Oh no really is that what your saying we didn't win WW2 just to let our beach houses fall into the sea. That would have to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Grown up you sound like a child, even if you ingnore GW the beach moves all the time, the reef use to be solid land for god's sake. Get over yourself councils and governments are only responding to nature. Why should we spend millions on keep your beach house safe.

In most coastal areas there is little community of interest between those who inhabit the water front, & those who live a few streets, or kilometers back.

The old Gold Coast council, that extended just a couple of streets back was a good, & fair system. However the mansion owners, & the tourist industries wanted to spread their cost of land protection, & tourist promotion, so the first amalgamation occurred. Then we had Beattie's most illegitimate further amalgamation.

Now we have people, living in the hinterland, actually relating more to Brisbane, having to fund tourism expenses. I think it a much better idea that Roger & his wealthy mates defend their investment with their own money, not that of the little people.

If sea water rises, as is expected, what makes anyone think the water level will be just this side of the beach front dwellers. It depends on the lay of the land. Some places may go kilometers inland with just one meter rise. If it rises 5 meters dwellers on the coast side of the divide will be under water.
So it is not stupid to think about how beach shoring could be done.
Remember Lake Ayre and the sea were connected once.
Let sea water run rampent and every AU capital will be lost, except Canberra.

Agnostic of Mittagong

why must we be subjected to rehashes of IPCC scare stories, particularly as in this case they are aren't really scare stories? The official IPCC forecast is something like 0.4 metres by 2040 and 0.8 or so by the end of the centry, or of that order.

The actual, measured sea level rise using satellites you can see for yourself on this link http://sealevel.colorado.edu/ is 3.1 millimetres a year and this has not changed in nearly two decades..
Assuming that continues for a century, the total increase will be 0.31 metres, or about a foot on the old scale.

Yes, we should start concerning outselves with coastal erosion..

I'm with Herbert Stencil on this.

>>In essence, the users should pay for services that they need over and above those delivered to other ratepayers.<<

I am absolutely against government interference, whether at Federal, State or Local Council level, in the choices that are made by individuals. If you choose to live in an area that will be affected by natural occurrences such as rain, wind and tide, then you should factor the expense of keeping it intact into your annual budget, not mine.

I do have sympathy with those who live in areas "reclaimed" by unscrupulous developers, who have been duped into buying worthless land in areas likely to be under threat every time the wind blows.

But that's just a matter of caveat emptor - and the old adage, if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't.

<Retreat is not part of the Australian ethos. We changed the course of the war in the Pacific when our soldiers did not retreat from our defensive lines at Milne Bay.>

Mate, that is patriotic blasphemy, and downright wrong to boot. The Australian troops defeated the Imperial Japanese army in New Guinea because the front line commanders had the good sense to ignore the "Stand to the last man" orders of their superiors and make a tactical retreat. Stretched supply lines over a formidable geography tipped the balance in Australia's favour.

If I could give another analogy, your actions would not be like the heroism of Australian troops in New Guinea. Instead, your actions would be akin to building a beach front property in Darwin, fully prepared to bask in the tropical ambiance and enjoy the capital gains. Then the Jap planes come along and bomb the crap out of you. So then you go cap in hand to the government, saying "Compensation! Compensation!".

Like Aussie Troops? More like Al Grasby wailing and sobbing down the phone in Beirut. "Get me out of here. You've got to help me."