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Toyota is Gone. Goodbye Australian Car industry 1896-2017.

Jesterarts

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Ok - me being what some on here would consider the capitalist anti christ let me share a few things with you.

I have recently outsourced several jobs in my company to SE Asia and have imported people before on 457 Visas. Why outsource jobs? Regular occurrances in Australia:

1. guy arrives 15 min early for work, sits in the lunch room till 1min before start time, clocks on and then heads off to the rest rooms for a 20min dump
2. most stop work 5 min early for smoko/lunch and tend to drift back 5 min late nearly every day unless there is somebody there to crack the whip
3. For some reason they need to take a whole day off to take (insert some random relative here) to the airport for a late afternoon flight. Further this is often with little or no notice
4. Absenteeism on days surrounding public holidays are just crazy
5. Add the on costs for the multitude of additional costs of employment in Australia (eg payroll tax, superannuation, work cover, penalty rates etc etc etc) and employment costs in Australia are just un sustainable. The base hourly rate is usually not so bad, but when you add all the above it is often just not economic to do the job.

For my OS employees, none of #1 -4 are a problem what so ever. They no work, they no get paid or sacked thus mostly they are ultra reliable. As for #5 - actual costs are slightly less than the direct hourly wage in Aus without any of the on costs or hidden compliance costs etc.

As for 457 visas: Anybody who thinks it's an opportunity to import cheap labour doesn't know what they are talking about or kidding themselves

I thin that also highlights the different mentalities.

OS worker are happy to uproot and move ACROSS THE GLOBE for a job, yet there was outcry when Abbott suggested incentivizing people in Australia to move to other parts of Australia were there is work.

This sense of entitlement is very prolific in Australia and is yet another reason why we cannot compete with the world in so many industries.
 

SavVYute

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Savvy

Do you, like me, get a surprise when you buy an article of clothing that says it's Aussie made?

Yep. Very rarely do you see any clothing made in Australia now. I get a real surprise seeing a label 'Aussie made' on anything now.
It's a nice surprise. I like to see 'Australian made and owned' too.
Something I've noticed during my wanderings around some stores is the price of imported clothing is rising.
A man's standard tee-shirt with iron on print (admittedly a funky brand) for $75 made in Bangladesh.
 

Calaber

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Yep. Very rarely do you see any clothing made in Australia now. I get a real surprise seeing a label 'Aussie made' on anything now.
It's a nice surprise. I like to see 'Australian made and owned' too.
Something I've noticed during my wanderings around some stores is the price of imported clothing is rising.
A man's standard tee-shirt with iron on print (admittedly a funky brand) for $75 made in Bangladesh.

Yep, and I refuse to buy clothing priced like that when it's been made in some cheap jack country. It's hard to do, because so little is made here now, but you can find half decent duds if you're not brand choosy.
 

Immortality

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Ok - me being what some on here would consider the capitalist anti christ let me share a few things with you.

I have recently outsourced several jobs in my company to SE Asia and have imported people before on 457 Visas. Why outsource jobs? Regular occurrances in Australia:

1. guy arrives 15 min early for work, sits in the lunch room till 1min before start time, clocks on and then heads off to the rest rooms for a 20min dump
2. most stop work 5 min early for smoko/lunch and tend to drift back 5 min late nearly every day unless there is somebody there to crack the whip
3. For some reason they need to take a whole day off to take (insert some random relative here) to the airport for a late afternoon flight. Further this is often with little or no notice
4. Absenteeism on days surrounding public holidays are just crazy
5. Add the on costs for the multitude of additional costs of employment in Australia (eg payroll tax, superannuation, work cover, penalty rates etc etc etc) and employment costs in Australia are just un sustainable. The base hourly rate is usually not so bad, but when you add all the above it is often just not economic to do the job.

For my OS employees, none of #1 -4 are a problem what so ever. They no work, they no get paid or sacked thus mostly they are ultra reliable. As for #5 - actual costs are slightly less than the direct hourly wage in Aus without any of the on costs or hidden compliance costs etc.

