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The Forum > Article Comments > South Australia stalls as urban decay looms > Comments

South Australia stalls as urban decay looms : Comments

By Malcolm King, published 13/4/2015

The state has a burgeoning public service, contracting manufacturing sector, rapidly rising unemployment, serious youth brain drain, recruitment age prejudice and nepotism and spreading urban decay in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

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SA could be wealthy if it chose to fully exploit the fact it has a third of the world's easily mined uranium. The trick is to value add not sell it cheaply for the lowest price. Options include uranium enrichment and power generation. Some say SA could take back and reprocess nuclear fuel from other countries but I suggest starting with local power needs first.

This path would initially employ thousands in construction and support services. While the Abbott government may not be serious about reducing emissions other countries like China are. There appears to be a growing aversion to new coal mines and coal seam gas in the eastern states. Power on a 24/7 basis has to come from somewhere. Therefore SA is on a long term winner if it goes nuclear.
Posted by Taswegian, Monday, 13 April 2015 9:05:43 AM
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Come on Malcolm you know full well that the biggest issue facing SA is what time zone it's in. Geography tells us that it should be 1 full hour behind Sydney.
However our Government thought 30 hour was better, and our captains of industry have trouble even adding 30 minutes to our time to work out what time it is in Melbourne.

I see Nero at work here.
Posted by Cobber the hound, Monday, 13 April 2015 10:07:18 AM
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Quite right Cobber.

The Greenwich time thing is agenda item number one. Ha!

Unfortunately, about ten percent of the SA population is functionally illiterate, so time telling is important. My little story (and others I've written on SA) will disappear in the high tide of bytes and churn but sooner rather than later, the markets - especially the property and credit markets - will vote 'no confidence' in the state. No jobs = no future.
Posted by Malcolm 'Paddy' King, Monday, 13 April 2015 10:22:25 AM
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Yes, South Australia should stop selling its soul for the welfare-money from other states.

The best thing South Australia can do for itself is to secede from the commonwealth of Australia. As a land that is no longer caught in the web of Australian laws and regulations, hundreds-of-thousands if not millions of good people who are sick and tired of the Australian regime will flock to it and make it prosper.
Posted by Yuyutsu, Monday, 13 April 2015 10:49:21 AM
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I agree with Taswegian to a large extent.

Reading this article reminds me a bit of my present home state of Tasmania only we don't have Uranium or if we do, it's probably not commercially viable.

The 'rust bucket' states of SA & TAS didn't get that nickname for nothing... and today in 2015, sluggish economic growth, slow property markets are still the music of the day. Ho hum....

Anyway, at least we have writers who are great at diagnosing problems like on this website but where are the realistic long term solutions or at least medium term??... Oh wait, hang on, this doesn't fit into the 3-4 year electoral cycles does it... oh well.. hang our heads in shame and keep whinging.. then nothing changes.

Solutions people please! be brave and THINK!
Posted by Rojama, Monday, 13 April 2015 11:48:02 AM
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Well what can you expect of people unable or unwilling to use the brains they were born with, for any other purpose than winning the nest election/retaining power!

And Canberra is hardly off the hook, when genuine tax reform and long overdue massive simplification would have mitigated against the massive industrial exodus now taking place there and elsewhere!

If they just used the brains they were born with, their industries, could be mostly resuscitated with cheaper than coal thorium, and the half price power it would produce for their energy dependent industries; and still possible, if the diving dollar is complimented by GENUINE tax reform and the world's cheapest energy!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 13 April 2015 12:41:44 PM
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One of the economic problems South Australia has is having amongst the highest priced electricity in the world. This contributes to industries closing down and/or moving elsewhere. Has obviously been largely caused by the rush to wind turbine renewable energy which is a very costly and inefficient way of reducing carbon emissions. Power companies are compelled to by a proportion of renewable energy at about three times the base rate for that coming from coal or pay significant penalties when usage is short of target. Seems sometimes they are choosing this as wind power availability is delivered at random - is intermittent and unreliable. So costly generating backup ready to go at short notice is necessary.

