Shares in Pacific Brands have plummeted to just 15 cents, down from $2.25 six months ago, and many are questioning the wisdom of sacking 1850 workers here and moving to China.

Leading the critics is Sean Ashby, a man who built up his own clothing business from scratch. He runs a company called Aussie Bum that manufactures underwear and swimwear.

"I've got a frigging call centre here, Australians. They're not in India, they're here. Bring them back home for god's sake, if times are tough here, make jobs," he said.

For Ashby, Australians want to buy Australian made.

"Doesn't say made in China and the fact we're successful overseas, it's because we're Australian and people do want to buy Australian made, they couldn't give a rat's arse about China at this stage. They're worried about their own backyard and that's what we should be, worried about our country, not about sending jobs overseas," said Ashby.

"Australians are known to pull together in tough times. In good times, hey, we'll have a beer, we'll have a party, but in tough times we look after our own. We're a small country in comparison to the rest of the world, why the hell shouldn't we look after our own first?"

"You reward people for hard work. You don't slap 'em in the face with a redundancy for god's sake!"