Build our own industrial base

MAKING IT IN AUSTRALIA

ONE of the many lessons that as a nation we are learning during the COVID-19 crisis is the need to build our own industrial base so we do not have to rely on other countries for the most basic of our goods and services.

How frustrating it was for me then, when wanting to purchase eucalyptus oil from a Coles supermarket, to find that it was packed in Australia from 100 per cent ingredients imported from China.

Surely it cannot be the case that Australia is not capable of producing eucalyptus oil, or is it the case that Coles are not interested in supporting Australian producers.

Michael Lynch Taroona

The strong support of manufacturing in Tasmania and Australia was another theme. Our COVID crisis has illustrated the importance of manufacturing and selfreliance and the long-term stable employment that accompanies it. The strongest theme was of having been sold a lie by environmental extremists who have no longterm financial or practical vision and have found themselves needing misleading campaigns to drum up continued support.

At some point Green parties are going to have to show some job creation but I sense a turning tide when jobs aren’t there and people cannot put food on the table. Common sense and practical solutions built this country and sadly many industries have taken a battering at the hands of those eager to tear down livelihoods.

Graeme Elphinstone Triabunna