Is it too late ? As far as manufacturing clothes, I'd have to say yes. I travelled to Sydney to buy a genuine Italian suit, made by 3rd and 4th generation tailors. I was led past women working on sewing machines into a measuring/fitting area and shown fabrics and colours. The suit was ready in 3 weeks. It was a month before my wife noticed the 'made in china' label on the suit. They were buying chinese suits in bulk and merely making alterations. Let's hope we never go to war with China, because if we do, we'll probably be fighting them in the nude, as the clothing sanctions have probably failed.

In some respects Pacific Brands are only matching their competitors in outsourcing their manufacturing. That at least will be their justification in taking the chance to create their own bona fide sweat shops. However taking taxpayer money and effectively topping up their executive salaries with it instead of doing what they were supposed to leaves the taste of fraud in the mouth. The cost/benefit of outsourcing could be outweighed by their market leaving them in disgust. That aside when the new government signed up to Kyoto for all its good intentions it tipped the scales toward exporting jobs to China and India in the worst possible way and accelerated the process you mention. Local manufacturing cannot compete with low wage/no environmental rules economies that are under nothing more than a promise to look at pollution levels in 3 years time. While loosing these industries and relying on primary industry for our foreign exchange has recently shown itself to be an illustration of complacency. The only area in Australian job growth appears to be for Centrelink staff. Further underscoring your point.

My wife likes to remind me (often) that Jeff Corbett has an opinion on a topic of the day and it would be sensible, reasonable and logical to comment on that topic. I would like to remind her of Uncle George. George was a champion speedway rider at the Maitland showground in the 1920s. (Maitland was where the sport originated.) He was a local legend and featured on a collectors card inserted in the breakfest cereal of the day and he had a very promising career untill a horiffic accident.George had his leg ripped off,during a race, by a picket fence that surrounded the track.George's mother had always been fearfull of an accident but strangely decided to keep part of the leg in the ice chest (pre fridges) as a keep sake for a number of years.

I think you are a bit misinformed here. No jobs are being transferred (sic) to China. 1000 employees are being put off in Australian (just as Fairfax has done itself) and 850 in China. In total Pacific Brands will have 1850 employees less in the near future. No doubt it will have even fewer employees in a few years - if not it will soon have none at all.

The Hunter's most provocative columnist? please.. This issue has been done to death but as soon as something else happens in the long string of exporting jobs or importing labour then someone says something as if they are the first to notice it. Give us all a break from this rubbish unless you're willing to propose some ideas instead of whinging and whining. Anytime anyone writes about this kind of thing, people get worked up and demand jobs for Australians but then that's it. No ideas, no strategies, nothing. Nothing that isnt racist, xenophobic or Pauline Hanson-esque anyway. I have no doubt people will continue to complain about the state of things at the moment. However unless anyone like you are willing to put forward some of their ideas to rectify things, please, please, please keep your rubbish opinions to yourself.

Can you hear the echo's of the leaders of the right? Free market forces.. Deregulation, Level playing field.... Globalization.... "protection bad.." Can only gravitate to the lowest common denominator for a country that rides high in everything. Do I hear cries of ' Oh No,' protectionism..? What a dilemma. The dude on 'Abc tv's Lateline' last night with George Negus had the right idea in my opinion. you can read or hear it on their website. Or just rave on with your mates about another sinking boat that cannot possibly compete with the third world. Go bury your gold before the ship sinks.. at least you can go dig it up later and hopefully start again with an eye for something totally unthinkable to the true blue conservative " the future" Cheers.

Absolutely true what you are saying Jeff. I have a builder mate who has worked alongside the importer workers. They can't speak English, therefore can't read safety signs and they will wire up places without qualifications. The other point to remember with having our goods manufactured overseas is: We have high safety standards on method of manufacture and ingredients used. Therefore we don't have nearly the number of deaths or injury's in work places that China has. Plus, to the best of my knowledge we haven't knowingly used dangerous paints on toys, poison in baby formula, psychothropic drugs on kids play things, poison in dog and cat food. All things that have happened or come out of china of late. Our skin is our biggest organ yet we will wear the cheap chinese clothes and undies not really knowing what practices they use in dyeing and manufacture.

There might be a couple of alternative points of view worth contemplating, Jeff. (a) Should we consider that national borders are, as far a commerce goes, a little past their use-by date? Should we consider ourselves participants in a global marketplace, where mechanisms required to compensate for differences in labour costs etc are minimised as far as possible, and 'the market' determines the play of the game? (b) Should we, as a nation, start to accept that our VERY high (average) standard of living IS expensive to maintain, and start to accept that things will cost more if produced here with Aussie inputs (labour + materials)? Should we acknowledge that our high average income ALLOWS us to pay a little bit more for 'stuff' ~ an go ahead and pay? For example, we want ~ no, EXPECT ~ cheap cars; Aussie made cars are dearer; we import and buy Kia, Proton, Skoda, etc etc etc. [Question ~ has anyone actually bought a Skoda? The mind boggles......I digress]. We want (expect) cheap clothing ~ in come the Chinese clothes. We want (expect) cheap apartments ~ in come the Chinese labourers, Chinese materials etc. Just look at any HighTrade project in the CBD or Charlestown. I reckon most of the buyers in those developments KNOW that offshore labour and materials were used, but bought anyway, because the units were cheap (and, in some cases, nasty). We want to have our cake and eat it, too. personally, I reckon the only real fis is for the wider Australian community to do what I alwas say can't be done : manipulate the market. If we ALL insist that we will BUY AUSTRALIAN at every possible opportunity, basic economic forces will solve this little conundrum. I think it's really worth a try, and I will happily support Australian made anything. What happened to the Buy Australian campaigns that used to run?.....

[Chaff?......??]

Leahkf ~ they are all fair points. Part of the reason Australian made goods 9and services) are more costly, is that most of the soprts of issues you highlight have been addressed. And whilst Australian standards SHOULD apply to imported materials and labour.......wel, go look at the buildings. They speak for themselves. No, I am not racist or Xenophobic.