has quite a diverse economy ... mining is a major part, however agriculture, tourism, and general internal economies are also strong throughout Australia.
Sydney and Melbourne both have flourished without much influence from the mining of the nation (Perth has to a large extent rested largely on the laurels of mining, and will be hard hit with a down turn).
I think towns such as Karratha will struggle after mining ... houses cost around the million dollar mark there, and without mining would be lucky to be worth $200K. Not to mention most the towns have lost all service providers because of either a transient population and/or the inflated wages mining companies pay so no one else can afford to live there.
Personal debt will also be another big issue ... I have a friend on the mines who would get paid around $40 to $50K doing his work outside mining, instead he is on over $100K. They will struggle to live a similar life without the mines (many also get into terrible debt whilst on the big wages and then lose out when the work dries out).
As a whole nation however I don't think it is unsustainable, I think the government is already putting into place strategies to try and lessen the "impact" of mining on Australians (although we continue to pour millions of funds into their industry, whilst new innovative industries and sciences are ignored ... the brain drain that has been occurring in Australia for about 20 years).
We've stayed a bit up where the rest of the world has really dropped. Mining has helped. We need other stuff to pick up or be built.
Labour isn't overpriced (at least not for us). Do we really want to be paying people $2 (Australian $) per day? It'd totally screw the economy over. No one would be able to own land bar the richest and everything would be sold off to China or somewhere else... Do we want to turn into a third world country where people work in sweat shops, can't afford housing, barely food and anyone whodesn't work 12 hours in the sweat shop must walk through garbage tips trying to scrounge food?
Maverick, if I can answer you, by answering a couple of the others.
The minerals in the ground can't last for ever, and as far as your manufacturing is concerned, you priced yourselves out of the years ago. That was the reason you sent your manufacturing offshore.
You may need to re-look and rethink your tourism industry, but, you may have to bite the bullet, and configure your industrial relations as to wages and salaries to something realistic.
Capitalism is itself unsustainable. Economies have to grow in order to survive but there are two constraining forces. One is the natural environment, which obviously can't be exploited forever without consequences, and the other is people's capacity and willingness to keep buying the goods that are churned out. We are seeing unprecedented credit card debt and falling consumer demand as people realise that buying stuff doesn't make you happy (once your house is stuffed to bursting point with consumer goods). Capitalism produces food so efficiently and cheaply that we are dying from obesity-related diseases.
Capitalism has given us prosperity and a comfortable life, but it can't go on forever. And so far there's no viable alternative to it either.
Re the mining boom, Australia managed before it and we will manage after. I reckon we can still do pretty well in Asia because we have an image of trustworthiness and high standards. We should concentrate on exports to exploit that trust: dairy products (not cows, but), processed food, pharmaceuticals and education.
CMC, we are a high wage country and always have been. That's what has made us what we are, and if we lose that we are nothing. The US is in trouble because its mostly low paid workers have no disposable income to keep the economy turning over.
I'll tell you what, we don't change government, and their massive spending and taxing us to the hilt,were finished, we need a new government now!Stop sellling our land off to foreign interests, tax the cheap imports so the industries can get back on their feet again, no carbon tax, no mining tax, stop sending the farmer broke, by importing fruit and vegetables, stop importing cheap labour from overseas(Gina Rhinheardt) and we'll be right, get things back to the way they used to be.And the man with alll these policies is Bob Katters Australia party.
Comments
At present we are living in a fool's paradise that could collapse around our ears at any time ....
If we think that mining alone will keep us afloat with the standard of living Aussies demand , then we are in for a rude shock . In my humble opinion it will take far less than 15 years before things start to go downhill.,..
Look around you & you can see the signs of decline right now !
Australia actually has quite a diverse economy ... mining is a major part, however agriculture, tourism, and general internal economies are also strong throughout Australia.
Sydney and Melbourne both have flourished without much influence from the mining of the nation (Perth has to a large extent rested largely on the laurels of mining, and will be hard hit with a down turn).
I think towns such as Karratha will struggle after mining ... houses cost around the million dollar mark there, and without mining would be lucky to be worth $200K. Not to mention most the towns have lost all service providers because of either a transient population and/or the inflated wages mining companies pay so no one else can afford to live there.
Personal debt will also be another big issue ... I have a friend on the mines who would get paid around $40 to $50K doing his work outside mining, instead he is on over $100K. They will struggle to live a similar life without the mines (many also get into terrible debt whilst on the big wages and then lose out when the work dries out).
As a whole nation however I don't think it is unsustainable, I think the government is already putting into place strategies to try and lessen the "impact" of mining on Australians (although we continue to pour millions of funds into their industry, whilst new innovative industries and sciences are ignored ... the brain drain that has been occurring in Australia for about 20 years).
We've stayed a bit up where the rest of the world has really dropped. Mining has helped. We need other stuff to pick up or be built.
Labour isn't overpriced (at least not for us). Do we really want to be paying people $2 (Australian $) per day? It'd totally screw the economy over. No one would be able to own land bar the richest and everything would be sold off to China or somewhere else... Do we want to turn into a third world country where people work in sweat shops, can't afford housing, barely food and anyone whodesn't work 12 hours in the sweat shop must walk through garbage tips trying to scrounge food?
Maverick, if I can answer you, by answering a couple of the others.
The minerals in the ground can't last for ever, and as far as your manufacturing is concerned, you priced yourselves out of the years ago. That was the reason you sent your manufacturing offshore.
You may need to re-look and rethink your tourism industry, but, you may have to bite the bullet, and configure your industrial relations as to wages and salaries to something realistic.
Agree with Mai's answer 100%. Australia needs to find some other form of income outside of mining.
Capitalism is itself unsustainable. Economies have to grow in order to survive but there are two constraining forces. One is the natural environment, which obviously can't be exploited forever without consequences, and the other is people's capacity and willingness to keep buying the goods that are churned out. We are seeing unprecedented credit card debt and falling consumer demand as people realise that buying stuff doesn't make you happy (once your house is stuffed to bursting point with consumer goods). Capitalism produces food so efficiently and cheaply that we are dying from obesity-related diseases.
Capitalism has given us prosperity and a comfortable life, but it can't go on forever. And so far there's no viable alternative to it either.
Re the mining boom, Australia managed before it and we will manage after. I reckon we can still do pretty well in Asia because we have an image of trustworthiness and high standards. We should concentrate on exports to exploit that trust: dairy products (not cows, but), processed food, pharmaceuticals and education.
CMC, we are a high wage country and always have been. That's what has made us what we are, and if we lose that we are nothing. The US is in trouble because its mostly low paid workers have no disposable income to keep the economy turning over.
I'll tell you what, we don't change government, and their massive spending and taxing us to the hilt,were finished, we need a new government now!Stop sellling our land off to foreign interests, tax the cheap imports so the industries can get back on their feet again, no carbon tax, no mining tax, stop sending the farmer broke, by importing fruit and vegetables, stop importing cheap labour from overseas(Gina Rhinheardt) and we'll be right, get things back to the way they used to be.And the man with alll these policies is Bob Katters Australia party.