Australia’s economy officially plunged into recession in September after it registered two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Its GDP (gross domestic product) shrank 7% in the April-to-June quarter compared to the previous three months. Not only this is Australia’s first recession in nearly 30 years (since 1991), but also the deepest since the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
The previous worst quarterly contraction was minus 2% in June 1974, hence this is by far the biggest collapse since the Australian Bureau of Statistics began compiling records in 1959. But it was just the beginning. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a parliament house press conference that the June quarter (June-to-August) is going to be 3 times worse – a staggering 20% plunge.
If not for the A$100 billion of support measures called “JobKeeper and JobSeeker”, which expired in September, it could be worse. Thanks to Coronavirus, Australia lost its famous nickname as “The Lucky Country” – the only major economy to avoid a recession during the 2008 global financial crisis, also known as the Great Recession due to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis
However, the main reason Australia managed to enjoy a remarkable 29-year of economic growth is none other than China. The Chinese’s voracious appetite for its commodities, such as iron ore and coal, not to mention tourism, had driven Australia’s economy to unbelievable growth. While the Covid-19 pandemic was an unavoidable factor, there’s one huge mistake that Australia did.
Canberra picked a fight with Beijing, Australia’s biggest trading partner. As the U.S.’ “deputy sheriff” in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia has strongly, deliberately campaigned for an international inquiry into the origins of the Coronavirus in April which infuriated the Chinese government. Beijing has mocked Canberra of parroting the U.S. in its call for the inquiry.
In May, China began what appeared to be its attacks against Australia by suspending imports from four major Australian beef suppliers for 30 days, allegedly over labelling issues. Then, the Chinese slapped an 80.5% tariff on all Australian barley grain. Later, Beijing moved on to escalate the trade tensions by imposing new customs inspection procedures on Australian iron ore imports.
Obviously, it was a declaration of trade war against the Aussie. In fact, Global Times, a mouthpiece for Beijing, warned that China has the power to hurt the Australian economy, but won’t fire the first shot in a trade war. Yet, Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud played down the tension, insisting that his country would not seek a tit-for-tat retaliation against China.
It’s not hard to understand why Australia dared not and could not retaliate. China is its biggest trading partner – about one-third of “the land Down Under” total exports go to the Chinese, contributing A$135 billion annually and providing thousands of jobs. The Aussie’s iron ore export to China in 2018-19 was worth a jaw-dropping A$63 billion, not to mention A$17 billion of natural gas and A$14 billion of coal.
As the world’s biggest consumer of beer, China is the largest export market for Australian barley. The Chinese imported over 2.5 million tonnes of Australian barley in 2018-19 – more than half of Australian total barley exports. Hence, the 80.5% tariff on all Australian barley grain would cost the industry a whopping A$500 million per annum. That’s A$2.5 billion over the next 5 years as imposed by Beijing.
To make matters worse, some Australian farmers are addicted to China because it pays high prices for specially-bred types of barley especially for the Chinese market. That dependency means the farmers are at the mercy of the Chinese. Australia also earned A$9.5 billion alone in beef export, followed by non-beef meat (A$5.2 billion), wool (A$3.8 billion) and wheat (A$3.7 billion).
But China was not done in punishing Australia. The next month (June), Beijing targeted the country’s tourism and education sectors. Chinese tourists were advised to stay away from Australia. The travel warning might seem harmless because Australian borders remained closed to visitors since the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the pain could be excruciating.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, 1.4-million (1,458,500) Chinese tourists visited Australia in the 12 months between December 2018 and November 2019, generating a cool A$12 billion a year in revenue. In essence, a ban would hit Australia’s hotels, restaurants, tourism operator and popular attractions to the tune of A$1 billion – every month.
In the same month, armed with “racist attacks against Asians” mantra, Beijing warned its students to reconsider plans to study in the country. The threat would punch a hole in the Australian’s A$37.6 billion education business. That is on top of a new modelling revealed by the Australian university sector that showed it will lose up to A$16 billion by 2023 due to the impact of Coronavirus.
