It would be more accurate to say that Australia + ALL of it's states & territories are dying. Sir Humphrey Appleby is driving this clapped out old Holden into the ground.

And, within the last week, a new gas powered electrity generator has come on line. It should protect us from blackouts this summer.

It is surprising that the Weatherill government escapes mention for its dysfunctional decision to close down all coal-fired power stations, thereby reducing electricity supply reliability and causing SA electricity prices to rise to the highest in the developed world.

Consequently, who in their right mind would choose SA as a place in which to invest?

Adelaide is not dying; it's just a bit slow to wake up!

Interest rates have been set at levels appropriate for eastern Australia, when the appropriate rate for SA would be much lower most of the time. Those, and the consequent high dollar, have been very damaging for SA, so it's not surprising so many businesses have gone. And the Federal government still doesn't recognise that problem, so unsurprisingly compensation for it is nowhere near adequate.

There have, of course, been bad decisions by the SA government contributing to the problem. But bad decisions have been made by the governments of every state in Australia - it's not a uniquely SA thing.

SA has a great future, but at the moment it's being held back by state and federal policies. At federal level there really needs to be understanding and acknowledgement of the economic situation we're in. At state level, the most useful change would be a genuine commitment to crowdsourcing.

Hasbeen,
>The real problem ttbn is that at some time the interconnector plug may be pulled
>leaving the whole state almost as dark as North Korea.
No, that's not the real problem; that's the imagined problem of the misinformed.

In reality:
SA now exports far more power than it imports.
SA has batteries, so can cope with sudden isolation.
SA also has plenty of generating capacity now.

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Yuyutsu,

SA doesn't want decline! We want to succeed, and we've got room for plenty more people. And we certainly aren't stupid enough to want to produce low tech cars - they were never that reliable, and few regard them as good. We should build on our strengths, making the high tech goods that people actually want rather than the low tech goods that can be made just as easily by people people overseas who are paid an order of magnitude less!

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Raycon,
The power stations, including both cal fired ones,had been sold off a decade earlier. They were not economically viable, and it didn't make sense for the government to subsidise them.

SA was overreliant on imported power in the 1990s. Addressing that, and the judge rise in gas prices, and reducing our reliance on gas, did give us high power prices (though Germany's were higher AIUI). But now SA has the cheapest wholesale power prices in Australia, and it's likely retail prices will follow suit soon.

Dear Aidan,

«SA doesn't want decline! We want to succeed»

Nobody wants decline, but the world is in decline and much of it can be attributed to population overgrowth.

Of course, claiming a "decline" depends on one's view on telling up from down; and claiming "success" depends on one's specific ambitions.

The idea as if more people, more buildings and more money is "up" whereas less people, buildings and money is "down", is rooted in materialism.

I say: the way up is more peace, contentment, freedom, calm and loving relating, wisdom and the available space and time to reflect and achieve those.

«we've got room for plenty more people»

Technically true, but at what cost?

Import the rat-race of the Eastern states, indeed of the rest of the world? Why not spare the people of Adelaide this pain? If you like competition, strife and living on the edge, then really you should consider moving to another state.

«And we certainly aren't stupid enough to want to produce low tech cars - they were never that reliable»

I am very happy with my 1992 car. Before this I had a 1978 car. They last for over 30 years. Most importantly, they can be maintained by any knowledgeable person or a local mechanic, which means that you are not tied up in a forced relationship with some distributor representing a large corporation. I wish I took the original analogue radio off my previous car into my new one: you can't find such good car-radios any more, turning on and off instantly with one big button.

«making the high tech goods that people actually want»

If this is what you personally want, why inflict it on the people of South Australia? Go elsewhere! Currently it is the central government that imposes this high-tech through regulation, it's a top-down imposition, it does not come from the people.

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