SA could be wealthy if it chose to fully exploit the fact it has a third of the world's easily mined uranium. The trick is to value add not sell it cheaply for the lowest price. Options include uranium enrichment and power generation. Some say SA could take back and reprocess nuclear fuel from other countries but I suggest starting with local power needs first.

This path would initially employ thousands in construction and support services. While the Abbott government may not be serious about reducing emissions other countries like China are. There appears to be a growing aversion to new coal mines and coal seam gas in the eastern states. Power on a 24/7 basis has to come from somewhere. Therefore SA is on a long term winner if it goes nuclear.

Come on Malcolm you know full well that the biggest issue facing SA is what time zone it's in. Geography tells us that it should be 1 full hour behind Sydney.
However our Government thought 30 hour was better, and our captains of industry have trouble even adding 30 minutes to our time to work out what time it is in Melbourne.

I see Nero at work here.

Quite right Cobber.

The Greenwich time thing is agenda item number one. Ha!

Unfortunately, about ten percent of the SA population is functionally illiterate, so time telling is important. My little story (and others I've written on SA) will disappear in the high tide of bytes and churn but sooner rather than later, the markets - especially the property and credit markets - will vote 'no confidence' in the state. No jobs = no future.

Yes, South Australia should stop selling its soul for the welfare-money from other states.

The best thing South Australia can do for itself is to secede from the commonwealth of Australia. As a land that is no longer caught in the web of Australian laws and regulations, hundreds-of-thousands if not millions of good people who are sick and tired of the Australian regime will flock to it and make it prosper.

I agree with Taswegian to a large extent.

Reading this article reminds me a bit of my present home state of Tasmania only we don't have Uranium or if we do, it's probably not commercially viable.

The 'rust bucket' states of SA & TAS didn't get that nickname for nothing... and today in 2015, sluggish economic growth, slow property markets are still the music of the day. Ho hum....

Anyway, at least we have writers who are great at diagnosing problems like on this website but where are the realistic long term solutions or at least medium term??... Oh wait, hang on, this doesn't fit into the 3-4 year electoral cycles does it... oh well.. hang our heads in shame and keep whinging.. then nothing changes.

Solutions people please! be brave and THINK!

Well what can you expect of people unable or unwilling to use the brains they were born with, for any other purpose than winning the nest election/retaining power!

And Canberra is hardly off the hook, when genuine tax reform and long overdue massive simplification would have mitigated against the massive industrial exodus now taking place there and elsewhere!

If they just used the brains they were born with, their industries, could be mostly resuscitated with cheaper than coal thorium, and the half price power it would produce for their energy dependent industries; and still possible, if the diving dollar is complimented by GENUINE tax reform and the world's cheapest energy!
Rhrosty.