I laud the prime minister's speech at Harvard Alumni Club dinner recently about the three addictions of our nation - cheap foreign labour, subsidies and rent-seeking.

On the issue of cheap foreign labour, while the prime minister's speech clearly states his view, the minister in charge of labour made media statements about bringing in workers from Pakistan and other countries to work in construction, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

A stop-gap measure? We bring in foreign labour, use them for all their worth, and when we are finished with them, send them back to their countries minus their due wages if possible (some companies have been taken to the authorities much to our minister's unhappiness).

In my opinion, this is not ethical; we are using our neighbours' human resources, profiting from them and sending them back to their country when they are old and cost a lot of money in healthcare. This is the 21st century's new form of slavery.

Why can't we invest in our own people? Better technology, machinery, working conditions and wages would attract some of the unemployed into the sectors concerned, not to forget higher productivity.

Henry Ford, in his memoirs, wrote about his policy of paying higher than average wages. 'We wanted to pay these wages so that the business would be on a lasting foundation. We were building for the future. A low-wage business always insecure.'

Subsidies and tariffs distort economics signals. The billions spent on petrol and diesel subsidies could be better spent elsewhere on those in need i.e, on healthcare, early childhood education or improving service delivery in government departments.

Unfortunately, those who are better able to lobby always win, regardless of the consequences for the rest of the populace. Do we have the will and gumption to remove those subsidies and tariffs?

Like any baby, we all have to be weaned off sooner or later. I couldn't agree more with the prime minister.