Can We Consider Australia a Developed Country with a Lot of Future Potential - Are We Tech Savvy and Business Oriented?

ALesha77 on 23/04/2022 - 18:08
Last edited 23/04/2022 - 23:06

"Of course, we are!" - say Liberals and Labor.

"Nah, not really" - says Statista.
img

Link:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQ9aYSlXsAAD4LT?format=png&name=…

In terms of allowing conditions to create solid unicorn companies we are on par with Mexico, Chile, Argentina and some African countries.
China, India and even Brazil are doing much much better than we do.
The US are doing 50 (fifty!) times better. China is doing 10 times better. China (!) that our big-mouth politician would call "an oppressing, unfair police state" is doing something right, something that our strong democratic and fair dinkum society CANNOT deliver.

Who cares, bid up that house matey!

What do you think?
Is this the government or the people being the reason?

Door 1: Blame the Government

Easy way out. Of course that is their fault!
Surprisingly, they have not done much differently to other developed governments - i.e. created extra easy monetary conditions to flood people and businesses with money to allow investment, development and prosperity. Not much different except for ONE thing.

Whether this was due to English descent (UK also love their housing bubble and have similar laws / stimulus) or simply political greed, every Australian government (until recent Labor feeble attempts) have heavily subsidized property investment and incentivized poperty-related tax concessions.

It is not uncommon in the corridors of power to stimulate a particular sector of economy, BUT two absolute rivals (and our winner/runner-up in a Unicorn competition) have bubble-pressure release valves in their system. The US does this through cruel capitalism structure and creative destruction while China has a knack for "moving the asset bubbles around" through thoughtful inflation and bubble bursts via CCP means (not joking, they have had good luck with a set of wise men steering the wheel).
Both countries and governments have easily allowed a serious destruction of wealth through property bubble bursts (when it was required). That, however, cannot happen in Australia.

Door 3: Let's keep the ball rolling

Good choice, a safe one (until it's not). Shoveling money into commodities and property sector is a losers game as there is limited growth in those sectors by default. And after some time you need to start inflating the asset bubble to allow the same old economy keep "bearing gifts". The US and China are proving us that only EXPONENTIAL growth in tech and smart ways of doing business can deliver the desired levels of growth.

So what's wrong with the old school of "dirt and houses" trading?

As a country, we will need keep importing and warehousing bodies (immigration) in a hope that commodities boom will last forever (sadly it won't) and keep inflating that bubble until… well just keep inflating it. The cities will become more and more crowded (otherwise how you will keep the bubble inflating?), the jobs will be paying less and less in REAL terms, inflation will be high and higher (have you seen those RE prices, I will need to charge more for milk and eggs).
This option also has a VERY BAD social outcome as we will pay MORE for capital and LESS for labor which means that ALL younger people who don't have a lot to offer apart from their time and skills will earn less and will be taxed more. Pretty much a recipe for a civil war (or a nice old-school violent revolution) in 10-20 years time.

Door 2: Looking into the mirror

Who will you vote for in the coming election?

Poll Options

  • 238
    Let's blame the government
  • 33
    Let's blame the people
  • 19
    Let's bid up houses and trade dirt with China
Financial

Comments

  • rektrading on 23/04/2022 - 18:14
    +2

    🇦🇺 is no Miami, that's for sure.

    • saltysalt on 24/04/2022 - 21:46
      +1

      Miami? Not sure that many successful start ups are coming out of Miami tbh..

      • corvusman on 26/04/2022 - 10:57
        +3

        Fanatics - $18bil
        MoonPay - $3.4 bil
        Magic Leap - $2 bil at the top (probably can't be called successful)
        Kaseya - $2 bil
        Pipe - 2
        Papa - 1.4
        Modernizing Medicine - 1
        REEF Technology - 1
        ReliaQuest - 1

        • saltysalt on 26/04/2022 - 12:56
          +5

          Maybe crypto bro is confusing Miami with Silicone Vally. I don't think anyone in the US is thinking Miami when startups are mentioned. Just as no one thinks of Australia for innovation under the current government.

