Australian Politics General...

[sptrawler]

Where did I say China subsidising was new?

Where did I say Chinese subsidising was the problem, for our smelters?

The only thing which is new, is the rapid increase in Australian energy costs and the proposed emission penalties which are imminent.
Which is what I said, is going to cripple our energy dependent processing industries and is starting to manifest itself currently.

 

[IFocus]

Where did I say Chinese subsidising was the problem, for our smelters?

The only thing which is new, is the rapid increase in Australian energy costs and the proposed emission penalties which are imminent.
Which is what I said, is going to cripple our energy dependent processing industries and is starting to manifest itself currently.

Glad we sorted that out

 

[Smurf1976]

Not blame its reality, China's government has heavily subsidized many areas of its economy letting winners win and losers fail, China's EV car company's great example 5 to 10 years ago they had very little but now....
The question is how do you compete with that given China's domestic size verses Australia's?

As with anything, if the aim is to win then you've got to be pragmatic, you've got to do what wins the game.

In any field understanding theory tells you where to start but it's by no means the whole story. What works in practice tends to be based on the theory with some deviation, it's not just a straight up application of what it says in the textbook. Hence we don't allow people to drive cars or fly aircraft after just passing a theory test. Hence trade apprenticeships cover both theory and practical. Hence bands routinely rehearse even though they wrote the song in the first place. Etc. Theory alone is never sufficient.

The trouble in Australia being an awful lot of our decision making, on a wide range of subjects, takes the theory as gospel, as an unassailable truth that shall not be challenged. Trouble is, that isn't working, it's not how you win, because there's always some gap between theory and real world practice.

That cuts across all sorts of issues and industries. We're hell bent on sticking rigidly to some prized theory despite overwhelming evidence it's not working. End result is we're paying a huge price for that in more ways than one.

Quite simply we need to move away from the "tick a box" approach to competency and rigid adherence to theory, instead seeking out actual expertise and applying it. The aim is to win, it's not about playing by the rules - because you can be damn sure nobody else is.

 

[IFocus]

As with anything, if the aim is to win then you've got to be pragmatic, you've got to do what wins the game.

In any field understanding theory tells you where to start but it's by no means the whole story. What works in practice tends to be based on the theory with some deviation, it's not just a straight up application of what it says in the textbook. Hence we don't allow people to drive cars or fly aircraft after just passing a theory test. Hence trade apprenticeships cover both theory and practical. Hence bands routinely rehearse even though they wrote the song in the first place. Etc. Theory alone is never sufficient.

The trouble in Australia being an awful lot of our decision making, on a wide range of subjects, takes the theory as gospel, as an unassailable truth that shall not be challenged. Trouble is, that isn't working, it's not how you win, because there's always some gap between theory and real world practice.

That cuts across all sorts of issues and industries. We're hell bent on sticking rigidly to some prized theory despite overwhelming evidence it's not working. End result is we're paying a huge price for that in more ways than one.

Quite simply we need to move away from the "tick a box" approach to competency and rigid adherence to theory, instead seeking out actual expertise and applying it. The aim is to win, it's not about playing by the rules - because you can be damn sure nobody else is.

Saw a good clip the other day mocking BHP where some one is saying there no problem to hard, it can always be solved....by filling in another form

 

[sptrawler]

posted in December 2023:

I did say when all the hulla ballou was going on about robodebt, get over it, as AI becomes more advanced so will its deployment.

'Should have learned from Robodebt': Welfare payments unlawfully cut off

Almost a thousand jobseekers had their income support payments unlawfully terminated over two years, the federal watchdog has found, cautioning the breach likely had a "profound if not catastrophic" impact on vulnerable people.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SirRumpole]

posted in December 2023:

'Should have learned from Robodebt': Welfare payments unlawfully cut off

Almost a thousand jobseekers had their income support payments unlawfully terminated over two years, the federal watchdog has found, cautioning the breach likely had a "profound if not catastrophic" impact on vulnerable people.

www.abc.net.au

Yes, let's all use AI to make all our important decisions!

 

[sptrawler]

Sounds like Labor are getting Robodebt issues of their own.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/...llegally-denied-payments-20250808-p5mlfl.html

 

[Smurf1976]

This is about the US, and in particular Boeing, but has an awful lot of relevance to all that ails Australia from energy to housing to the NDIS.

Boeing and the Dark Age of American Manufacturing

Somewhere along the line, the plane maker lost interest in making its own planes. Can it rediscover its engineering soul?

www.theatlantic.com

It hits the nail on the head of where it's all gone wrong and if you've worked in utilities or manufacturing, odds are you've either made every one of these arguments yourself or your colleagues have.

When the wave of Japanese competition finally crashed on corporate America, those best equipped to understand it—the engineers—were no longer in charge. American boardrooms had been handed over to the finance people. And they were hypnotized by the new doctrine of shareholder value, which provided a rationale for their ascendance but little incentive for pursuing long-term improvements or sustainable approaches to cost control. Their pay packages rewarded short-term spikes in stock price. There were lots of ways to produce those.

As I've said in another thread, if we want to fix these problems then the first step is putting people with the right mindset and experience in charge.