I came across this blog from an ex pat South African dated 2007.:

[quote]5 biggest problems Australia faces
1. China. I am surprised to see how big the influence is of China here in Australia. I have spoken to many ppl in business and many have told me how importing from China has changed business, cut jobs and closed down businesses. I am not sure what the government has in place to protect local businesses.

2. Water. After all the rain we have had in the passed two weeks, I was stunned to hear on the news last night that 80 % of NSW is still experiencing severe drought.

3. Australian Youth and too little accountability. I for one am not particularly impressed by the youth of Australia. I have seen a number of stories in the press since arriving, where young ppl have committed serious crimes – but instead of society being outraged at their actions, loads of excuses are thought up for their actions. I have not seen a particularly overwhelming zeal when it comes to academic excellence or gaining the best education available. I am also concerned for the Australian economy in the long run.

4. Medical care. I for one am not blown away by the standard of medical care in general. There are often long waiting lists for procedures, even for older ppl who may need to have these procedures done urgently.

5. Over-organized, over-structured red-tape jungle. Anything innovative, new or entrepreneurial is choked to death by all of the permits/licenses and red-tape to get it off the ground. In the end it is often easier just to work for a large corporation rather than starting your own enterprise.[/quote]

This person has has been around and we do not impress, take away the sun the beaches and we aint got much to crow about. I have not heard the term "lucky country" much in the past 20 years but I grew up with it ringing in my ears, because it was true and we knew it.

http://austrangelia.blogspot.com/2007/06/australias-biggest-problems.html

The only way I see Australia surviving....is to sell-out to the nearest super-power. It would be nice to be independent... but the greedy just wont have it. China! Your new rulers. Supply and demand.....

"This person has has been around and we do not impress, take away the sun the beaches and we aint got much to crow about. I have not heard the term "lucky country" much in the past 20 years but I grew up with it ringing in my ears, because it was true and we knew it.

Maybe we should all take Asian language courses?

BLUE

I came across the following website which may be of interest to some:

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/new-gossip-chat/65223-best-worst-living-australia.html

The only way I see Australia surviving..
Deep Blue,
I can't say it often enough but for Australia to forge ahead (not Gillards moving forward) it needs National Service foremost followed by some sort of teacher education so that they can help make our kids smarter instead of the present dumbing down system. Then & only then can Australia recover.

individual, here is a "half" story for you. Compared to 40 years ago our population has grown by half and the number of students taking on subjects that require "higher mathematics" at uni compared to 40 years ago has halved. That is scary.

*I have spoken to many ppl in business and many have told me how importing from China has changed business, cut jobs and closed down businesses.*

Perhaps the South African fellow is not aware of all the businesses
growing and hiring, due to demand from China. Perhaps the South
African, has never done a calculation as to how much better off
Australian consumers are, via the benefit of cheaper consumer
goods. We could of course bring back tariffs tomorrow. We could
force our women to go back to the sewing machines, to sew
Australian clothes for instance, a return of the sweat shops.
How would the poor be able to afford them?