Trade 215,you summmed it so succinctly.It has crept on us and no one noticed until it was too late .You are so right about a lot of private entertrise now existing because of Govt legislation.The lastest one is electrical tagging.A whole new industry now runs around tagging all electrical cords and tools.At $5.00 each every month for the building industry,it is just another cost impost for small contractors to bear.This was the states way of reducing workers comp claims.The insanity is that a tool can be tagged and the cord damaged but it can be legally used because it is tagged.
The NSW govt through the debacle of home warranty insurances, have removed many small builders from the market thus increased substantly the cost of building houses, a basic necessity.The more efficent private enterprise becomes ,the more the bloated bureauracies grow.Are we just chasing our tails?

Hmmm... Graham protesteth too much, methinks. I note that his recent editorial 'interventions' (thanks Grace for the term) have been directed at those of us who dared suggest that some kind of bias might be evident in this website. I also note that those correspondents who express views consistent with 'neo-conservatism' or Christian fundamentalism do not seem to attract the same level of editorial attention - no matter how rabid or disrespectful their comments and ideas are.

If I suggested that this site is becoming a haven for supporters of neo-conservatism and Christian fundamentalists, I guess in Graham's terms I'm not engaging in 'critical thought', right?

I await the inevitable barrage of bulldust from the half dozen or so regular correspondents from what used to be called the far right.

Debate? Critical thought? Give us a break, mate.

Morgan

Morganzola,we are not the far right.The changes posed by the Howard Govt and many responsible hard working Australians are not exteme views.The Howard Govt is still very socialist.The left just refuses to face up to economic realities.Money is not the source of wealth.It is human endeavour we need to keep you in the manner to which you are accustomed.Productivity does not emminate from Govt of feel good left wing intentions.I hear it so often,"Why can't the Govt. do something?"Well I say,"You are the Govt"
We are headed for some every tough times with possible climate change,world pop. pressures,the retiring of the baby boomers,too many welfare dependant and the lack of moral fibre.We do not have the courage and integrety of the depression and WW2 generations.We have lost our sence of perspective because we haven't faced real survival situations for along time.When times get really tough the left will become as relevant as the Democrats are today.

Morgan, I've noted the editor having a chip at a right wing poster on this site. so your first contention is out the door straight away.

Then you label anyone who may disagree with you as "the far right", as if this should disqualify any likely rebuffs to your post. It's just so typical. It must be difficult being so enlightened when all around is darkness. You should have thrown in rascist and oppressor as well, although I suppose this goes without saying.

"Debate? Critical thought? Give us a break, mate". These are your words Morgan. Go and have a read of your grand total of three posts to this site. High and mightly examples of great debate and critical thought. You use your 3 posts to accuse this site of bias!! Not a sentence of debate on the topics in question and as examples of critical thought, well, you shouldn't have bothered.

Debate and critical thought?!!! You wouldn't know 'em if they bit you on the bum, mate.

Morgonzola, you'd be surprised who accuses me of bias. I respond when I'm attacked, and don't as a rule get involved in these forum discussions. Grace made the accusation of bias because she supposed the site to be sponsored by an organisation that she regards as right wing. So I responded.

Anyone who frequents this site would be well aware of the breadth of material, and of the views, on it, which is answer enough to any charge of bias you might want to make.

I'm disappointed that the forum should so quickly have divided into a battleground of "right" and "left" - it's not a helpful way to have debate, and not quite what I was hoping when I started the site.

ozaware - the challenge is to preserve the rights of the individual from every quarter.

Less government does not mean no government -

Zimbabwe is an interesting example to use - when under Ian Smith's white minority rule and vigorously policed trade sanctions, the lot of the whites and africans alike and the state of the general economy was far better than under 25 years of Mugabes despotism without sanction and with foreign aid.

As for Multi-nationals etc - they are as aggressive as any other predator. Fortunately we do have some institutions like ACCC just as USA has the FTC - which work as watchdogs to "curb the excesses".