One of the most divisive issues confronting Australians concerns migration. There is a wide range of views about how many people this vast continent can comfortably hold - and under what rules new arrivals should be processed.
We have come a long way. Back in 1952 the Australian population was just 8.7 million. Today we just ticked over 22.5 million - and we have an imbalance living along our eastern coastline. It is worth noting that of that 22.5 million 7.3 million live in NSW, 5.6 million in Victoria and Queensland accounts for 4.5 million.
A small number of citizens opt for the " open slather " approach. Open our doors to all comers - just as America did when it was an empty continent back in the 1700's. With the level of discontent in many parts of the world we would probably have a population of over 300 million in less than a hundred years.
The question is ? Could Australia sustain such a population ?
Certainly not with any degree of comfort. When America opened it's doors a lot of people got incredibly rich - but an even bigger segment of the population got incredibly poor. Even today, the less well off in Australia fare a lot better than their counterparts in the US. We are more generous with unemployment benefits, public holidays and family support systems.
Unfortunately, our migration policy is probably going to be put to the test if some economists are correct in their prognosis of a coming food famine. If the world population reaches ten billion by 2050 the need for food and water will send a migratory herd scrambling for a new home - and Australia is high on the list of desireable destinations.
We are seeing parts of Europe being overwhelmed by migrants fleeing fighting in north Africa and instability in the Middle East is sending a steady stream of people looking for a new home. Famine in the horn of Africa is likely to kill hundreds of thousands - and this could be only the beginning of a world trend.
Time to make some firm decisions on our migration future - and to put in place the mechanism for controlling entry into this country - before a trickle becomes an unstoppable flood !
Friday, 30 September 2011
Thursday, 29 September 2011
The " Missing Link ! "
The journey from Wollongong to Sydney is a mixed experience. Just getting out of this city involves either sharing Mt Ousley road with convoys of heavy trucks grinding up the steep slope in low gear, or a sixty kph climb up Bulli Pass to reach the F-6.
Things improve rapidly on the F-6. A divided road with a speed limit of 110 kph - but then that stops suddenly when you reach the southern limits of Sydney. That 110 kph actually morphs into an almost unbelievable 50 kph - and that on a divided, four lane arterial road - but it gets even worse as you proceed further into Sydney.
You can actually see the high buildings of the Sydney CBD, but you are in the " morning crawl " of commuter traffic enjoying " stop - start " progress on roads that were never intended to take such loads - and there is absolutely no arterial road to service the south of the city.
Strangely - it is there on some old maps. Way back in 1951 a land corridor was set aside for a new expressway to connect Loftus in the south with St Peters in inner Sydney. The only problem is - it was never built !
That land still sits idle, waiting for the government to allocate funds and get the bulldozers and heavy machinery moving to create a decent system to duplicate the arterial roads that have already been constructed to service the north and the west approaches to Sydney.
We seem to be the " poor relation ". Getting work started is not even on the drawing board - and some very angry people are starting to make demands for preliminary work to get underway to at least get the road planned.
Arterial roads cost money. Lots of it ! But at least there is hope if what is to be achieved is laid out in blueprints that will be constantly waved under politicians noses.
As Confucious wisely noted. The longest journey starts with the first step !
Things improve rapidly on the F-6. A divided road with a speed limit of 110 kph - but then that stops suddenly when you reach the southern limits of Sydney. That 110 kph actually morphs into an almost unbelievable 50 kph - and that on a divided, four lane arterial road - but it gets even worse as you proceed further into Sydney.
You can actually see the high buildings of the Sydney CBD, but you are in the " morning crawl " of commuter traffic enjoying " stop - start " progress on roads that were never intended to take such loads - and there is absolutely no arterial road to service the south of the city.
Strangely - it is there on some old maps. Way back in 1951 a land corridor was set aside for a new expressway to connect Loftus in the south with St Peters in inner Sydney. The only problem is - it was never built !
That land still sits idle, waiting for the government to allocate funds and get the bulldozers and heavy machinery moving to create a decent system to duplicate the arterial roads that have already been constructed to service the north and the west approaches to Sydney.
We seem to be the " poor relation ". Getting work started is not even on the drawing board - and some very angry people are starting to make demands for preliminary work to get underway to at least get the road planned.
