The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > In search of a nation builder > Comments

In search of a nation builder : Comments

By Everald Compton, published 27/4/2016

80% of our land mass is sparsely populated and poorly serviced by internet, hospitals, water, railways, roads and ports.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All
Well it is an advertisement for a book, but I won't hold that against him.
I agree with the authors opinion that we're a 'disgracefully underdeveloped and poorly planned nation'.

Looking back upon my school years at some of the pointless reading I did, I can only conclude that a inspirational book like this should've been part of the education curriculum.
Maybe even an entire subject should've been devoted to nation building.

Think of where our country might be today if we had've tried just a little bit harder to inspire and compel kids to do truly grand things.

I commend his efforts, this type of thinking is sadly missing in our country and I wish he'd written it 40 or 50 years ago.
Posted by Armchair Critic, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 12:54:35 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Dear Aidan,

<<Why do you even associate nation building with despicable tyrants?>>

It's only a matter of degree. Obviously what is being done in Australia is nowhere on that scale, but still any attempt to regiment innocent people and line them up as a "nation" is despicable.

<<I suggest that instead of looking at past villains you should look to present day China>>

That still holds the Tibetan people captives.
That still arrests and tortures dissidents.
That still backs up North Korea.
That still tries to expand by military force.
That still forces draconic laws over its citizens.

The more "nation" you have, the more you have those things. Do not build me a nation, do not build me a cage - even if it's golden.
Posted by Yuyutsu, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 1:52:43 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I agree this article is a shameless plug for the author's book.

While the nation building efforts of Flynn were laudable, he drew largely on the voluntarily-provided resources of the communities he worked with. Nowadays, "nation building" is more often code for taking large amounts taxpayers' money and spending it on useless mega infrastructure projects in the hope that "build it and they will come".

Rhosty's proposed canal is a case in point. An independent study several years ago looked at options to bring water from the Kimberley to Perth. It concluded that a canal was the most costly option, high risk and technically very difficult. it would deliver water at about 20 times the cost of desalination. This didn't stop people from decrying the lack of "vision" when governments refused to build one, though.

http://www.water.wa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/4966/64772.pdf
Posted by Rhian, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 3:16:15 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The clear fact that Australia no longer has the money to perform the 'water fantasies' is always overlooked by people who cannot come to terms with reality. The fantasists are still expecting a turnaround in our fortunes that is just not going to happen. The good times are over for good, not just in Australia, but the West in general. Those good times were a one-off aberration, and our last big water project was the Snowy Mountain Scheme, which will remain a fond, but unrepeatable, memory.
Posted by ttbn, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 4:25:48 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
@ Aidan, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 11:12:33 AM

Aidan,
If you look into my submission at index "F" (Fairfax) in the White Paper you will see the suggestion is to send water south into the Murray Darling catchment which starts inland west of Fraser island, Queensland.

I think many new towns would spring up along the way to cater for new farming, while water would assist existing farms and towns.

Sewage nutrient overload pollution is not a "threat" to the GBR because sewage and land use nutrient overload is already the fundamental cause already killing coral, leading to 'bleaching'.

Coral is exposed to very warm water at low tide during summer but bleaching does not occur where that warm water is.
The killer is the algae.

The source of nutrient overload is from all sources including government dumped sewage occurring daily.
Agricultural runoff only occurs in association with rain on this very dry country.
And presently there is a drought in Queensland, yet the worst bleaching.

I think Landline is a good program. But have they reported why farmers are being blamed for GBR nutrient pollution while nutrient dumped daily from sewage outfalls is not measured and included in the total loading that is resulting in algae blooms and damage?

There is need for whole of water ecosystem management because there are critically serious consequences to whole world ocean fish AND marine ecosystem DEVASTATION.
i.e. Farmers are supposed to use affordable guano from seabirds but most seabirds have vanished due to starvation.

Our media stops news of ocean problems being aired.

The ABC is not investigating and reporting that impact of unprecedented sewage and land use nutrient pollution proliferated ocean and lake algae has not been measured and assessed in AGW, IPCC, Kyoto and Turnbull associated climate science.

Algae is important like a rainforest.

Previously thought impossible they say. LOL, 2012.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/arctic-algal-blooms-060712.html

What about warmth properties of algae plant matter that I am unable to find evidence to contradict.
Also thought impossible.
Yet the subject and relevant solutions could help build this nation.

Prove otherwise if anyone can
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 9:11:51 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The following link provides insight to what Australia must look into, and not copy.
In Australia the Great Barrier Reef international tourism drawcard is DOWNSTREAM, like the Great Lakes are downstream.

See the recent date on the following news (not on the Aus ABC - or is it?).
And I suggest don't blame farmers because there is need to take all city and town sewage nutrient into account, the total nutrient loading, to prevent demolition of GBR life as we know it.

Why build the nation if the massive GBR international attraction for example, is allowed to be lost due to nutrient overload - not CO2?

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/04/23/dairy-farms-cow-manure-lakes/83444078/
Posted by JF Aus, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 9:36:33 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy