Australians ill-prepared for world economy says Murdoch

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Media magnate Rupert Murdoch said on Sunday that Australians were poorly prepared to live in a global economy and may "learn the hard way" what it means.

Speaking amid the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Murdoch cited the recent fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar as evidence of Australia vulnerability to world markets.

The rise of China and India as economic superpowers, each with a new, vast and ambitious middle class, posed special challenges for Australia, and the country would need to adapt.

"Over the next 30 years or so, two or three billion people will join this new global middle class," Murdoch said at the Sydney Opera House. "The world has never seen this kind of advance before. These are people who have known deprivation.

"These are people who are intent on developing their skills, improving their lives and showing the world what they can do. And they live right in Australia's neighbourhood."

The Aussie has lost 15 percent this month as investors unwound carry trades and dumped commodity currencies on expectations that a global recession would hurt demand for natural resources. Australia is a big exporter of commodities.

On Sunday, the Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen said confidence globally should get a lift once the U.S. presidential election was out of the way on Tuesday, including in the Australian economy.

Australia has announced a set of measures to deal with the financial crisis, including a stimulus package for households and a government guarantee on local bank deposits, to shield them from the credit crisis.

But Murdoch said Australia's "19th century education system" and the poor living conditions of much of its indigenous population were key hurdles to be overcome, Murdoch said, urging the country of his birth to recover its frontier spirit and position itself as a centre of excellence.