Arterial roads cost money. Lots of it ! But at least there is hope if what is to be achieved is laid out in blueprints that will be constantly waved under politicians noses.
As Confucious wisely noted. The longest journey starts with the first step !
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
A missed opportunity !
An existing tourist attraction - and a tourist site looking for an exhibit seem to be failing to connect. It would be a missed opportunity if " Janet's Royalty Rooms " were snapped up by the Gold Coast - or even relocated overseas.
Many years ago Janet Williams started a hobby of collecting royal memorabilia. Her house in the northern suburbs became a Mecca for the biggest collection of royal items in the world and she started opening her doors to the public - with great success. It now attracts coach loads of tourists daily - but Janet Williams is looking to retire - and an opportunity is knocking on the door for Wollongong.
This city has a vacant site laying dormant at the Gateway Tourist centre at Bulli Tops. When this was opened the star attraction was Jumbulla - an Aboriginal discovery centre, but this failed to attract interest and it is now closed. So far, no replacement to attract tourist interest has emerged.
It would seem perfectly logical that an existing very successful tourist drawcard - looking for relocation because the owner is retiring - would be the answer to filling that unused space.
It seems that the city is not interested - and one of the reasons is the rejection of anything " Royal " by many with Republican tendencies - but they are missing the point !
The tourist trade is big on coach tours. Operators sell pre-planned holidays that take coach loads of tourists on carefully scheduled journeys. The stops for morning tea and lunch are carefully planned at selected destinations - and apart from looking at the scenery - the highlights of these tours is visits to places of interest.
Janet's Royalty Rooms in Wollongong is such a place of interest, which is already on the tour bus schedule - and now we are about to lose it because it is shutting down and being grabbed by some place else.
Sadly, this is the only place of interest that these tours bother to include here in Wollongong. If it goes, the tour buses will simply drive on past on their way to other attractions further down the coast, including Mogo Zoo and the old whaling station at Eden.
It seems that we are letting the distaste of some with Republican tendencies for anything connected with British Royalty to get in the way of a tourist opportunity. This is a world class collection of memorabilia which gets the tourists gaping and snapping pictures - and in a perfect setting like Gateway it would create an even bigger image.
It seems that Wollongong has some dull thinkers - that can't see the wood for the trees !
Many years ago Janet Williams started a hobby of collecting royal memorabilia. Her house in the northern suburbs became a Mecca for the biggest collection of royal items in the world and she started opening her doors to the public - with great success. It now attracts coach loads of tourists daily - but Janet Williams is looking to retire - and an opportunity is knocking on the door for Wollongong.
This city has a vacant site laying dormant at the Gateway Tourist centre at Bulli Tops. When this was opened the star attraction was Jumbulla - an Aboriginal discovery centre, but this failed to attract interest and it is now closed. So far, no replacement to attract tourist interest has emerged.
It would seem perfectly logical that an existing very successful tourist drawcard - looking for relocation because the owner is retiring - would be the answer to filling that unused space.
It seems that the city is not interested - and one of the reasons is the rejection of anything " Royal " by many with Republican tendencies - but they are missing the point !
The tourist trade is big on coach tours. Operators sell pre-planned holidays that take coach loads of tourists on carefully scheduled journeys. The stops for morning tea and lunch are carefully planned at selected destinations - and apart from looking at the scenery - the highlights of these tours is visits to places of interest.
Janet's Royalty Rooms in Wollongong is such a place of interest, which is already on the tour bus schedule - and now we are about to lose it because it is shutting down and being grabbed by some place else.
Sadly, this is the only place of interest that these tours bother to include here in Wollongong. If it goes, the tour buses will simply drive on past on their way to other attractions further down the coast, including Mogo Zoo and the old whaling station at Eden.
It seems that we are letting the distaste of some with Republican tendencies for anything connected with British Royalty to get in the way of a tourist opportunity. This is a world class collection of memorabilia which gets the tourists gaping and snapping pictures - and in a perfect setting like Gateway it would create an even bigger image.
It seems that Wollongong has some dull thinkers - that can't see the wood for the trees !
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The " Soccer " fiasco !
Wollongong has two Soccer clubs - and no home ground dedicated to the sport. It was not always that way. Many years ago the state government granted land at Brandon park for that purpose and the clubs raised money and co-opted sponsors to create a ground with facilities which included spectator seating.