          • corvusman on 26/04/2022 - 19:48
            +6

            @saltysalt: No surprise, eh.

            Our governments have no strategy longer than their next election.

            100%

  • whatwasherproblem on 23/04/2022 - 18:16

    Yeah, we could be better I think. It's alarming to hear that we're falling behind the other provinces 10x over.

    • Intoxicoligist on 26/04/2022 - 20:36
      +2

      The stats are for "unicorn" companies. Its strongly slanted towards start-up culture rather than traditional businesses. I agree that we're not great for unicorns, and changing that would be great, but I wouldn't be falling over myself for some of the exploitative measures they use, not to mention all those who get burnt if a start up fails.

      • ALesha77 on 27/04/2022 - 20:53
        +3

        Move fast, break things.

        The world is getting smaller and business is spinning at much faster speeds.
        Unicorns are the best metric on how you embrace the brave new world.

        For those 500+ successful over 1bn in cap, there probably were 50,000,000 that failed.

        It is not about the survivorship bias, this is about building incentives to survive.

  • Halo375 on 23/04/2022 - 18:28
    +94

    Our governments have no strategy longer than their next election.

    • HardQuiz on 24/04/2022 - 08:06
      +66

      Agree, not only that, but some parties when in government will ruin the previous government’s initiatives.

      Labor had a fibre to the premises NBN project, but the Liberal/National idiots ruined it.

      Please vote this corrupt government out.

      https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/24/coalition…

      • juki on 26/04/2022 - 23:46
        +1

        ? time to look at something other than classic parties (who will just do the same out of tradition).
        fusion party some ozb was talking about it and it seems interesting

        • Jackson on 27/04/2022 - 07:30
          +1

          Ozbargain Party: pro-China trade, start making Camry in Australia again (since it's the only car anyone needs), eneloops to solve renewables gap, inappropriate comments on social media get you in the penalty box then banned

      • payless69 on 28/04/2022 - 07:41
        +1

        How good is fibre if they put an Assange filter behind and all you get is a crawl?

      • dylan345 on 28/04/2022 - 09:31
        +1

        Agreed a massive fault with our government is they burn and ban policy's invented by the other parties regardless of if they were good policy's or not. A good party should always be improving policies before disregarding them in hate campaigns to win votes.

    • orangetrain on 24/04/2022 - 14:39
      +23

      LNP strategy has been to rob the taxpayers to pay the rich mates. Why not, if you as a politician was given a cushy $800,000 year job after politics for screwing over Australia, why not?

    • wtfnodeal on 24/04/2022 - 20:50
      +11

      Those words are too kind. They in fact have no strategy other than those to win the elections.

      • saltysalt on 26/04/2022 - 12:56
        +1

        👆👆👆

      • pizzaking on 28/04/2022 - 13:52
        +1

        Apparently it's very effective, somehow we keep voting for them

        • wtfnodeal on 28/04/2022 - 14:08

          Ya we just choose the lesser of the two evils.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 23/04/2022 - 18:49
    +28

    the issue we have is present in the early comments 'people want the government to do it' the fact is almost everything good or innovative in society has some from private enterprise.

    from phones, internet, tv, most medicines, cars, EVs, even the Covid Vax etc the issue in Australia too much investment goes in to property and not enough to in private businesses that ultimately results in less innovation due to so much capital going to in housing instead of business.

    the government is partly to blame for an over bearing and inefficient tax system and too much incentive to invest in property and not enough invective to invest in business either directly or via the stock markets/start ups

    we are also lazy in the sense we just dig stuff out of the ground and sell it

    • poboy on 24/04/2022 - 09:00
      +26

      The government is influenced by lobbyists who favour the status quo. The status quo has the money.

      We have so much potential in the information economy, science and the energy economy, yet these are not being nurtured and thereby not attracting investment and growth.

      Where's the Minister for science?

      • payton on 24/04/2022 - 09:14

        these are not being nurtured and thereby not attracting investment and growth.
        Where's the Minister for science?

