Dear Padraic King, there you go again launching another load of your loony lambasting of SPP.

But why? What’s it really got to do with this thread??

SPP is certainly the sanest political party in Aus.

Setting SPP aside, what do you make of my first post? Particularly the imperative of balancing population and everything that is needed to support it with our capabilities of supplying those needs in an ongoing manner?

Everald, for all his good intentions, seems to keep missing this point in his long series of OLO articles.

So what do you think – should we maintain high immigration and strive for constant expansionism or head towards a stable population and strive to stop expanding our impact and resource demand on this already very stressed continent?

...Hasn't anybody told you Everald, this is 1954 not 2014. Get real! By the left Abbott...Quick march...Hay foot, straw foot, hay foot, straw foot...!

Hi Everald,

Yes, what we need is a federal government that that will grow the economy to generate the wealth that grows tax revenue so we can spend some of it on infrastructure.

We need policies that reduce risk for private investment in order to build things with less public money.
We need excellent foreign relations in order to co-exist and trade with our neighbors.
We need to control immigration so that population growth can be matched to economic growth.
We need all States to collaborate in the interests of all Australians.
We need a federal government that is dedicated to smaller government and less market interference.
We need a government that supports the development of more productive land through more dams and large scale irrigation.
We need to develop other regions of Australia to create well paid work to make it attractive to live outside major cities and further develop regional infrastructure.

You didn’t need to go far to formulate such idea’s, we already have them in the LNP policy platforms

Abbott...Quick march...Hay foot, straw foot,
diver dan,
Well, I personally prefer it to the ALP's Hare brain-straw-brain.

What Everald demonstrates is the total disconnect between government
and reality with regards to our energy future.
Like politicians, people connected to government must also believe in
the "Business as Usual" syndrome.

Without knowing it he is right in two of his wish list.
There inevitably will be a shift to rail transport.
Diesel (or natural gas) locomotives move eight times the ton/km of trucks.
Electrification for high traffic routes is probably desirable.
Gauge unification is probably too late and I doubt we will ever have
the capital necessary to do it.
The division of state governments into local council regions will
almost certainly occur as everything becomes local.

It is quite possible that state governments will become redundant and
the Federal government will retreat into defense and foreign affairs.
This of course is much more into the future than Everald is considering.

Everald's wish list cannot be undertaken in a country with low and
falling growth. The whole world is moving towards zero growth and no
planner should ignore that or inevitably his plans will come to nothing.
However the whole energy problem is moving rapidly and later this
year or early next year we will see figures that it will be hard for
governments to ignore.

If Everald reads these responses I suggest that he obtain BITRE177
report which was suppressed by the government but was downloaded by
a French journalist at Le Mond before government ministers were out
of bed and placed onto the ASPO Australia web site.
BITRE = Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, Resources & Energy
I think it is part Dept Minerals and Energy.

http://www.aspo-australia.org.au/

Look for this heading;
Transport Energy Futures: Long-term oil supply trends and projections
Report 117 BITRE 2009 Dr David Gargett

Within that paragraph there are three links to the document.
ASPO was "asked" to take the document off their website.

The document is very detailed but the conclusion is clear.

Great post
Agree with every point, bravo!
Sadly, that kind of vision is for now at least beyond Australians. We have become so small minded, fearful of all kinds of phantoms, stupid and unless some US business magazine or US think tank says something is a good idea it won't be taken seriously.

All the naysayers come up with the lamest objections. Unimaginable quantities of fresh water each year wash out to sea. So there is enough water, if it is managed. The economic and environmental benefits are extraordinary.

But as you say, we are too busy protecting our borders from Iraq and Afghanistani refugees coming across in boats to exact their revenge for destroying their country