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The Forum > Article Comments > Bigger, but maybe not better? > Comments

Bigger, but maybe not better? : Comments

By Kevin McCracken, published 1/10/2019

The present long-running drought that has brought Sydney water catchment levels below 50% should raise concerns about the wisdom of being relaxed about a Sydney of 2-3 million more people.

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Being from a rural area until recently moving to Brisbane, and travelling to Sydney last year to visit my sister, gave me an outsider's view of the 'big smoke' of Sydney. Thus, although I have not experienced the day-to-day traffic congestion, and crowding on public transport,I do emphasize with the picture in words painted by the author.

Gough Whitlam and Tom Uren, almost 50 years ago, could foresee the problem and planned for it with their Regional Cities. Today, the Morrison Government's solution is to force migrants to live in Regional towns, Unfortunately coercion does not work, especially when there is little or no work available in these regional towns and cities. You only have to look at the job vacancies on SEEK to see that the majority of positions vacant are in the regional towns and cities. It is a case of the stick being used instead of the carrot.
This Federal Government has no imagination or plan for the future. We stumble into problems of our own making: climate change, poor or no planning for these two big problems- climate change and urban planning. Yet, we have the natural resources of a large land mass and the intellectual capacity to solve problems- and yet fail to use both!! Perhaps we need another Great Depression to make our clueless leaders realize they must use our assets more wisely.
Posted by Cyclone, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 11:11:10 AM
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I don't care much for cities! Or the endless redevelopment making some land baron richer, with a little help from compliant councils and bent town planners?

It's not like we're running out of land just good ideas and good people to implement them!

Proper planning will ensure we grow as fast as possible! And we need to to put enough people here to ensure our future security!

And that expansion would be assisted by the roll-out of rapid rail!

I for one tire of being held captive to captive market paradigms, rolled out with the assistance of patently conflicted or corrupt politicians that can't lie straight in bed?

Our water shortfalls have less to do with us being the driest inhabited continent on the planet, albeit one surrounded by inexhaustible water!

But rather, by poor planning and a management paradigm that seeks favour from vested interest, rather than we Australians, who are being deceived every which way? To ensure we continue to serve the economy and a small cabal that benefits from it!?

As everyone else is simply chained to it and forced to strain and strive just to stay ahead of the banks and payday money lenders!

Desal is too expensive, say the experts, as they adroitly ignore deionisation dialysis desalination!

Requires too much energy input and costs too much too run as privatised water baron business. And if we made it too cheap? That'd include sovereign risk for our mates? The aforementioned, palm greasing, water barons?

If there's a more cogent explanation for water shortages in a country surrounded by inexhaustible water? I've yet to hear it. TBC
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 1 October 2019 12:51:52 PM
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If City planners were just an ounce smarter they'd store the many Gigalitres of run-off.
Posted by individual, Tuesday, 1 October 2019 3:19:09 PM
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Any city or population is limited by its dependable, reliable water supply! We can supplement our natural freshwater supply with recycled and or desalinated water. One way of desalinating water is with bores sunk deep into coastal sandstone. Which will, given sufficient distance from the shoreline? Naturally, desalinate water.

The trick is to first bore the hole then widen the bottom with a high-pressure water spiral. And given many such reliable dependable bores could be sunk? It's just a question of getting some double-speak, conflicted, toady to authorise them!

Desalination they say uses way too much expensive energy!?

Well, that depends on whether or not you know your onions, given there are two ways to artificially desalinate water, the high energy-inefficient way that almost alone keeps the water barons in business and the other, deionisation dialysis desalination that'll likely put them out f business unless the control and price gouge it?

Then there remains the energy you choose as the motive power for the process? Our current paradigm is hugely expensive and wastes around three-quarters of that generated as transmission and distribution losses, you the customer still pays for!

We can quite massively reduce current losses by replacing current reticulation, poles and wires, with underground graphene film, and get stronger longer-lasting roads and bridges etc, as an extra bonus!

But the cheapest power in the world can be mad in MSR with the nuclear waste other nations will pay annual billions to us to store for them! Ad enough money over time to fully fund the graphene highways and then the waste burning MSR's and or MSR thorium, which will still enable power prices lower than 3 cents PKWH for the later! Think, a current light water solid-fueled 350 MW reactor requires 2551 tons of fuel for a thirty-year operational lifetime.

Whereas the waste burning, MSR will only need one ton of free ready to use fuel for around 25 years. or one ton of refined thorium for 30! Any expansion above current numbers will require more water and a different energy paradigm! TBC
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 1 October 2019 4:42:53 PM
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Those who say our energy exports would be harmed by the above recommendations are wrong! We can export massive energy exports treble or quadruple that of current energy exports, with both the shipping cost removed plus the carbon footprint at already known and contracted reliable prices that can only ever increase!

This energy export paradigm is predicated on the back of undersea cables to transmit it directly to the metered energy customers! And at prices, no other will be able to undercut!

As for paying for all the above? We can earn annual billions for centuries by becoming the world's safest repository for its nuclear waste! And once established and the waste burning MSR's rolled out able to start earning domestic and foreign export dollars!

We will still be able to sell some coal and gas, but nowhere as much a now and for a much longer period as something, hardly worth the cost of mining, unless it's as metallurgical coal and we will require lots more of that for the massive new arc furnaces we will need to build to take full advantage of the world' cheapest most reliable energy, to make the world's lowest-cost steel with the lowest possible carbon footprint!

The only thing currently missing is the assured water supply and the political will! And given not much changes in our parliaments, it never ever will emerge, along with the currently missing, rare commonsense!
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 1 October 2019 5:01:37 PM
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All this needs to be looked at in context. There' isn't that great a water shortage, there is an extreme overuse of water. Plus, there isn't any political & environmental sense in the decision making circles to address this.
How can we even begin to discuss the future of this nation that doesn't even have to most basic of requirements for nation building, a National Service. people always demand but will not even give a little time of their life in return for a safe & comfortable existence. As they say in the Bush "Shame Job you mob".
Posted by individual, Thursday, 3 October 2019 11:03:48 AM
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