        Agree for the most part. Science and exploration of new fields are great but needs to be based on its ability to be implemented within a reasonably short term, and high likelihood of being profitable because if you have the latter, all investment firms will queue outside your door.

        • crentist on 27/04/2022 - 18:51
          +2

          That's actually kinda why you don't want government to invest in that kind of research. It makes more sense to leave the low hanging fruit to private investors, and have the government fund the risky stuff. Because as the inverse of your statement implies, investment firms will not be putting in their money if the outcomes aren't already highly predictable.

          Which is kinda how things used to be done post ww2, and was better because the focus was on advancing knowledge. The payoff could be unclear ahead of time, but much bigger in hindsight. Think, putting a man on the moon. Massive government waste, or the creation of a huge industry that is still very much in its infancy?

          If you have a high likelihood of short term implementation and profit, you're probably not doing research at all. That's just business development.

      • Munki on 26/04/2022 - 11:13
        +4

        That's why all of our brightest go overseas for opportunities.

    • CommuterPolluter on 25/04/2022 - 21:05

      It’s not lazy it’s just not a wise investment to make it the Govt is going to eliminate all import tariffs and force you to compete with the rest of the world, while they keep their tariffs.

      • ALesha77 on 27/04/2022 - 20:22

        Then Gerry and Katie will be out of business and that is a big NO-NO.
        Who is going to sponsor the next government?

    • Nereosis on 26/04/2022 - 09:23
      +5

      Medicare, roads, clean drinking water, human rights, electricity regulation, education, health, etc. etc. etc.

      "everything good… has come from private enterprise"

      No, it hasn't. Sure, some of it has but the most important things are all the things we take for granted.

      The government is there to take the work of many in the form of taxes to provide services to its citizens they cannot provide themselves. Without searching for profit.

      You shouldn't make money from education or health.

      • Trying2SaveABuck on 26/04/2022 - 10:19
        -1

        Medicare is paid by the government but most clinicals are privately run think your local gp or local radiology clinic the hospitals are probably the only thing that is run by the state government in which waiting lists for huge and if you compare it to the private hospitals there is no comparison the difference is those who can and cannot afford care….thus private enterprise is better.

        clean drinking water this is a essential service not innovation we have needed clean drinking water since the dawn of man - i dont think this is something you can credit the government for as it is why you pay taxes to provide essential services like these

        human rights again not innovation….if you look over at our Russian, Chinese and Saudi Arabian friends you will see it isnt something you can always trust the government to provide either….

        Australias education system ranks 36 out of 38 in the OECD/EU countries we also have the highest paid teachers in the world - most of the best schools are private schools bar the 'selective' public schools education is essentially a private enterprise for better quality unfortunately

        • Nereosis on 27/04/2022 - 12:07
          +2

          Pretty much everything you just said comes down to bad governance not public vs private.

          Of course public institutions are worse than private if they are run by shit corrupt governments that want to dissuade the public from testing those institutions so they can drive up the need and reliance on the private sector.

          • Trying2SaveABuck on 27/04/2022 - 12:18
            +1

            @Nereosis:

            Pretty much everything you just said comes down to bad governance not public vs private.

            name one nation in the world that doesnt have corruption, bad governance, mis-management in there public sector etc

            • crentist on 27/04/2022 - 19:20

              @Trying2SaveABuck: I think the point was that outcomes can only be bad if the goals of the government are bad to begin with.

              Name one industry that doesn't have corruption and bad management in the private sector. But the goal there is always profit for the business, not the outcome for customers.

              The fact that corruption and mismanagement exist to varying degrees everywhere is evidence that they can be improved. But first you need a government that wants to provide good outcomes.

