Farking Clive Palmer

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

Ok get a load of this garbage from Australia's richest man.

BILLIONAIRE mining magnate Clive Palmer called a press conference to announce his plans to run for the LNP against Wayne Swan at the next election.

At the same press conference, he declared his intention to build a fleet of luxury cruise ships, including a 21st century version of the Titanic, presumably because it's such a strong brand.

Now if this wanker cared so much for Australia as he is publicly making out he should put his principles into action and make these ships in Australia.

Australia does surprisingly have the facilities to build such large vessels with Newcastle (my city) having two idle shipyards and Sydney, Australia hosting the Southern Hemispheres largest graving dock (they build the large boats in this things)

What a hypocrite.

[Flagg]

You're racist against people with more than $5 in their pockets.

What if he wanted to give everyone in the world a decent burrito and a shot of tequila simply because he's a nice guy?

Would you insist the agave be grown in Australia and the burritos made by Lebanese in Sydney pretending to be Mexicans?

If I had a billion dollars to burn I'd find out the 10 things you'd most NOT want me to do with MY money and do them...recorded in HD...and then I'd spend money pushing it through very media distribution channel to ensure you couldn't avoid it if you tried.

It would be awesome for the economy too.....

If you insist on him spending his money in Australia to build boats there then I'm afraid I'm going to insist you not go to Germany spending your money on scheisser art because that's simply not what Australia needs you to spend your money on.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

I'm just pointing out the absurdness of this.

His announcement was all about how he loves Australia and wants Australia to be great. Yet at the same press conference announces his entry into the cruise ship business but with ships built in China.

Surely if he CARED for Australia as much as he is publicly spruiking he would back his words with actions and build the ships here.

You know as well as I do it's he is being quite hypocritical.

P.S. I couldn't give a **** what he does with his money.

[liberal cl]

Maybe other technical or logistical factors came into play besides cost, who knows for sure?

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

Maybe other technical or logistical factors came into play besides cost, who knows for sure?

If a small nation without a lot of natural resources and small population can build the worlds largest cruise liner (Finland) I'm sure a nation of abundant natural resources, large manufacturing base, skilled workforce and existing infrastructure that can build such vessels then I'm sure we can do it.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

If a small nation without a lot of natural resources and small population can build the worlds largest cruise liner (Finland) I'm sure a nation of abundant natural resources, large manufacturing base, skilled workforce and existing infrastructure that can build such vessels then I'm sure we can do it.

If only it were that simple, you really have to look at the Finish yards building these large cruise ships and how its become a specialism also look at how geographically close they are to each other and the great number of ancillary companies around these yards. If I want a fast short sea crossing ferry then Australia would be top of the list anything else forget it.

[wagon]

Clive Palmer is one of those people who'll say something you hate one minute and the next minute he'll say something you like. I reckon he's just being an attention wh0re at the moment (again!).

[themacedonian]

If a small nation without a lot of natural resources and small population can build the worlds largest cruise liner (Finland) I'm sure a nation of abundant natural resources, large manufacturing base, skilled workforce and existing infrastructure that can build such vessels then I'm sure we can do it.

It would be nice if these rich magnates do invest into a manufacturing base in Australia (say Queensland) and employ people instead of just trying to use politics and avoid the Mining tax.

If I had a billion dollars I would invest into an engineering project that will get people working.

[TheKiwi]

What's the biggest ship ever built in Australian yards Min? If it's 30% of the size of this, I'll be amazed.

[Soldat_Américain]

I remember when I was a kid touring the Queen Mary a Japanese investment group was making big offers at trying to get the Queen Mary running...well she has not left Long Beach yet.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

What's the biggest ship ever built in Australian yards Min? If it's 30% of the size of this, I'll be amazed.

The Whyalla Shipbuilding and Steel Works in South Australia has built bulk carriers larger then the Titanic. Not currently operational but the slipways and infrastructure are still there and the steel mill is still in business.

The Captain Cook Drydock in Sydney can can dry dock ships up to 100,000 tonnes. Whilst built primarily for the maintenance of the Royal Navy and US Navy battleships and carriers for WW2 it's still in operation.

Between 1938-40 BHP turned the town from a port to a major production centre. In two years the harbour was dredged, a blast furnace was built and a shipyard was constructed. Between 1941-78 sixty-three ships were built. At its peak Whyalla was the biggest shipbuilding port in Australia with a capacity to build ships up to 83 000 tonnes. The largest ship ever built in Australia, a bulk carrier called the Clutha Capricorn, was launched from the Whyalla shipyards in 1972.

The Clutha Capricorn came in at 79,000 tonnes

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

Oh and for information the dimensions of the Captian Cook Graving Dock are

345 metres long, 45 metres wide and a depth of 14 metres

The RMS Queen Mary 2 has a length of 345 Metres, beam of 41 metres and a draught of 10 metres

MS Freedom of the Seas 338m long, Beam of 38m and a draught of 8.5m

USS Nimitz 332m long, beam of 41m at the waterline, 12.5

[TheKiwi]

1972. So pretty much everyone who ever would have worked on such a ship is dead or retired?

[Zorro C9]

They're idle shipyards for a reason, you know.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

And yeah so whats your point?

The facilities are still here. Building a ship is not rocket science. No offense to Finland but but they are a piss ant little nation who invested to get into shipbuilding from scratch with no history of shipbuilding period.

Here is Australia with the infrastructure in two locations in existence. Others will need to be upgraded. But we also have an existing shipbuilding industry. Some of our companies produce some of the most advanced state of the art ships in the world. So it's not like we lack the skills base or knowledge in shipbuilding either.