Canberra’s refusal to retaliate has emboldened Beijing to continue its onslaught on the country. In August, China began a second investigation into imports of Australian wine, just after announcing a separate “anti-dumping” inquiry into its wine industry 2 weeks earlier. Beijing wanted to impose an anti-dumping tariff of 202.70%, which would triple the price of Australian wine.
China does not need Australia’s wine, but the same cannot be said about Australian wine growers. The move could result in tariffs, potentially crippling Australian wine exports to China which are worth A$1.2 billion a year. This time, Beijing wanted to punish Australia for criticizing the new Hong Kong security law. Still, Beijing wasn’t done with Canberra – far from it.
On Friday (Oct 16), Australian producers said China has started targeting its cotton industry, which is worth more than A$2 billion. Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Shippers Association said they were disappointed to learn of the latest Chinese action – “Our industry’s relationship with China is of importance to us and is a relationship we have long valued and respected.”
Australia has been exporting cotton to China for decades and the commodity is one of Australia’s top agricultural exports to China. In good seasonal conditions Australian cotton exports can be as high as A$2.5 billion a year, with most of the earnings coming from China. Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said – “About 65% of our crop goes to China, so they’re very important to us and we’ve built that relationship up.”
China actually had a “first come, first serve” annual quota of about 890,000 tonnes of imported cotton, which Australia and other nations competed to supply. However, the latest instruction from Beijing to “discourage” its spinning mills from using Australian cotton would mean competitors India, Brazil and even the U.S. will be given the privilege to take up the entire quota.
As China accounted for about two-thirds of Australian cotton exports, they might have no choice but to sell at a lower price elsewhere – if they can find new buyers. The latest attack on Australian cotton came less than a week (Oct 12) after China’s customs authorities told local steelmakers and power plants to stop importing Australian coal, dealing a blow to the A$14 billion industry.
Under pressure, Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said his country wants dialogue with China to resolve their trade dispute and clear up any misunderstandings with its largest trading partner – suggesting that Australia is in serious trouble. Not many were impressed with how Prime Minister Scott Morrison tackles the China-Australia disputes.
Sir Angus Houston, the former Australian defence chief, declared that China was Australia’s partner – not an enemy – as he accused some politicians of engaging in “loose talk” that had helped drive the relationship between Canberra and Beijing to “a very low point”. Houston appeared to be lecturing the Morrison administration when he said Australia needed China to aid its economic recovery from the Covid-19 recession.
Houston, blaming PM Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, said – “I think our relationship at the moment is at a very low point. We need to take a hard look at our relationship with China, I think we need a reset, we need a circuit breaker, because really if we’re going to come out of this recession that we have at the moment because of Covid-19, we need China.”
Source: Finance Twitter
Morrison is a stupid Australopitek
Make the bastards grovel, Xi. Make them grovel.
What they really need to do is take a long hard look at there relationship with USA, being the US poodle is gonna cost you big time, and does the US care? they laughing at you as well as there dumwit European laodogs.
Are these the only countries left without a Central Bank owned or controlled by the Rothschild Family”
1. Cuba
2. North Korea
3. Iran
4. Syria
5. Venezuela
6. Russia
7. Mainland China
Is this the reason why the United States is warring and placing sanctions on these nations?
After the instigated protests and riots in the Arab countries the Rothschild finally paved their way into establishing Central Banks, and getting rid of many leaders, which put them into more power.
Bingo.
“Give me control of a Nation’s money supply, and I care not who makes its laws.”
Motto of the House of Rothschild.
But actually they do care who makes the laws, that’s why they buy politicians and even set up their own country, Israel.
The golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.
For the last several months I was reading about how bad China was and what we should do about it — starting with revoking(?) the lease of the land near the port of Darwin (invariably called “ownership of Darwin’s port”), banning export of coal to China, banning sale of properties to Chinese, forbidding them to do business in Australia, banning this, banning that… The worst invective one might use was to call them “Chinese agents” or “Chinese stooges.” Now, it looks like China is doing our bidding and I wonder: why aren’t we happy?