              • Trying2SaveABuck on 27/04/2022 - 21:41
                +1

                @crentist:

                Name one industry that doesn't have corruption and bad management in the private sector. But the goal there is always profit for the business, not the outcome for customers.

                these two things are direct opposites unlike the government who can print more / borrow more money and simply get voted out with no recourse if a company is mismanaged it will simply go bankrupt or regulated to death if is it found to do something illegal people can and do go to jail.

                contrast that with Government there is no accountability in the government this is why we have 1bn in debt this is why Victoria is about to lose its AAA rating….it is why you can sell 30m worth of land to 3m to your mates….this is why you can sell out the union workers for bribes ….

                we are currently heading to an election and the honest question im asking myself is which of the major parties is 'less shit' then the other - opposed to when i go to buy a laptop i ask which build specs are the best of the best for a price im willing to pay.

                • Nereosis on 27/04/2022 - 22:19
                  +2

                  @Trying2SaveABuck: Pro-tip: the "less shit" government is the one that's actually pushing for a federal anti-corruption commission to try and stop the things you are talking about. It's not everything, but it's more than the other (profanity) are doing.

                  Change starts with little things and trust me; extending the private sector and getting more billionaires is not the way forward.

                  • Trying2SaveABuck on 27/04/2022 - 22:52
                    -2

                    @Nereosis:

                    Change starts with little things and trust me; extending the private sector and getting more billionaires is not the way forward.

                    this is where we will have to agree to disagree….. as i said you're the typical 'i want the government to do it all' Australian and it is exactly why we are stuffed. No government does anything 'good' as there is no accountability they do was is needed to get re-elected.

                    And ALP may or may not be less Shit then LNP if you cant think for yourself ill think for you - Albo refused an investigation into bullying in his party literally 2 months ago, now all of a sudden he his championing anti-corruption. pro-tip dont trust what people say, just judge them on what they do. I f—ken cant stand Scomo but i already know he is a lying Snake I and the rest of the country need to judge is Albo a better kind of snake becuz imo he is already a massive liar.

                    • [Deactivated] on 28/04/2022 - 00:48
                      +1

                      @Trying2SaveABuck: There’s no agree to disagree on this, you’re a complete and utter liar or willfully ignorant.

                      Anti corruption has been both parties policy since the last election, but the one with the ability to do anything about is seems more pro corruption than anything. ‘All of a sudden’, that’s one massive rock you live under.

                      I’ll judge people on what they do, and based on what they’ve done, Labor would have to literally kill children to be on the same level.

                      And yet here you are judging based on what people say, rather than what they do. Apparently what they do is fine if they’re a proven snake.

                      And yeah sure, no government does anything good, like the NDIS, gun buybacks, NBN etc. That stuff just magically happens…,

                    • sackrace on 28/04/2022 - 03:31

                      @Trying2SaveABuck: And ALP may or may not be less Shit…

                      Let's make this simple for the enlightened centrist among us. They are less shit. Whether pork barreling, corruption, repeated falsehoods or parliamentary misconduct, the ALP while not pure as the driven snow is nowhere near the same level of awful as the LNP. The whataboutlabour response on every sin of the LNP is disingenuous because it doesn't excuse it, and the magnitudes are not equivalent anyway.

                    • pizzaking on 28/04/2022 - 13:57

                      @Trying2SaveABuck: We can make a law for that

                • crentist on 27/04/2022 - 23:16
                  +1

                  @Trying2SaveABuck: Whether they're direct opposites or not is irrelevant if money is still being made. Corruption can be a very good way to make money and reward business that do it, and punish those that don't.

                  Private accountability is not better. Just look at all the builders mysteriously going bankrupt a few months after putting up shoddy apartments full of defects, just as the owners grandmother decides to start her own construction company. That kind of thing happens when government stops doing its job of providing oversight and allows private industry to do as they please.

                  The problem isn't that government can't work properly, it's the greedy individuals who don't value public service and only get into it because they see large sums of money and want to take it for themselves.

                  The irony in this debate is they do this by hollowing out government services in order to privatise them. Public and private corruption both rely on a lack of public oversight, which happens when slimy characters strip out this function of governance.

                  • Trying2SaveABuck on 28/04/2022 - 09:06
                    +1

                    @crentist: Fair points from all of you this morning IBAC the Vic state version of what Albo wants to create at Federal level has found the Vic ALP has shit loads of corruption and been described as rotten to the core.