Then the state government had a change of thinking. Brandon park was needed to house the University of Wollongong's Innovation campus - so the clubs were kicked out and their work bulldozed. They were granted $ 2.5 million compensation to relocate to Lysaght Oval at Figtree - and from there things went rapidly downhill !
When the last dollar of that grant was spent Lysaght oval had a half built grandstand and " the field of dreams " was nothing more than an overgrown pitch with knee high grass and weeds. Just before the last election, the then state government promised another $ 2.5 million to finish the project.
The new government has it's thumb firmly on the corner of that cheque - and for good reason !
Lysaght oval is privately owned. The owners have been offered one million dollars to transfer it to public ownership - and they have refused, They demand $ 2.5 million.
The state government is to conduct an enquiry and will look at the prospects of simply abandoning Lysaght oval and establishing a completely new facility at West Dapto. Lysaght Oval has other problems that may be solved by making a fresh start - and this may be a better way of providing both the Wollongong Wolves and Wollongong Olympic Soccer clubs with a dedicated home ground.
The Brandon Park/ Lysaght Oval transfer was a botched operation from day one. It was badly thought out - and woefully handled - and the new state government is determined not to go down that road with more money to get an uncertain result.
One of the many benefits of the new area under consideration is spectator parking. That would never happen at Lysaght oval - and considering that Wollongong has both the main Rugby League facility and the performing arts centres located in a parking desert - perhaps this may be the greatest bonus of all.
This time the right planning should deliver value for money !
Then the state government had a change of thinking. Brandon park was needed to house the University of Wollongong's Innovation campus - so the clubs were kicked out and their work bulldozed. They were granted $ 2.5 million compensation to relocate to Lysaght Oval at Figtree - and from there things went rapidly downhill !
When the last dollar of that grant was spent Lysaght oval had a half built grandstand and " the field of dreams " was nothing more than an overgrown pitch with knee high grass and weeds. Just before the last election, the then state government promised another $ 2.5 million to finish the project.
The new government has it's thumb firmly on the corner of that cheque - and for good reason !
Lysaght oval is privately owned. The owners have been offered one million dollars to transfer it to public ownership - and they have refused, They demand $ 2.5 million.
The state government is to conduct an enquiry and will look at the prospects of simply abandoning Lysaght oval and establishing a completely new facility at West Dapto. Lysaght Oval has other problems that may be solved by making a fresh start - and this may be a better way of providing both the Wollongong Wolves and Wollongong Olympic Soccer clubs with a dedicated home ground.
The Brandon Park/ Lysaght Oval transfer was a botched operation from day one. It was badly thought out - and woefully handled - and the new state government is determined not to go down that road with more money to get an uncertain result.
One of the many benefits of the new area under consideration is spectator parking. That would never happen at Lysaght oval - and considering that Wollongong has both the main Rugby League facility and the performing arts centres located in a parking desert - perhaps this may be the greatest bonus of all.
This time the right planning should deliver value for money !
Monday, 26 September 2011
The mysteries of global finance !
Most people have a good basic understanding of how finance works. They know that if their spending is greater than their income they start amassing debt - and eventually that debt has to be repaid. What is happening on the world stage seems to fly in the face of that logic.
Europe decided to create a block of countries which would trade with one another in preference to the other parts of the world. The citizens of those countries would not need passports and visas to travel within the group - and they decided that a common currency would remove the hassle of changing currencies at every border - and so the Euro was born.
There was a minor problem with that arrangement. Some of the countries within the group were richer than others - and some had little spending discipline - and soon began to run up huge debts. You can not have a common currency where the value of that currency changes from country to country - so the group had no option other than to bail out the weaker member with a loan to keep them solvent.
The ordinary layman here in Australia wonders just where this loan money comes from - and it is in huge proportions. We are talking about hundreds of billions of Euros.
And now this group of countries is conceding that their weakest of the weak is about to fold. They are not talking about a possible future default. They are talking about an inevitable default - and even timing that to happen within the next few months.
So - what happens next ?
In our own little domestic world, a personal bankruptcy sees the bailiffs move in. They grab the car and the big screen TV and put them up for sale to recover some money and pay out those to whom we owe the debt.
Do bailiffs move in to that defaulting little country and grab state owned office blocks, the railway system and all and any other publicly owned assets ? It seems not. All that is likely to happen is that they will no longer be allowed to use the Euro as their currency. They will need to print their own money and commerce will return to changing currencies at the border.