Don’t you recall the Australian Liberal Government telling China, Australia is open for business and bending over backwards to entice them to come here and spend their money. Money which many Westeners claim Chinese can’t afford because of their poor paying jobs ? No one explains how they can lay down hundreds of dollars and buy properties with cash, which many Australians bend over backwards to get their greedy hands on. L.O.L. So their money is good, but the people are bad ???? Then when they’ve spent their money, Australians like Zeddy wishes to take back what they bought openly ?
For my money, if I were Chinese, I’d never again do business with such people. Clearly, they are copies of Trump.
I think ziddy was making an observation about the prevailing attitude toward China in Australia, but I don’t think ziddy necessarily shares that attitude, to the contrary, from my reading of ziddy’s comment.
Way to go Aussie, bite the hand that feeds you.
https://media2.giphy.com/media/3o6ZtpBn77ojiB8RHO/giphy.gif
You do not spit in someones eye and then expect them to assist you.
those prisoners in australia could ask amerika for help—-they have plenty of prisons
An Aussie PM, friends with Trump but hates his own country. Lesson on how to hit hard working Australians while laughing with the Americans
Can’t blame China, the fault lies with US puppet Morrison who should be thrown out of Parliament.
Him and all his sycophant followers.BUT, sadly the opposition is no better. They all wish to keep their seats warm until their lucrative retirement package comes up and they can go out the door counting their ill gotten gains.That’s what drives Australian politicians. Nothing more, nothing less. NONE of them will take any action to upset that apple cart.
Not wrong, sad but true. Australia has been a US servant for decades.
Unfortunately, Australia hooked up with trump and his gang of know-nothings and
now has lost its economy and its future. Why in the world would a country who had a sweet deal going on many levels and commodities turn on their number one
trading partner to show solidarity with trump and his criminal government???
I’m sure that the leaders in Australia are fighting like mad to explain away their ineptitude to the populace – but they can never give a good reason for spitting
in China’s face and throwing their own economy into bankruptcy ….what a bunch of dummies…. They should have taken a gander at what has happened to the US since trump has been in the presidency.. the US economy, environment and infrastructure have gone to hell in a handbasket…and Australia could have avoided it…that’s the pittiful thing about it.
Mary E, when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. It willingly became one of the “Five Eyes” openly working , in conjunction with the Israeli Khazars , for complete control and domination of this planet. It’s notorious and nefarious spy base “Pine Gap” has opened Australia to severe retaliation in event of warfare and has already been struck….more than once. Suffering from the same “foot and mouth” disease as America, it’s moronic and well bought politicans, don’t know how to zip it for the benefit of it’s citizens. They’d better take a look around, America, Israel and Britain are already bankrupt, the world has awoke from its slumber and retribution will be swift and merciless !
As an Australian, I confess Australia does deserve what’s coming down the track. Maybe the consequences will open a few eyes here, but I seriously doubt it. We are far too steeped in Western exceptionalism and racist.
The Khazars may be implementing the shut down of the world economy with the manufactured COVID crisis because we have passed peak oil. Peak oil was predicted 20 years ago, but fracking bought them more time. Fracking was always unprofitable, and now that oil is drying up. The economic shut down will continue to reduce the demand for oil. The oil will be directed to countries that the Khazars need to remain in power. Australia may be expendable to them.
Peak oil explains why they considered stealing Venezuela’s and Iran’s oil.
Every nation that is sucked in to side with America, is expendable, Australia included.
The USG is controlled by the country that we are not allowed to criticize here in the U.S.
Canada should be shaking in its boots over this as well.
Mary E, check out my above posts. I’m sure you’ll get a better understanding of things down under after you’ve read them. Consider too, ever since Australia’s inception, we have always sent off our best to fight and die other nations wars, against nations that have never, ever lifted a finger against us, starting with the Boer War in Africa. Our Government suffers from small man syndrome, they want to be with the powerful nations hoping that power will rub off on them. L.O.L.
Australia is the lackey country, the lackey of empire.
Finance twitter? Oh that’ll be unbiased! (lol)
You cannot compare a recession in 1974 to the imbecile tyrants that locked down the economy over a fake virus. (and the cattle that let them then and still do now)….