                    This is a quality time for Albo to call on the Vic ALP and Dan Andrews to resign? if you are anti corruption then i want to see it ill stand by what i said i judge people by what they do not what they say im not an idiot like the average OP here.

                    If Albo doesnt call out Andrews and Victoria then im sorry but he is a fraud and i reckon he will lose this election, if he does ill win my vote and i reckon a lot of others.

                    i hate Oz-ALP and the morons that blindly support it as much as i hate other fourms that blindly support LNP Hotcopper for example.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/04/2022 - 00:39

          GPs are almost entirely funded by the federal government, a funding % which has seen steady decline at the hands of both parties.

          95% of GPs wouldn’t exist without government funding. Even private specialists get a Medicare rebate for a significant number of services most individuals couldn’t afford privately anyway.

          And to top it off, outside elective surgery, waits in public are typically shorter than in any private facility. Elective surgery is the only section of the health system where you can get a quicker result by paying, and that’s because the government has decided as such to push costs to those who have money and don’t want to wait.

          Even the shitty NBN is better in most areas than we would have got privately, because building two networks outside the highest density areas is so inefficient as to be worthless from a business point of view.

      • ALesha77 on 27/04/2022 - 20:47
        +1

        Eh, not sure what point you want to make.
        IF the government was a good capital allocator we WOULD have known about it by now. Yet, we still have all kinds of private businesses in place and government bodies have not replaced it. Why?

        Because government SUCK big time at making proper capital allocation decisions and SHOULD not over-heat or over-stimulate a narrow range of industries at the expense of others. Yet, our government has been doing exactly that.

        If you want to make a point of "greater good" and "social equality" - that is a huge topic. Australian government (both major parties), however, suck in both of those categories as well. In any case, always consider the REAL price that is paid for that "greater good".

        • [Deactivated] on 28/04/2022 - 00:55
          +1

          Businesses are better when privately funded, a competitive market can exist, and failure doesn’t have significant consequences for the economy as a whole. It would be ridiculous for instance to have a public servant run restaurant. On the other hand it would be ridiculous to have 5 different private companies running power lines to your home and competing for your business. Sometimes even a wasteful government entity is better than the best possible private process.

          Unfortunately a lot of what we have now is privatized profits and socialized costs and risk. Opaque processes awarding millions of dollars to private companies that exist only because of taxpayer funding but do not compete other than on the basis of how much they can donate to political parties. This is the worst of both worlds.

  • HairyChickens on 23/04/2022 - 19:15
    +3

    Yes. Why?

    Rudd gave free laptops 😌

    • Clear on 23/04/2022 - 20:45
      +5

      I'm still waiting for my free laptop. Infact not a single person in my school or even people I know in other schools ever got one.

    • th123 on 24/04/2022 - 13:27
      +4

      Waited so long for a free laptop I went from kindergarten to finishing uni

    • MessyG on 24/04/2022 - 19:04
      +1

      …and the original NBN.

    • idonotknowwhy on 25/04/2022 - 23:47

      Mine was a plasma screen, and I've still got it :)

  • ALesha77 on 23/04/2022 - 19:24

    Good to see some votes already!

    Updated the post.

    • Kangal on 24/04/2022 - 14:12
      +7

      I don't buy your premise.
      Why is it a "good" metric to measure the quantity of newly formed corporations that have over $1 Billion USD ?

      I understand the gist, that it can imply for a healthy marketplace. But this is a double-edged sword where, the profits of said corporations may come at the direct expense of people. On top of this, it is a very superficial look; what if your nation has thousands of 100 Million Dollar companies and only a handful of Billion Dollar corporations, but it looks poorer next to another nation which has far fewer companies (eg only few hundred) but it instead has several dozens of Billion Dollar corporations (which could imply monopolies).

      You're not counting the right things. Quality of the system is important, such as fairness, morality, corruption, and the people's quality of life. This "Unicorn" Metric optimises to measure exploited people.

      • cadwalader on 25/04/2022 - 18:28
        +3

        We're the same as around half of western Europe and what seems like many countries with a high quality of life in said region.

