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The Forum > Article Comments > Social infrastructure for a new world > Comments

Social infrastructure for a new world : Comments

By Everald Compton, published 11/3/2014

These experiences have given me time to understand a very strategic fact that politicians deliberately ignore: physical infrastructure has value only if it is implemented in close association with appropriate social infrastructure.

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Yet another intruder who wishes to dictate to us what we supposedly want and how we should live.

- Get behind me, Satan!
Posted by Yuyutsu, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 1:42:49 PM
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One tiny problem, Rhosty.

>>My preferred system is the world's fastest, whisper quiet magnetron, constructed in continuous loops, via a single one way only circuits<<

We do not have the capital available to build your dream. If we tried to borrow the money, the only source possible is overseas - notice how the only way we are able to dig stuff out of the ground is with overseas investment. And wouldn't there be a kickin' and a screamin' if anyone were to suggest that!

Even if we had the cash, think of the weepin' and wailin' that would go on, if we had to knock down a single house, or disturb the habitat of one single white-quilled rock pigeon...

Dream on. The fact that we have to live in the real world is sometimes tough to swallow, but in the end it's the only world we have.
Posted by Pericles, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 4:43:03 PM
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There is no viable form of public transport on earth which could accommodate my daughter dropping her kids off at 2 different schools, on her way to work, or my son in-law picking those same kids up on his way home.

Public transport is a myth, a day dream for any who don't want to go to the city center from the suburbs. In fact it is fair to say it only caters for public servants spending their days in some ivory tower block in the CBD. AS such it is a dead loss.

When I was still working, I could have got a bus, 3 kilometers from my home at 6.00 AM, which, after a change to a train, then another bus, would have left me 4.5 kilometers from my factory at 10.20 AM. To catch the last transport home, I would have had to leave at 2.38 PM.

Perhaps I was wrong. Public transport, apart from subsidizing already overpaid bureaucrats, is a joke.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 5:22:28 PM
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Pericles, ever sit down and work out what we already spend on roads?
The last time a political Leader, with a still functioning brain, dared dream large in this country, we built the snowy river scheme! And in spite of the incredible size, and huge comparative borrowing, we've even managed to pay the debt, completely!
When it finally was completely debt free, and paying a very handsome return, some politicians, (giant intellects) thought it would be a good idea, to sell it, and at fire sale prices!
We have over a trillion invested in our own super accounts, and due to the vagaries of international tax systems, we choose to invest most of it offshore!
We could build more than just a Magnetron here, if we made it more attractive for our funds to invest here. Very low tax or tax free treatment, and (a) govt guarantee(s) backing investment outlays, always providing they were invested in Australia, and the preferred projects earned a decent and growing return!
We would also need to relax some of our trade rules, and allow more skilled workers from places like China, to work here, say over the life of a project?
Which would likely hasten our free trade agreement with that economic giant!
Parenthetically, the Chinese are expert on the magnetron system, given they have several already up and running.
Meaning, they could build ours, and likely for a lot less, if we, who know B'all, tried to do it ourselves!
After we've finished our own magnetron systems, we could start on an inland shipping canal, that would allow our nuclear powered, roll on roll off shipping fleet, to export our commodities to asia, at the best turn around times in the world, given we would load each train just once, and only unload it, when our bulk goods had arrived at their ultimate destination(s)!
People just like you, I believe, are the real handbrake on our real progress, given you and your expert ilk, always know all the reasons something can't be done, or at least, not by us, poor penniless beggars!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 6:42:11 PM
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Decentralization spend money on schools hospitals such not on more roads into cities
Look around the world every city has the same problem no matter how much money you throw at it traffic congestion , The fix get people to move out of these cities
Posted by Aussieboy, Wednesday, 12 March 2014 7:14:18 AM
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Yes indeed, Rhosty, there is always a downside to being a realist.

>>People just like you, I believe, are the real handbrake on our real progress, given you and your expert ilk, always know all the reasons something can't be done, or at least, not by us, poor penniless beggars!<<

It is so much easier to be a dreamer, and pretend that "anything is possible", a mantra only ever employed by self-help gurus who have books'n'lecture tours to sell. The rest of us understand that a modicum of careful thought is required to make change happen.

Your facts are a little hazy, too.

>>And in spite of the incredible size, and huge comparative borrowing, we've even managed to pay the debt, completely!<<

There never was a separate funding source for the scheme. It was funded by the Commonwealth from local sources - i.e. taxes and bonds. At that time, we had the internal capacity to raise the necessary amount; today, we don't, our economy simply isn't big enough.

>>When it finally was completely debt free, and paying a very handsome return, some politicians, (giant intellects) thought it would be a good idea, to sell it, and at fire sale prices!<<

The entire scheme remains in the hands of the governments of NSW, Victoria and the Commonwealth.

http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/corporate/

>>We could build more than just a Magnetron here, if we made it more attractive for our funds to invest here. Very low tax or tax free treatment, and (a) govt guarantee(s) backing investment outlays<<

I assume you mean the trillion or so that is tied up in superannuation? Would you be happy, personally, to allocate your savings to such projects, given that they will not provide a return into your fund for decades... if ever? I think not.

>>We would also need to relax some of our trade rules, and allow more skilled workers from places like China, to work here, say over the life of a project?<<

That would most certainly be necessary. But might be politically dodgy territory, I suspect.

Yep, it sucks being a realist.
Posted by Pericles, Wednesday, 12 March 2014 8:14:26 AM
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