Hi Foxy, the crusty old conservatives we have on the forum thrive on doom and gloom. They will never accept that there are positives in Australia, they are totally negative people.

Butch most likely lives a comfortable middle class lifestyle, thanks to his chop shop business, but like a true conservative thinks others less entitled than himself are out to rip him off, and make his life a misery. The woe is me mentality has consumed such people as long as I've been around.

Rectub,ttb,hasbeen, you are all right on the money. I recall things were going rather swimmingly until the end of 89' when I went abroad to establish a new business. When I came back eventually, I found a totally different environment/landscape. Things have not been the same since. What confounds me is that we make money from nature whether it's mining or agriculture. A major fault lies with the pollies in that they give away our natural resources. Last I heard we were selling our gas for 5c a litre. Yet we pay more like 85 to over a dollar a litre. We have too many groups pulling politics one way then another. There is no doubt that the system of 'the club' as we have now is not acceptable. I would like to try non-politicians for a change. How much worse could they be than what we have had so far. Irrelevant parties like the Greens must go. Their agenda is too anti everything, and besides they must not be considered as a serious political contender. The main problem with us is we are not serious enough about getting involved with the running of this country. Whenever I try to persuade anyone about the problem I get, 'that's what we pay them for'. I'll bet nobody knows about the 'Bail-in' legislation just slipped through into law. What is it you say? Well when the 'to big to fail banks' get into trouble, as they will when the property bubble bursts, this law will allow the banks to take money out of OUR savings accounts to prop themselves up so they don't go broke. Don't believe me? Look up Glass-Steagall, the separation of traditional savings and loans banks from the speculative investment banks. This is where our money is going. The illuminati have designed the banking and taxation system like a Ponzi. So every 10 years or so we have a recession and they clean up at our expense.

Dear Paul,

Australia's prosperity is not assured. Economists,
including reports from the Lowy Institute (think tank
which presents distinctive perspectives on the
international trends shaping Australia and the world)
tell us that Australia has considerable strengths even
in a slowing global economy.

But many of Australia's strengths are fragile, under strain,
and contested. And the policy requirements they impose are
very far from the centre of Australia's political debate.

We're told that much of these strengths are in Australia's
human capital, its people.

But getting the most from these strengths depends on
recognising what they are, valuing them, and sustaining and
improving them.

For example, to offset the declining share of the workforce -
the aged members of the population we're told that Australia
will need to:

1) Continue to do more to make it more attractive for women
to work.
2) For older people to keep working.
3) And for workers displaced in one job to be retrained for
another.

More will need to be spent on child care. Advance the pension
entitlement age again, and align it with the age for
accessing superannuation.

All these changes however at this point look politically
difficult, if not impossible.

To support a rising level of education and training Australia
will need to carry through the Gonski Schools program, rethink
and properly resource vocational education and training, and at
least maintain the commitment to university education.

Compared with other advanced economies Australia's workforce
growth can be its greatest strength. The realisation of that
advantage depends completely on sustaining a skills-based
migration program of at least the same size as recent years.
As global competition for skilled migrants increases
Australia's migration program will have to move from passive
acceptance of applications to active recruitment.

Of course none of this we are warned will be easy but if
Australia recognises and cultivates its advantages and
distributes its gains fairly, it can over the next quarter
century increase the size of its economy and also its
living standards faster than in other advanced economies.
That surely is a prize worth seeking.

Hi Foxy,

On balance the majority of Australians live, at least in a material sense, a privileged life. Free from starvation and poverty, natural disasters and the depredation of war, away from the general human misery which besets many in the world. Yet so many, instead of counting their blessings, want to whinge and whine about how badly off they are.

I don't say Australia is perfect but its a lot better than the rest of the world. Wingers, get you head out of your arse and start counting your blessings.

Just to put things into prospective I posted this on another thread;

"A bit like village life among my friends in Fiji. Where those who work and have a small cash income provide staples, rice, dried peas etc, for those that do not undertake paid work. Those that are not in paid employment contribute through work in the vegetable gardens, animal husbandry, roadside stalls, or child minding, housekeeping, cooking, washing etc. If you don't require much more than electricity and a mobile phone its a pretty good life.

These people know nothing of GDP, economics etc, have little money, no real government support, but live a very contented life.

Dear Paul,

I count my blessings every single day.

We are living in the best country in the world.
That's why so many people want to come here.

Hi Foxy,

Yet we have the doom and gloom merchants, the whingers and the whiners who can't see anything but misery.

I think just for them it time for a song. One off the top of my head, an all time favorite of mine;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGV9Bl6CGg

Go Jimmy!