        Seems like if you have a large population which you can easily exploit with lax labour laws (USA, China, India) you can have much unicorns.

      • ALesha77 on 29/04/2022 - 18:01

        There is an old joke about a loving son who was travelling on a train via a village where his father lives and he has only 5 seconds while the train slows down passing through the station (not stopping at the station). So he has a shot at only 1 question to find out all detail about how his father is doing.
        When the train passes ah he sees his dad, he asks the question
        Q: "Dad, do you poop well?"
        A: "Yes, very well".
        The passengers who overheard this started shaming this young man - why could not he find a better question to ask. So he explains: if dad poops well, then he has enough money to buy good food, and that means that his other expenses are covered and he is not in need. Moreover, the fact that he does not need to go frugal now means that he has enough savings and not much to worry about. Also his health is in a good shape to process the food, no stress, etc.
        That is a joke of course.

        And the reference to unicorns is a correlation NOT a causation.

        If an economy has capacity to sustain 500+ 1 billion unicorns, then it has the capacity for all necessities and more importantly a HIGH level of growth which in turn will make more necessities and provide more SUSTAINABLE wealth over time. The "good" takes care of "good" and is an evidence of an environment where more "goods" can grow fast.

        An environment where everything needs to be stimulated (Australia) is NOT good for growth and the correlation is to pathetic anemic pushed-through growth that is not healthy.

        • Kangal on 30/04/2022 - 01:40

          Yes, but do you see the fallacy in your initial remark?

          Just because something looks good on the surface, doesn't mean it is functioning good on the inside. As you said, correlation is not causation.

          This unicorn metric, is basically a dick measuring contest. Unlike a dick, it is pointless. More useful for bragging rights by the elites, as it has no positive effect to the bulk of the citizens.

    • RedHab on 26/04/2022 - 15:24
      +2

      If you want to be really disappointed in Australia, take a look at our "Economic complexity index"
      https://oec.world/en/rankings/eci/hs6/hs96?tab=table

      Australia rates 74th in the world. Beaten by Kazakhstan but just ahead of Albania.

      We're just Houses and Holes in the ground.

      • BartholemewH on 27/04/2022 - 11:31

        NZ is kicking our arse.

  • AustriaBargain on 23/04/2022 - 19:28
    +7

    An Australian girl in Perth produced Canva, valued at 55 billion last year.

    • rektrading on 23/04/2022 - 19:30
      +21

      Overvalued.

      • AustriaBargain on 23/04/2022 - 19:31
        +3

        I still wouldn't mind owning it.

        • rektrading on 23/04/2022 - 19:32
          +3

          It would damp like a $NFLX if it goes IPO today.

          • AustriaBargain on 23/04/2022 - 19:56
            -1

            @rektrading: Still though, if I could go back in time to when they first started and offer the founders a million dollars for 49% share and a non compete agreement, I would do it. If I had a time machine. And if I had a million dollars.

            • rektrading on 23/04/2022 - 20:02

              @AustriaBargain: I would rather buy $TSLA if I had the opportunity to get in on ground level.

              • AustriaBargain on 23/04/2022 - 20:55

                @rektrading: I'd buy Afterpay back when everyone was saying you should start buying Afterpay. Easy money.

                • rektrading on 23/04/2022 - 21:22
                  +1

                  @AustriaBargain: Sorry, pamp and damp stonks aren't my 🥤 of tea. It's just one of many useless 💩 coins.

                  • Kangal on 24/04/2022 - 14:20
                    +1

                    @rektrading: You guys aren't thinking big.
                    If you had a time-machine, it is better to win one of those European Super-Lotterys, and do so like back in the 80's, perhaps buy your own country, then go all in with stonks.

                    Or better yet, bring back a harddrive of innovation. Like how to make SAMOLED displays, or 16nm lithography, or ARM Cortex A73 architecture. Or the latest Software builds, perhaps the cryptocurrency protocol.