The idiots in command down under forgot the old saying… “Don’t mess with those that butter your bread”
Another saying goes “You reap what you sow” might now apply to all the cretins that impose the illegal lockdowns and to those that allow it.
Essentially, the “lockdowns” were the equivalent of amputating someone’s hand because of a wart.
Google officially offering a steady payment of $179/hour and most of all weekly pay-out. No Specific Condition of Age or Computer Skills so you could try as well..ox10…… You can check your eligibility through this
=========== http://www.belifestyles.com .
NO, ke4ram, it’s called cutting your nose off to spite your face. Australian Government and a very large part of Australian society is very good at doing this. I live in Australia.
Australia would be foolish to let the zionist controlled China dictate to them what they choose to say or do.
Kindly substantiate the premise of Zionist control of China.
Doesn’t never existed. Anti people say any rubbish.
Pro people are just as good at making things up as anti people.
It did partly after the Opium wars in mid XIX Century ?
How about the opium poppy war of the last 19 years?
Been going on longer than that. It was back in the 80’s the largest shipment of drugs ever caught coming in was traced back to the CIA, which of course claimed it was a sting gone bad & it was never intended for it to make into the US. So apparently the central hub of the new world order’s shadow government has been financing a lot of their illegal operations with drug trafficking. There have also been allegations connecting them to human trafficking, which included child sex trafficking rings over the past few decades.
Drugs have been used by the Western nations to undermine other nations for over a 100 years now. Why do you think drugs are so easy to get these days ? What does drug dependency do to a nation when the majority are all drug addicts ??
It was an extremely important method of colonial control, parodied even in the film District 9 with cat food. The colonists would get the natives hooked on something – anything, sugar or rum or narcotics – and use this dependence to push through whatever the colonists demanded.
Follow the money. American jews paid for the cultural revolution. Here is some good info:
https://zaidpub.com/?s=Mao&submit=Go
The ones putting up the money now own the place. It is their sweatshop.
The result: Cheap Chinese crap.
What does that have to with Zionism?
Nothing. Why?
Then why did you change subjects in the middle of a conversation?
The ultrta-zionists do have plans to conquer China with back door technology, but they are not there yet.
Perhaps, but that goes against the history that i described above of China actually being a Creature of the zionists. And is a coming attractions to a country near you type of thing.
Your thesis seems to deny Chinese agency.
Not sure what that is look I’m no expert on this. You mean the ccp?
One meaning of the word agency is the ability to have influence or exert power. A puppet has no agency.
Never gonna happen.
Freedom lovers hope it ain’t gonna happen, right.
australia has always been foolish and irrational.
On the contrary, things were going great under the Labor Whitlam Government. If you were alive back then. Because that Government chose to go it’s own way, differing from U.S. dictates, it spelled the end of that Government. Just as it does in every nation that decides it does not wish to be dictated to by the U.S.
zionist controlled China????
You are 160 years behind ?? That was then when China lost the Opium Wars ?
Ohh.. BTW there’s a rule that we all should know ? Never MIX Business & politics !
Yup, it’s a fact jack, China is the NWO model. Groomed for the job. And digital authoritarianism which they are very good is part of the package deal for the rest of the world too. It’s looking like fait accompli. But we ain’t cyborgs yet so there is hope that humanity can stop this shit. The Opium Wars? That is soooo 2 century’s ago and totally non applicable to this situation. There are no rules about mixing business and politics except by useless people like you. Please don’t waste my time any further.
Oy Vey !! I’ll not kvetch to you anymore ! Putz ….
thats what you get for kissing uncle sam’s ass, the worst is yet to come for the kangaroo.
Another deadshit who thinks their opinions matter.
At least he knows what he is talking about, kid.
Hey troll, I was responding to the “deadshit’s” above who wanted me to respond. Get lost.
Not very clever , Business is Politics and Politics is Business . They go hand in hand and always have
Only if politics is second & subjugated to business ..
e.g. The New Silk Road….
Other countries have long memories. We are experiencing the fentanyl wars as retaliation. The controlled media does not report on that.
Yea.. It is only us , stupid white European Christian that have short memory ?