As for 457 visas: Anybody who thinks it's an opportunity to import cheap labour doesn't know what they are talking about or kidding themselves

I work for a fairly large company (500+ employees). When I first started back at said company, I would work through my smoko breaks or take them later to ensure that production could continue (breakdowns or machine make readies for production so that staff weren't sitting around waiting). I would start 10-15 minutes early so that I would have change to do a proper hand over with the outgoing shift supervisor and machine operators and would do the same at the end of the shift with the incoming staff. sometimes I would leave a minute or 2 before the actual finish time (even though I had done more that my 12hours). One day, after working my butt off when the previous shift hadn't done what was required my manager decided he wasn't happy with what I had done and decided to have a go at me in an office full of staff because he wasn't happy with the quality of the cut (the previous shift had almost 12hours to change the knives but failed to do so) and the cut quality was still better than what a lot of other crews put out plus we where pushing against deadlines for deliveries (with penalties) plus there was a breakdown on the machine which I had already diagnosed and was in the process of organising an electrician to fix said problem ( I could have simply have called the supervisor, said the machine was broken and sat on my ass until it was fixed). Strike 1

Shortly there after the GM decided that he was going to start docking staff 4 hours pay if they clocked in late or left early (we use a finger scanner system) with no lea-way given. Never mind that I started early to ensure a proper shift hand-over. Strike 2

Early In the week I was called in to do some over time, later that week I was sick (genuine) during my normal shift and still had sick leave entitlement however the over time was only paid out at a flat rate because I had taken a sick day. Strike 3

So now, in regards to the points #1-4 you made above.

I will not start early and I will leave at the allotted time, I clock in at 6 and I clock out at 6 even though the clock in machine is a long way from my area. When I take my breaks, my half hour starts when I reach the smoko room (again a bloody long way from my production area) and when a man needs to take a dump than a dump he shall take. I do stuff all overtime and certainly not If I have been sick and I'll take a sick day If I'm not feeling well when previously I might have actually gone to work.

Now, some may say that I have an attitude problem, Yeah, I probably do to a degree, however that attitude is a direct result of management actions. I worked my ass off and got shat on, I watch other guys stuff around for years and nothing is ever done about it. Every day the department manager walks around the production floor looking for problems with the product and generally doesn't leave until he finds something, when he does find something he either bitches about it or goes away and sends the supervisor to do his dirty work (more common), never once in that time when you have a good day or we perform a miracle will he come out and thank the guys for a good job. Where is the incentive to work hard and go the extra mile?

Having said all that, I have some of the best production rates in my department. My machine is maintained to a higher standard than any body else's and when there is work to do I will do my best to ensure the job is done within the required deadlines to a higher standard than the majority of the other screws.

Reaper, in no way am I suggesting that this is how you run your company. No personal insult intended toward you.

/ rant over.
 
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Drawnnite

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I thin that also highlights the different mentalities.

OS worker are happy to uproot and move ACROSS THE GLOBE for a job, yet there was outcry when Abbott suggested incentivizing people in Australia to move to other parts of Australia were there is work.

This sense of entitlement is very prolific in Australia and is yet another reason why we cannot compete with the world in so many industries.

you may be surprised. there are plenty out there that are willing to go elsewhere for work.
the risk is, is it guaranteed?
do you really want to pack up, move everything, start new and find out 2 months in, "sorry there nothing else for you here"
im not saying that that does always occur, but it is always a chance.

I have, and many I have worked with have gone to far away places for work but we know that there is (well within reason) somewhere for us to come back to.

not every industry can just "go to the office" day in day out, and stay there, which would be fine if you have the security when you get moved.


and now there are calls to modify extras such as "overtime" rates.
sure there are the few out there that play it for all its worth.
but there are a whole lot that will work their rears off.
I have worked with both kinds, union and non union, and you can just tell in their general demeanour what they are like workwise.
if there was no incentive for some of us, a lot of people will not want to stay back.