                    Or maybe go back in time, and start a Mega Religion that would crush the likes of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

                    …so many options

      • trongy on 25/04/2022 - 19:58

        The same would be true for many of the other "unicorn companies". This is not a good metric. Valuations done by analysts are not to be trusted if there's a conflict of interest and they may profit from a higher IPO price.

        Valuing of a company by the price of its public ally traded shares is not perfect either, but at least the people doing the valuation are putting their money on the line.

      • goingDHfast on 27/04/2022 - 21:16

        Democratizing Photoshop with a subscription revenue model? If they successfully take graphic design from an expert niche to a mainstream base skill I can see valuations exceeding Adobe within 5 years.

        • rektrading on 27/04/2022 - 21:25

          Photoshop isn't my wheelhouse.

          I would still choose to buy $TSLA over a photoshop app.

    • ALesha77 on 23/04/2022 - 19:32
      +7

      Yes, I know that girl (there were also 2 boys) but let's be gender-brave here.
      We should all be proud of the Canva team (no jokes).

  • Ghost47 on 23/04/2022 - 19:31
    +25

    The LNP government has never really been one to invest into R&D, instead they tend to cut funding into R&D. This is precisely why, for example, Forrester and Cannon-Brookes have taken it into their own hands to build a solar farm to export renewable electricity to SE Asia (Sun Cable).

    The LNP government is very happy to maintain the status quo and support mining and agriculture (as they are our largest exports) without thinking about how else we can deliver value in an ever-increasing, technologically-dependent world. It's simply part and parcel of conservatism. The world has radically advanced in the past 20 years (majority of which LNP has been in power), but most advancements we are subject to or observe are delivered to us from overseas. Our universities do some pretty good R&D (e.g. vaccines) but I believe we could do a lot better than we currently are.

    We are a large economy but in terms of economic complexity we are ranked 74/127 below Indonesia, Brazil, Russia and India because what we do isn't very complex. Heck, Indonesia used to export nickel ore but decided to refine it onshore to add value.

  • subywagon on 23/04/2022 - 19:32
    +29

    Our government is too concerned with lining their own pockets. It's criminal how badly they've destroyed Australia. I hope if the federal ICAC ever happens it will actually do something and go after criminals in the current government.

  • fantombloo on 23/04/2022 - 19:39
    +14

    We are experts at farming and digging holes.

    • SF3 on 23/04/2022 - 21:09
      +3

      The easy way, like prehistoric times.

    • Drakesy on 25/04/2022 - 20:41
      +3

      *subsidising farming to supposedly keep the industry alive
      The tax breaks that farmers get are incredible
      There's a reason their kids are all at top private schools and driving around in $120k landcruisers

  • freefall101 on 23/04/2022 - 20:03
    +19

    We could have followed the Asian boom, instead we wound up with Howard who targeted petty local issues and focused on rolling back whatever reforms he could to make Australia like the good ol' days. Only thing we have to thank him for is gun reform, otherwise he just used the mining boom to fund ways to win the next election and every leader since him has followed suit.

    Look at superannuation, Keating took a simple idea and now Australia has one of the largest stash of pension funds in the world. Which we'll need, because aged care costs a fortune in these countries, not in part because the cost of building an aged care home and having a licensed bed costs a fortune.

    • smartazz104 on 26/04/2022 - 11:35

      Only thing we have to thank him for is gun reform

      Didn't he just enact laws put in place by the Keating government?

      • trongy on 26/04/2022 - 19:19
        +1

        No. Gun licencing is controlled by state an territory law so Howard got those leaders together and they agreed to enact a somewhat similar set of laws that tightened up licencing conditions. The federal government introduced a law that increase the the medicare levy by 0.2% for one year to fund the buyback scheme.

  • SF3 on 23/04/2022 - 21:13
    +9

    Australia is good at educating people, but there ain’t opportunities to transfer the educated into jobs. Most educated folk leave for opportunities outside of Australia.

    • RMBC on 24/04/2022 - 08:31
      +10

      But are we though? Standards keep regressing in comparison to other countries, and over education doesn't equal quality outcomes

    • Seraphin7 on 24/04/2022 - 15:15
      +19

      We're far better at selling education to people than we are at educating them.

