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The LIMA Declaration 1975

The resulting declaration had disastrous ramifications for Australian industry. The basic reasoning behind the Declaration was that the drastic plight of the Third World was the result of the rapacious policies of the advanced industrial nations. Australia listed as one of these. The only way to rectify the situation was to transfer industrial resources from advanced countries like Australia to the Third World, then to provide markets for Third World exports by buying products once produced locally.

Both major parties are equally to blame for betraying the nation. The Fraser Government took over where Whitlam left off, Hawke and Keating increased the tempo of the programme with Mr Hawke, Keating, Button and other senior ministers telling unsuspecting Australians they were working to ‘internationalise’ the Australian economy. The truth is, they were sowing the seeds that has almost decimated Australian manufacturing and industry and has seen Australian jobs disappear overseas.