So why waste all those billions trying to prop them up in the first place ?
It's called " the fear factor " - or some may call it " the domino effect ". The wise knew that default was inevitable - but nobody was sure just how world markets would react - and the spectre of 1929 made national treasurers keen to prolong the status quo in the hope that some miracle would save the world from a repitition.
Wise men and women who are said to understand finance now have the job of reassuring a worried world that things are under control and we are all heading for a soft landing.
What a pity our own finances are not subject to such beneficial treatment if we slip a little and let our spending drift out of control !
Europe decided to create a block of countries which would trade with one another in preference to the other parts of the world. The citizens of those countries would not need passports and visas to travel within the group - and they decided that a common currency would remove the hassle of changing currencies at every border - and so the Euro was born.
There was a minor problem with that arrangement. Some of the countries within the group were richer than others - and some had little spending discipline - and soon began to run up huge debts. You can not have a common currency where the value of that currency changes from country to country - so the group had no option other than to bail out the weaker member with a loan to keep them solvent.
The ordinary layman here in Australia wonders just where this loan money comes from - and it is in huge proportions. We are talking about hundreds of billions of Euros.
And now this group of countries is conceding that their weakest of the weak is about to fold. They are not talking about a possible future default. They are talking about an inevitable default - and even timing that to happen within the next few months.
So - what happens next ?
In our own little domestic world, a personal bankruptcy sees the bailiffs move in. They grab the car and the big screen TV and put them up for sale to recover some money and pay out those to whom we owe the debt.
Do bailiffs move in to that defaulting little country and grab state owned office blocks, the railway system and all and any other publicly owned assets ? It seems not. All that is likely to happen is that they will no longer be allowed to use the Euro as their currency. They will need to print their own money and commerce will return to changing currencies at the border.
So why waste all those billions trying to prop them up in the first place ?
It's called " the fear factor " - or some may call it " the domino effect ". The wise knew that default was inevitable - but nobody was sure just how world markets would react - and the spectre of 1929 made national treasurers keen to prolong the status quo in the hope that some miracle would save the world from a repitition.
Wise men and women who are said to understand finance now have the job of reassuring a worried world that things are under control and we are all heading for a soft landing.
What a pity our own finances are not subject to such beneficial treatment if we slip a little and let our spending drift out of control !
Sunday, 25 September 2011
The " Eye in the sky ! "
Australia is competing with South Africa to host the " Square Kilometre Array " ( SKA ) which will be the biggest radio telescope ever proposed - a network of 3,000 fifteen metre antennae dishes spaced from Western Australia to New Zealand.
This $2 billion project is the brain child of sixty seven scientific organizations from twenty countries - and it hopes to achieve two outcomes. To discover how the universe was formed ? And whether we share it with other life forms ?
The very size of this array is breath taking. It will look further than we have even been able to imagine, and it will need a super computer capable of making a million, trillion operations a second to analyse the results - and that is something which at this time doesn't exist.
To the average layman this sounds like science fiction, but then that super-collider recently built on the Switzerland/France border has just delivered a finding that sets Albert Einsteins famous formulae on it's ear. Einstein predicted that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. This collider appears to show that even faster speeds are possible - and that introduces the possibility of one day solving the tyranny of space travel.
It is worth noting that when we today travel in jet planes and Bullet trains as our normal means of locomotion, two hundred years ago the fastest that any mortal could achieve was on the back of a galloping horse. Things like the SKA may open travel doors that go far beyond our imagination.
Australia has a lot going for it in this race with South Africa. We are an entire continent with a single government, and therefore able to control this project under a uniform set of laws. In contrast, South Africa is just one country in a continent surrounded by a host of smaller nations, some of which are not so friendly and committed to scientific cooperation.
Climate is another necessary factor - and this precludes siting the SKA in Europe or North America. The temperate climates of both Australia and South Africa make yearlong operation of the SKA feasible.
A lot of scientific people will be holding their breath - as decision time looms !
This $2 billion project is the brain child of sixty seven scientific organizations from twenty countries - and it hopes to achieve two outcomes. To discover how the universe was formed ? And whether we share it with other life forms ?
