The shift in relative prices is a shift in global prices that is more or less invariant to the level of the Australian dollar. In other words, while the global shift in relative prices is income-enhancing for Australians overall, it is also structural change-inducing.
A former leader once quipped that “microeconomic reform” was such a common topic in Australian discussion that even the parrots in pet shops were talking about it. I think the same is increasingly true of structural change: it is a term that will be on everyone’s lips over the next few years. Structural adaptation is hard work. Few volunteer for it.