Modern Slavery in supply chains of Australian Companies

Hi @carrolbates1, good question. It takes a few different forms, but generally it’s talking about forced labour of one kind or another. This could be children in a sweatshops, or girls forced into marriage or prostitution. Modern slavery is an issue both in Australia and overseas. To my understanding, flying in people on short term working visas, keeping them confined and forcing them to work for little or no benefit (through threats or intimidation) is one way that modern slavery occurs in our country.

I found this article with more detail: https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/modern-slavery/

Let me know if that makes sense, or if there are other questions.

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I used to work for a Sydney dealership who sourced their vehicles from Japan and Thailand and I can tell you from experience that all were NOT THE SAME. The Thailand built vehicles were of poorer quality regarding panel fitment, paint quality, interior trim fitment and rattles/squeaks. We are paying Japanese prices for a Thailand product, why? Australia has a free trade agreement with Thailand, vehicle manufacturers are cutting costs by using this country but not passing on the savings to Aussie buyers. I prefer to buy Japanese sourced vehicles when possible.

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@Techaddict

" We are paying Japanese prices for a Thailand product, "

I agree 100% .

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It’s important to understand that Vehicle pricing is based on what the market will pay, not based on the cost of production . When Australia signed a Free Trade Agreement with Thailand it should be noted that as the tariffs came down the prices did not for the commercial vehicles made in Thailand at that time . For importers profits soared . In a way it was the start of the decline of the Australian car industry . Cars could be made and imported with fat profits while in Australia , Australian made car profits were slim . Only the importers won , the Australian consumers did not . Today we have no manufacturing industry , it has moved to Thailand .

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@bryan.murphy you have posted an excellent example of how our government(s) take care of business at our national expense while spinning it as beneficial for us. Kudos.

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There goes the Australia tax again! And they do it because they can. We just pay up whatever the cost and they know it.

Slavery is a direct result of capitalism. Until capitalism is overcome slavery will continue to flourish. Slavery is a result of poverty. Poverty is a result of greed. So the government will now spend time and money to stop something they daily contribute to. Again, it is up to the individual to avoid those products that have been been produced through slavery. It will never end.

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We are all slaves. Working for a pittance compared to what the company makes. We also pay more taxes to make up for the tax they avoid. Not to mention their needless constant travel for executives which you and I the worker pay for. Don’t just look at overseas for slavery. It is happening at home right now.

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Here’s some further information on modern slavery in supply chains:

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The Modern Slavery Act recently became law:

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Accusations of supply chain labor issues in some large online marketplaces:

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A closed market would be the most effective way to eliminate slavery in our supply chains, but would also take Australia back to the 19th century.

Unfortunately the modern version of unfettered capitalism, backed up by ‘democratic’ governments (yes, there is a contradiction there), pushes even companies that want to be ‘good’ to find the cheapest possible way of producing their goods. Google has implicitly acknowledged this by getting rid of its ‘Don’t be evil’ slogan. Other companies have known it for a lot longer, and every time wages are raised in the current factory host they look for another place to locate their work and pay as little as possible.

Unless or until capitalism is properly regulated, I cannot see slavery disappearing.

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Many companies have been found to be actively using child labor in order to cut its costs of employees. Many clothing companies are not free of this corporate sin either. Nestle did it for years, selling its baby formula to mothers in third-world countries where they didn’t know how to use it properly. This lead to many tragic deaths. That was the late 1900s. I have studied the Industrial Revolution, and it seems that then as now, child labour has not changed. This is sad given we now have robots.

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Are not chooks slaves whether they are in cages or not?

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As there is no chicken democracy perhaps it’s best we keep them as they are?

P.S.
Some would suggest we have already let too many escape! :rofl:

I’ve really enjoyed the new ABC TV series. Perhaps they used Pams top ten facts as a guide on what to expect.
https://help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/articles/4402341564047-Ms-Represented-with-Annabel-Crabb-on-ABC-TV-and-podcast-to-binge-from-13-July

Fact 11

Not all roosters are nice.

I had one who would sneak attack anybody who turned their back on him for more than a minute. He drew blood a couple of times, luckily with adults who could shrug it off and not children who would have been terrified. After the second offence I souped him.

But we digress.

Mars has a significant presence in our own sweets aisles and Mars (US head office) seems to reflect the pap companies offer when there is a problem. eg things like ‘safety is our top priority’ after a major safety failure. In this case head office is defending what appears to be ticking boxes and going through motions to avoid doing something concrete regardless of well meaning policies.

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Sadly, the families are paid so little for the product that all those able to do something are used in the harvest. It isn’t right or ethical, yet it is us (1st World countries) who demand product at the cheapest price to sell to consumers at somewhat premium product prices to make the greatest profit for the business. To fix it requires a lot of changes in the system, from the consumer to be willing to pay more, the companies being willing to pay more for the product, for the buyers of the raw product to pay the gatherers more so that children do not have to work so the family can eat and the children can go to school (hopefully improving their lives and the lives of all they interact with). A bit simplistic I know, it is just a brief outline of the many hard changes that need to be made. If they can’t be done by businesses then Governments need to step in and legislate and prosecute the required changes to make it happen. Getting the businesses to voluntarily change their behaviours is probably an impossible ask.

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