I hate to think what what Australia's economy will be like by the time my 1 year old daughter retires, after all the dirt worth digging out of the ground has been shipped to China and we have nothing more to offer.
That's only half the problem...We've already shipped our manufacturing capability overseas and, as you mention, are now flat out exporting our natural resources.
No wuckkers they all say, Australia can be a "Service" economy !!
We can put overseas students through our Unis // Run large banks & financial centres // Run Medical centres of excellence....................
Yet there is no need for these services to be solely supplied by Australians, in Australia.
When happen next when The Big US Universities get serious about setting up campuses in every major city in Asia ?
When China / Thailand / Indonesia get serious and set up a fair-dinkum financial trading centres ?
If it was easy to cease manufacturing, what will stop the almost overnight loss of our "Service Industries" ??
ST