The very size of this array is breath taking. It will look further than we have even been able to imagine, and it will need a super computer capable of making a million, trillion operations a second to analyse the results - and that is something which at this time doesn't exist.
To the average layman this sounds like science fiction, but then that super-collider recently built on the Switzerland/France border has just delivered a finding that sets Albert Einsteins famous formulae on it's ear. Einstein predicted that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. This collider appears to show that even faster speeds are possible - and that introduces the possibility of one day solving the tyranny of space travel.
It is worth noting that when we today travel in jet planes and Bullet trains as our normal means of locomotion, two hundred years ago the fastest that any mortal could achieve was on the back of a galloping horse. Things like the SKA may open travel doors that go far beyond our imagination.
Australia has a lot going for it in this race with South Africa. We are an entire continent with a single government, and therefore able to control this project under a uniform set of laws. In contrast, South Africa is just one country in a continent surrounded by a host of smaller nations, some of which are not so friendly and committed to scientific cooperation.
Climate is another necessary factor - and this precludes siting the SKA in Europe or North America. The temperate climates of both Australia and South Africa make yearlong operation of the SKA feasible.
A lot of scientific people will be holding their breath - as decision time looms !
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Twenty-First Century Funerals !
Both custom and religion ruled the way we dealt with our dead since the dawn of time. Burial in the ground was the most common practice, but some eastern countries were the first to embrace cremation - and now this method is rapidly expanding because of the lack of suitable land in big cities to be set aside for cemeteries.
Funerals are also receiving attention because of the need to reduce carbon emissions and preserve rain forests. Cutting trees to create coffins is giving way to the use of " cardboard " coffins - and the energy used in each cremation is considered wasteful.
Now - a new way of dealing with the dead has arrived.
We are about to see the rapid expansion of " Aquamation " facilities across this country. The first are already operating in Queensland and there are predictions that they will soon appear in every city and country town in Australia.
This modern method does not require a coffin and the deceased is reduced to a liquid - which is rich in nutrients and would be suitable for fertilizing gardens - just as the ashes from a cremation are often scattered in a rose garden, so this method would be both practical and useful for the ecology.
The method sounds simple. The body is place in a stainless steel container and submerged in a solution of water and Potassium Hydroxide, which is then pressurised and heated to 93 degrees for four hours. The end result is " Alkaline Hydrolysis " - with only the bones remaining, and these can be reduced to powder in similar manner to the ashes from a cremation,
It would certainly take a little getting used to - but then so did cremation when it first arrived in this country. Some religions rejected cremation and insisted that burial was the only method that met their dogma in the early days, but obviously both economics and personal beliefs have brought about a change of attitude.
As the cost of funerals continues to rise and the insurance companies embark on intensive campaigns to sell funeral cost insurance, price will become a decisive factor. Cremation is a lower cost option to burial and if Aquamation delivers an even lower cost it will be embraced by many.
It seems that nothing remains the same in this ever changing world !
Funerals are also receiving attention because of the need to reduce carbon emissions and preserve rain forests. Cutting trees to create coffins is giving way to the use of " cardboard " coffins - and the energy used in each cremation is considered wasteful.
Now - a new way of dealing with the dead has arrived.
We are about to see the rapid expansion of " Aquamation " facilities across this country. The first are already operating in Queensland and there are predictions that they will soon appear in every city and country town in Australia.
This modern method does not require a coffin and the deceased is reduced to a liquid - which is rich in nutrients and would be suitable for fertilizing gardens - just as the ashes from a cremation are often scattered in a rose garden, so this method would be both practical and useful for the ecology.
The method sounds simple. The body is place in a stainless steel container and submerged in a solution of water and Potassium Hydroxide, which is then pressurised and heated to 93 degrees for four hours. The end result is " Alkaline Hydrolysis " - with only the bones remaining, and these can be reduced to powder in similar manner to the ashes from a cremation,
It would certainly take a little getting used to - but then so did cremation when it first arrived in this country. Some religions rejected cremation and insisted that burial was the only method that met their dogma in the early days, but obviously both economics and personal beliefs have brought about a change of attitude.
As the cost of funerals continues to rise and the insurance companies embark on intensive campaigns to sell funeral cost insurance, price will become a decisive factor. Cremation is a lower cost option to burial and if Aquamation delivers an even lower cost it will be embraced by many.
It seems that nothing remains the same in this ever changing world !
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