That's interesting. Thanks for that Foyle. Good to see Is Mise on the ball too.
And thank you to Foxy for earlier comment.

There was also the Bradfield Scheme.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradfield_Scheme

Then there was the water harvesting and aqueduct suggestion I put forward to the Abbott-Joyce government, as a way of generating employment for a Solomon Islands fly in fly out workforce, while at the same time generating newly productive export food and fibre opportunity for Australia.
But along came Malcolm Turnbull.
Google: Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper Supporting Information.
Green Paper.
See Index: F. Fairfax J

Of course our ABC has boycotted that potential opportunity.

Would anyone still want to listen to crackly, fading in and out, sw radio when internet listening is available. Sw used to be a bit of fun, but it have has gone the way of button-up boots.

Foyle & Mise,
Off hand I don't know if Idriess was before or after Bradfield but this was proposed as the Bradfield Scheme.
A clear case of thinking being a hundred years ahead of the times.

ttbn,

These days there are shortwave radios that are synthesized and they dont crackle or fade out. During afternoon heat there maybe an hour or two when crackle like sandpaper drowns out the whole broadcast but othewise even music comes through loud and clear.

I am out on the Pacific Islands usually 6 months of the year and let me inform you, Australia no longer exists out thete (virtually).
That absence is not good for marketing Australia's produce or friendship.

Synthesized radios that do not fade out ?
JF Aus Not sure what you mean by that.
With sunspot counts near and at zero these days varying signal
strength is what we all have to live with.
As far as I am aware there are a lot of locations where the internet
is just not available.
Small ships are just one that comes to mind. Tracking dishes are just
not practical so satellites are out.
Frequencies below about 10 Mhz are fairly consistent from about
500 Km to 3000 km after about 1600 hrs local time.
Frequencies say between 5 Mhz and 8 Mhz have been good for 10,000
to 13,000 km late afternoons lately.
It is a matter of picking your time and frequency.
The IPS charts tell it all.

Baz,

As you would know frequency changes to suit time of day broadcast quality.

I have an American made transistor size digital shortwave radio that cost about US$170. It seems to automatically keep the signal at constant volume and clarity. I think that's what they mean by labelling the radio as synthesized.

In an case Radio Australia shortwave is nowhere to be heard. The half hour of ABC source news with Pacific Beat is announced as being Radio Australia but it's not, because it comes on 5020 kh from Honiara on SIBC radio. And that 5020 signal is often off the air. Blackouts in Honiara are common.

Australia is not out there and China and other countries are moving in. Its seems like the ABC is doing this on purpose to drag Australia down.

Has the ABC any data re how many remote people need shortwave? Or has the ex Google now ABC manager just taken increase in salary to get the job and and then save by pulling the SW plug, forcing some lucky listeners to the Internet?

What about other listeners like boat and village canoe people? And people like me? I could be justifiably discussing new opportunity for sustainable food and water management infrastructure for the Pacific, of which Australua is part. But no, because our ABC has all that suppressed and gagged as well as no longer being on the air