We hear it all too often that Australia is a high wages economy. We are. Think GMH. Almost weekly we hear of a significant manufacturing business in Australia that cannot compete with manufacturers in China, India or somewhere else in Asia. It is true. Think SPC. More disturbingly, are also hearing about Australian businesses that […]

We hear it all too often that Australia is a high wages economy. We are. Think GMH. Almost weekly we hear of a significant manufacturing business in Australia that cannot compete with manufacturers in China, India or somewhere else in Asia. It is true. Think SPC. More disturbingly, are also hearing about Australian businesses that are struggling because they cannot compete with similar businesses in higher wages economies. Think anything German. We also hear with regular frequency that businesses are going broke and closing their doors because their business is being killed by new technologies. Think anything retail. There are a host of reasons for these eventualities, but one stands out above all others. That reason is innovation, or the absolute lack of it. Australian business used to be very inventive and very innovative. Think rotary mower, rotary cloths lines and any number of innovative products and services that arose…