Chinese remember the Opium War humiliation & I don’t think that forgiveness is in their mind, like Japanese people, about Hiroshima & Nagasaki ?
The Chinese have got a little more to remember and regret than just the Opium wars my friend. They will never again be subjected to abuse by anyone.
Yupp.. Agree with you ! & they don’t have the judeao-Christian mantra which is..
If someone strike you on the right cheek, give him the left cheek for another strike !
Like the advice from a Light Upon Nations said, Dianne Feinstein “When the gunman realizes that nobody else is armed, he will lay down his weapons and turn himself in….that’s just human nature.”
The Chinese love the U.S. for nuking those cities.
What are you smoking??
I’m a non smoker. I can’t do the research for you but in a nutshell, the modern state of China was “constructed” during the Nixon era in the U.S. The Rothschild-Rockefeller axis which are global and behind the zionist movement and attack nations and peoples proudly proclaimed “We opened up China”. It was the battle cry for the Nixon administration. Most Americans yawned at that news.
Later they gave China sweetheart trade deals in which they were allowed to dump useless trinkets into the western country’s. This allowed the Chinese to set the foundation for their economy and move forward, as designed. Now the part I can’t prove is the part of the deal you make with the devil where you have to sacrifice or payback in some way, usually by selling your soul. So China sold it’s national soul and probably agreed to buy the surveillance systems and receive all the aid and advise on how to maintain control internally while continuing to grow their economy by leaps and bounds. They had 5 years in a row of plus 10% growth and never below 5% for something like 20 years.
Chinese can be very clever. Predictably, they milked it for everything it’s worth.. There has also been skeletal evidence that the Chinese are very very active in industrial and political subterfuge.(see Hunter Biden case that’s brewing) The NWO template has been established in China.
Notice that social media score tracking and contact tracing and other draconian measures showed up in china first. And then the Wuhan virus is released. The zionists creature that was hatched in China is a disturbing preview of coming attractions. So, all i was saying is just say no to the NWO and China. Don’t let them in your country, don’t trade with them.
Because things were ratcheted up another few notches with the Wuhan virus unleashing on the world. China is the obvious template for the NWO by design. Now all of a sudden these western country’s are acting all concerned when this problem was created as an instrument of global power beginning about 50 years ago by zionist Henry Kissinger who is a dual citizen of Israel and served as secretary of state.
Have you seen your new appearance in the Jules Rivera era? Why don’t you shave any longer?
I showed this post of Mark’s to a good Chinese friend, who grew up in China and achieved her doctoret in Electronic technology from Beijing University. Her comment was, and I repeat, “this idiot has no idea of the realities existing in China, I would suggest he buy himself a ticket and visit China, learn the language and live there for a year or two to wise himself up, because going by this post, he simply doesn’t have a clue”. There you go, right from the horses mouth.
I beg to differ on your fake Chinese friend story. And by the way i taught English in Shanghai and a place called Hainan, which is a semi tropical island in the S. China Sea in the early 80’s after graduation.I don’t wish to learn their language, they want to learn OUR language.
You construct a mighty impressive, if totally fictional, nutshell.
Why do you hide your posting hstory?
None of your business.
Cause he’s got something to hide !
Well, DUH!
Got BAD news for you, Mark. Australia is so far under the influence of the Zionists it’s not funny. Then come the U.S. who conducted a coup with our last Government that didn’t see eye to eye with the Yanks. Ever since, every Australian politician has bended the knee to U.S. demands irrespective of how much damage such bending is doing to our economy. There’s not ONE politician in the Australian Government that would allow their lucrative golden retirement benefits be threatened by their own sacking. That’s why they all SUCK UP to their masters in Washington and Israel, as well as the U.K. Average Australian they couldn’t give rats arse about, worse still, the average Aussie wouldn’t have a clue as to what’s being done to them by their own Government.
I fully realize the sorry state that is Australia. Victoria has bought the the zionist and Chinese playbook with their totally unwarranted police state actions down there.
Kick those fukkers, hard, CHina! Kick them in the nuts!!!! MAke them suffer as hard as possible!