as for the clothing.
I have noticed all of the Union stuff I have is Aussie made.
probably some of the best wearing stuff I have had.
and pricewise, it isn't that much more than that of an OS made one
 

c2105026

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WRT clothing price......1 pair RM Williams made in Australia - $370, different style made in china $180. Aussie pair infinitely better quality, fit better etc. Anything from Myer that isn't an external brand will last all of 3 months. They are made in asian sweatshops them have 400% markup applied to it. External brands from myer, however, are much better.

wrt overtime rates - when I was working, I never really sought these. If I needed to work, I went in, if I didn't need to work or wasn't rostered on, I stayed home.

wrt moving - if you can have the fortitude to pack up and move every so often good luck to you. Moving for any skerrick of a job may not be practical because moving takes time and energy. Whenever I have moved the removalist bill alone has been around $3000. Personally I was on a graduate program for 3 years, where I moved every 6 months. It sucked. Having to go build a new life every 6 months is draining mentally and emotionally.
 

Calaber

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WRT clothing price......1 pair RM Williams made in Australia - $370, different style made in china $180. Aussie pair infinitely better quality, fit better etc. Anything from Myer that isn't an external brand will last all of 3 months. They are made in asian sweatshops them have 400% markup applied to it. External brands from myer, however, are much better.

wrt overtime rates - when I was working, I never really sought these. If I needed to work, I went in, if I didn't need to work or wasn't rostered on, I stayed home.

wrt moving - if you can have the fortitude to pack up and move every so often good luck to you. Moving for any skerrick of a job may not be practical because moving takes time and energy. Whenever I have moved the removalist bill alone has been around $3000. Personally I was on a graduate program for 3 years, where I moved every 6 months. It sucked. Having to go build a new life every 6 months is draining mentally and emotionally.

R.M. Williams is one Australian company that proudly stands by its hand-made quality and sells in a premium market at a premium price. You need to be pretty well off to buy their boots for everyday use but they are acknowledged as being of supreme quality.

In relation to my earlier comment re moving to a new location for work, I was thinking more of people with trades and skills that were in demand at locations where those attributes were in short supply. In today's paper, it appears that many mechanics jobs are vacant across the country. Women are being trained because there are not enough blokes who do that work. That's the sort of employment that can have long tenure, not just short-term, and would be worth moving for if it meant having a permanent job.

Other more highly qualified jobs see those temporary visa permits being offered because Australians can't or won't go to where the work is. I realise that most of those visas are comparatively short term, but they are attached to pretty highly paid jobs in many cases.
 

1991_Vn2nV

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R.M. Williams is one Australian company that proudly stands by its hand-made quality and sells in a premium market at a premium price. You need to be pretty well off to buy their boots for everyday use but they are acknowledged as being of supreme quality.

Pity that an increasing percentage of their products other than boots are being made in China and India now (towels/shirts/wallets/shorts etc.). And it is also a pity that 49.9% of RM Williams is now owned by a Singapore based equity firm.
 

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It beats me why Ford took so long to bring out a diesel Territory and never rolled out one for the Falcon.

Again why did Ford stop production of the Falcon wagon when most of them were bought by Taxi's anyway.

Well they did make a 4-cylinder Falcon instead, and hardly anybody bought it, when it actually has superb handling (Shows up the terrible weight distribution of the I6/V8 Falcons).
Ford hoped to stop the Falcon wagon when the Territory came out, but some people kept buying them. Eventually sales of the wagon fizzled out, and it got axed.
 

Jasminka

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Thats a utility vehicle. They are for a specific use. When it comes to a to b transportation, big sedans are out for majority of Australians.



The Mustang will be a very niche market. Do you think Ford is going to make money hand over fist with it? Hell no. The aussies who will buy them are the people who are currently buying things like the new FPV's and HSV's. Ford and Holden need to sell Commodores and Falcons. Not Typhoons and Clubsports.

End of the day, we are a minority. We want a big sedan with a bit of power behind it and the Commodores and Falcons deliver that. Theres no brand loyalty anymore and people in the market for new cars just dont want what theyre selling anymore.

Hyundai are soon bringing their Genesis to Australia, a large RWD, that would compete with BMW, Lexus (as well as local Calais + G6E). On paper it looks like good value, yet they are only sending 200 here. So they must think
this is a very limited market.
 
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