“Nominally, the educated and moneyed cheer-squads for Big (now Huge) Australia are arm's length from the federal government.”

Actually, they are chock-a-block up the federal government; they work together. The Bigs are gradually accumulating more power than governments.

It's ‘them’ against us - the serfs - and we still keep voting for one or other of the duopoly; 13% vote Green, the terrible mob that Labor will be relying on more and more as Albanese continues to make a mess of everything he touches, when he is within touching distance at home, that is.

How much worse can things get in Australia? Much, much worse, because the electorate is too apathetic to do anything about it.

It's all spin and plain old fashioned BS. We don't need these new numbers, we just need to modernise our economy.

Starting with nuclear energy and a manufacturing return on steroids. And ensuring its complete success with genuine tax reform of branch and root.

As a 15% flat tax every boy and his dog pays above a generous tax-free threshold!

As opposed to a government myopically focused solely on retaining power for as long as possible!
Alan B.

There are some glaring contradictions in current policy e.g. growing food vs growing population. We are restricting the amount of water that can be drawn from rivers and expanding urban sprawl into prime farm land. Assuming new arrivals won't refrain from the likely novelty of aircon we will need a lot more energy. That used to be cheap and reliable now it will be intermittent, unsightly and unreliable. More people more powerlines. More desal in dry times that also has to be paid for.

Big Australia the Renewable Energy Superpower is the politician's dream. Yet things are getting harder for battlers with declining per capita GDP. Treasury mandarins presumably live in leafy inner suburbs and don't have have a 60km commute that takes the quality time out of the day. I hope that the elites got a shock from the Voice referendum now it's time to rearrange their world view. Start by not voting either Liberal or Labor.

A paragraph in the Wikipedia article on post war immigration to Australia shows that what is happening now is unprecedented. From 1945 to 1985 there were a bit over 4m immigrants or 100,000 a year. That includes Ten Pound Poms many of whom did very well. There were more post war refugees than convicts transported after the First Fleet. For just 2023 the figure is expected to be 500,000. Those who don't bring money with them will probably do it tough.

This tsunami of migrants appears to be so that absolute or total GDP looks better. Too bad if there is not enough infrastructure or services for both them and those already here. Albo must think he is the captain of a big ship.

There’s a video in which a reporter asks the protesters of a pro refugee rally if they would take in a refugee. You guessed right, every single one had an excuse like “I can’t because my flat is too small” or “No, I can’t because I have my in-laws living with me “. Not a single pro-refugee protester was willing to have a refugee move in with them. Sounds eerily familiar to the woke mentality !

Bringing in half a million migrants when we can't house those already here is madness writ large!

Our hospitals cannot cope with current numbers let alone add half a million more souls requiring "free Health care".

How many will speak and understand English and how many will place new burdens on our social security system.

And add family reunion and all those numbers, loads, demand etc, become largely irrelevant.

You have to live in a Canberra bubble and be quarantined from your decisions not to see or understand the harm you do to the so-called national interest and every day, average Aussies!

Par for the course, labor blah, blah, Blah and BS, solves nothing as we hurtle toward an economic waterfall!

There are solutions, none of which are politically palatable to the Madhatters in Canberra.
Alan B.