      • Stromae on 24/04/2022 - 15:48
        +10

        Couldnt agree more. When international students come to study in Australia, the majority factor in the chance to live in oz once their studies are over.

        • ozbjunkie on 25/04/2022 - 09:35
          +4

          I'll agree too.

          As a backdoor visa, and the university having come to rely on the money from this immigration pathway, tertiary education has "shifted priorities" to "recognise understanding, if not always proficient expression" and to "appreciate cultural differences in collaboration and individuation in submitted work".

  • askme69 on 23/04/2022 - 21:42
    +2

    Stop the Boats and Planes and take stock.

  • payton on 23/04/2022 - 23:02

    Everyone's an expert after the fact

  • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2022 - 07:58
    +11

    "Nah, not really" - says Statista.

    They’re using junk maths.

    I mean per country? Should be per capita.

    Come back when you have something an economist would be proud of.

    • menocheapsk8 on 24/04/2022 - 08:30
      +6

      I'm glad someone is able to read this correctly and not jump to conclusions. We're on par with countries like Norway, Ireland, Italy, Spain, etc. that have comparable populations. Not bad company 😉.

      I still think Australia has a lot of room for improvement and it's the responsibility of everyone, even the people of OzB, to create and/or inspire this continual improvement.

      One thing to keep in mind when getting angry about Australia just exporting the 'dirt'. Sometimes there are significant environmental impacts resulting from the refining and final high value manufacturing.

    • RedHab on 26/04/2022 - 15:27

      Look at this, then:
      https://oec.world/en/rankings/eci/hs6/hs96?tab=table

      Australia ranks 74th in the world.

      • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2022 - 20:56

        Nearly double that of war-torn Ukraine.

      • Stromae on 27/04/2022 - 19:28
        +1

        I didnt expect Australia to be in the top 10, but 74th is actually quite shocking.

        I guess with all these bountiful natural resources, we can afford to not be up there.

  • saltypete on 24/04/2022 - 08:07
    +2

    We live on the proceeds of 2 quarries.
    One of these quarries (coal) is finishing soon.
    Need to get off our collective @rses and think of some way to add value to the rest of this planet. Not just coming up with smart ideas and selling them to others.
    The revolving 'leadership' door won't rise to this unless we demand it. And we're not even asking.
    I think we should start by getting a little worried…..

    • ALesha77 on 27/04/2022 - 20:08
      +1

      Good thinking.

      And one should always be a little worries when politicians are around.
      Can't trust those guys to park your car without supervision let alone drive the country.

  • kanad on 24/04/2022 - 08:40
    +3

    I am from Indian heritage, migrated to Australia 20 years back. You have no idea how it is living in India, Pakistan, Srilanka. Yes there are more unicorns in India based on huge potential market size. But that doesn’t make its quality of life anywhere near Australia.
    Read these to understand ground situation in India and then compare to Australia.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-61147690
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-61172227

    Also I believe Australia will do very good with rising price of mineral, metals, wheat and other commodities which we have plenty to export.

    • BargainCowboy on 24/04/2022 - 14:23
      +4

      You're comparing apples and oranges, you need to compare AU to other first world countries.

    • Tomhaigh1 on 25/04/2022 - 01:02
      +3

      This is hilarious, you migrated 20 yrs back and comparing with current India.
      Mate, now a days Indians are earning more than Aussies.
      It's quite easy to develop coastal regions, similar to Singapore, Sydney, Mumbai etc.
      India works on a different scale.
      Also you are sharing bbc articles makes this more amusing, as you are seeing through that "yellow" filter.
      Australia is quite good in terms of work culture, multicultural and climate conscious, no doubt about that.

      • kanad on 25/04/2022 - 08:04
        +2

        Yes some Indians working at startups or Amazon are earning more than Australians, but that is a very very low percentage. 80% of Indians fall below the income tax threshold, it is a very poor country.

        I still watch Indian TV news channels and I have my pensioner parents and extend relatives back there and get on the ground news.

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