US car industry is also on it's knees despite the massive home market, it couldn't succeed on it's own turf because it didn't make the cars people wanted.
Perhaps US manufacturers could not compete against imports but that does not explain why Honda produces more vehicles in the USA than all their other factories world wide and BMW produces many of it's vehicles in the USA including exclusive manufacture of the Z3 sports (and produces many models in South Africa).
Germany's population is only 81 million, four times the Australian market and one third the US market and it's labour cost is similar to Australia, yet it has a thriving vehicle manufacturing and export industry, including BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Bently, Bugatti, Ford and GM Opel. How can Germany, with it's relatively small domestic market and high labour costs, support so many profitable vehicle manufacturers? Production efficiency and proactive export development perhaps?
Even in the UK, when local car manufacturers have been acquired by overseas companies (Rolls Royce, Bently and Daimler by German companies and Jaguar by Tata of India), after technological investment those companies return to profit.
Do you think the state of the Australian vehicle manufacturing industry may also have something to do with our local (and imported) industry management decisions, lack of investment in efficient, modern technology, the quality of the products we produce and our inability to market our products internationally?
Why is the European large ship building industry again thriving and able to compete against Asia with it's lower labour costs? France is now a major builder of cruise ships, including Cunard liners and the QMII. Investment in modern design and efficient construction technology perhaps? Where has our ship building industry gone?
Why does Europe, with it's high labour costs, again dominate the technology and manufacture of high speed, cost effective rail transport, when the Australian rail industry languishes in slow, inefficient, pathetic 1940's technology?
Why does Europe have a thriving electronics and white goods industry and can compete against Asian imports, when our electronics and white goods industry - AWA for example - are all but non existant? Even the Kiwis, population 4 million, make and export better white goods than Australia (Fisher and Paykel). Why did we sell the Victa Airtourer to New Zealand, then buy back over 100 aircraft?
Why are we digging up Australia and shipping the raw products overseas instead of value adding our exports? What will we do when we've exported all our iron, bauxite, coal, uranium and LNG/CSG?
Why is our cattle and sheep industry dependent almost totally upon live exports, rather than exporting processed meat, wool and leather products? Why are all our abattoirs going broke when overseas abattoirs are thriving, processing our Australian live meat production?
Why must Qantas move off shore to access lower labour costs when other western world airlines (AIG, Southwest Airlines), with similar labour costs, are profitable? How can Europe, with it's relatively high labour costs, have a successful aircraft manufacturing industry - Airbus and RR for example - and European airlines maintain their aircraft in Europe, when Qantas must send our aircraft for maintenance to developing and low cost countries, with questionable standards and practices? Does Qantas pay GST on their aircraft parts and labour sourced overseas when reimporting their repaired aircraft, or is that another hidden financial benefit? Why are the two largest Qantas shareholders (J P Morgan and HSBC) local off shoots of overseas financial institutions, when we have a strong finance industry and billions invested in super funds here in Australia?
Why have all our Australian innovative developments - the cochlear implant, orbital engine and DME for example - all moved off shore for production?
Why do we allow our Governments to obscenely over regulate and micro manage our industry and industrial relations arrangements, whilst providing little incentive for R&D, investment in modern technology and export development and promotion? Why do we accept without question, CASA taking twenty three years so far and counting, to produce a set of aviation regulations? Why do we accept ever increasing tax levels for no return on our investment? Why do we believe a couple of hundred politicians in Canberra, most with no real world business experience or acumen, know better than us how to build our businesses and spend our earnings?
Why is our Government reducing it's investment in vocational and tertiary education and hell bent on turning every TAFE college, technical college and university into a profitable commercial enterprise? Why is the failure/non completion rate of Australian apprenticeships around 60% (or successful completion rate around 40%) when as a nation we have a deplorable trade skills shortage and must deplete developing county skills to provide our skilled work force? Why do we have a deplorable hospital system and must import nurses and doctors to meet our need, when we should be training our own kids?
Why is our Government investing $43 billion of your tax money in a monopolistic national fibre optic network and guaranteeing higher internet and communication costs when, given the right environment and appropriate encouragement and non cash incentives, our private enterprise should be making the investment, probably at less than half the capital cost and lower, competitive user charges?
Why do we have an over regulated finance market, RBA dictated interest rates and a protected, monopolistic banking industry, when the cost of money should be driven by market forces of supply and demand? Why are bank interest rates double the prime rate? We allow the market to dictate the value of our Australian Dollar but totally regulate our interest rates?
Despite having a FIRB review process, why are we selling our only profitable export companies, including our resource industries, to overseas interests? Why do we need a $71 billion carbon tax - to produce even more revenue for our Government to "invest" in their pet schemes?
The cost of labour is a very significant factor, but is it the only factor influencing the viability of our Australian industry and commerce? Do we need protection of our industries against imports and foreign labour costs, or do we need a far more flexible, innovative and proactive commerce and industry environment, in partnership with our Australian work force, with far less intrusion by Government?
Why do we need to import our company Board Members and CEOs from overseas, Mexico, the USA, Ireland? As Australians, are we so dumb, incompetent and incapable of managing and growing our own businesses?
Why do we have a national "tall poppy syndrome" culture? Why do we criticise and denigrate our home grown entrepreneurs like Gina Reinhart, Twiggy Forest, Lindsay Fox, Dick Smith and others who invest in Australia, employ Australian workers and often personally contribute generously to our society? What is so wrong and obscene about "having a go" and accumulating wealth?
Why are we allowing our Government to accumulate unnecessary and obscene debt levels and deficits for very little real growth or improvement in our Australian quality of life? Why don't we demand value for money?
Why do we blame low overseas labour costs as an excuse for our own inability to show innovation, enterprise, lack of technological investment and inability to develop export markets?
Perhaps low cost Asian labour has less to do with our ailing industries, than our own lack of investment in technology, onerous inflexible and invasive Government regulation and inability to efficently compete in a modern world?
We inherit our world and caretake it for our children.
At the present rate, there won't be much for them to inherit except a lunar lanscape of holes in the ground, decrepit industry, no agricultural industry and a net importer of food, a mountain of debt and a third world economy!
Think about it!