I gather SA currently hosts about half the wind turbines in Australia. Also that no new construction has commenced since Nov 2012. Largely because no new PPA's (ie power purchase agreements )with high guaranteed long term prices have been signed with power companies. Without them , banks will not lend money needed.
Those wanting to study info on the gigantic costly wind farm scam can start by checking www.stopthesethings.com and links from it, which are normally updated daily.
Posted by mox, Monday, 13 April 2015 1:08:02 PM
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Taswegian and Rhrosty

Many reasons why value nuclear services and products ideas won't work, including:

- low world price for uranium

- hence low world demand for low processed yellowcake AND

- low world demand for enriched Uranium products (eg. fuel rods)

- there is a currently too many established nuclear fuel suppliers and reactor suppliers (especially in France)

- nuclear contracts are multi-decade and South Australia (SA) would be a locked out newby

- no track record of "$Billions" for operating Nuclear Waste dumps

- international legal sanctions against the proliferation of dumping high level nuclear waste in Australia

- Political unpopularity and $Billion security costs of transporting any level of nuclear waste to or within Australia (forget "U transport submarines to Darwin"

- low skill level in SA in nuclear science and engineering - Lucas Heights skill base much stronger in that regard

- little federal or state money to spend the $Billions to educate staff, shift staff, build enrichment factories or reprocessing facilities

- too little money for the high commercial risk of nuclear reactor innovation industries

- too little demand for power reactors in SA

- ideological disposition of SA public and politicians against nuclear or innovation (SA being a State of Greenies, ex Democrats, many protesters)

- multi-$Billion security bill to guard nuclear infrastructure including nuclear transport

Nuclear is a nice and neat industrial solution in theory but out of touch with above realities.

---

Off that topic

I agree Paddy

Barossa used to be ahead wine area wise. But all states (except NT and Qld) have caught up with their own wine areas close to their big cities. Even Canberra has its own wine areas around it.

Regards

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Monday, 13 April 2015 5:19:25 PM
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Cobber, if SA adopted aestime they would only move to about 15 minutes
sun time ahead as K time is about central NSW, whereas going back 1/2 hour means they would move 3/4 hour sun time.
Posted by Bazz, Monday, 13 April 2015 6:00:02 PM
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Bazz, your post makes no sense. SA is currently 9.5 hours ahead of GMT, and is 10.5 ahead in summer.

9 hours ahead corresponds with solar time at 135ºE (on the Eyre Peninsula). Adelaide's longitude is 138.6ºE, corresponding with a solar time nearly 15 minutes ahead of that (a little over 15 minutes behind the current SA time).

I officially suggested we switch to Queensland time (GMT+10) by moving half way at the start or end of daylight saving and not adjusting it again. But I also cautioned that we should model it effects on electricity demand and interconnector use before we make the change.
Posted by Aidan, Monday, 13 April 2015 11:37:49 PM
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I'm with you Aiden,

that way South Australians can default on their mortgages and utility bills in sync with the eastern states.
Posted by Malcolm 'Paddy' King, Tuesday, 14 April 2015 7:50:53 AM
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Aiden, that was what I suggested, Qld & NSW time are the same, midday
sun time is in western NSW so if a change is wanted then to move forward to GMT + 10 is sun wise not a move to Sydney sun time. Sydney
already has sun time +10 minutes.
Then being on GMT +10 would have some commercial advantage.

Yes and the curtains will not fade any quicker !
Posted by Bazz, Tuesday, 14 April 2015 8:49:37 AM
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Bazz, it's not ten minutes, it's a little under 5. And rather than Western NSW, it's somewhere between Lithgow and Bathurst.

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Malcolm, electricity demand fluctuates a lot, and having different timezones does give the advantage of spreading peak demand. And that does matter, for though our electricity prices have fallen significantly since they were the world's highest, and are still falling, we haven't yet reached the stage where electricity's cheap and we don't have great storage capability.
Posted by Aidan, Tuesday, 14 April 2015 11:22:46 AM
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