RANTS AND RAVES

Is Australia being ripped off?

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View Poll Results	Take Our Poll	SHARE THIS PAGE   Would you be surprised to know that 100% of the very food Australian babies eat is from non-Australian companies? Here's a breakdown of who owns what's on your supermarket shelf.     Foreign companies own . . .   80 % of the Abattoirs 100 % of the Baby Food   80 % of the Baked Beans   75 % of the Beef Processing   50 % of the Beer   90 % of the Biscuits   50 % of the Bread (major)   65 % of the Breakfast Cereals   50 % of the Cheese   85 % of the Frozen Vegetables   40 % of the Meat Pies   85 % of the Pet Food Source: AUSBUY
Did you know that only 15% of the products on our supermarket shelves are from Australian owned companies? And did you know that those foreign owned companies that provide 85% of what's in the supermarket pay little or no tax in Australia? Mark Latham, a columnist of the Daily Telegraph, wrote an article on 16 July 1999 on this very issue. He wrote, "Despite the strong economic growth of recent years most multi-nationals in Australia regularly report losses. These are large global companies with billions of dollars in assets and turnover yet never claiming a profit and therefore never needing to pay tax in this country." Yes, we want and need foreign investment in Australia. But we don't want multi-national companies who take over Australian companies and brazenly take their profits out of the country paying little or no taxes. Our once proudly owned Australian products, Vegemite, Arnott's Biscuits, Aeroplane jelly, Edgells, Fountain, Jaffas and Minties, to name just a few, are now in the hands of foreign companies.

What will YOU do?

It's up to you as an Australian to decide if you support Australian products and Australian companies. We have the resources, the knowledge and the manpower to provide for our people. All we need is the will and support to make it happen.

Buying Australian products means more jobs for Australians and less imports. Two additional and very important benefits of buying Australian products are profits that stay in Australia to improve our economy and a fair share of taxes paid to support our roads, transport, medical and a host of things to improve Australian lives.

More Australian companies needed

Proud Australian businesses must step into the fray in their own fields and reclaim ownership of the Australian marketplace. When they do, will you support them with your hard earned dollar? Or will you simply take the easy way out and winge later when another Australian business or Aussie icon is taken over? It's up to you.

Some of the brands and products owned by foreign companies