What's what?
"Now the culture has moved a long way and will continue in the direction of greater population density, which has numerous environmental and social benefits."
Thats just an assertion BB. And just because you assert it does not make it true.
All evidence- including your own move away from the city- points to a declining liveability and amenity in Australia capital cities.
Numerous environmental and social benefits !
BB , now I have heard it all.
Being a scientist, BB , you’ll obviously be providing the empirical evidence of the positive effects on the environment that arise from massive human population increase.
And also the unambiguous assertion that society gets better with more people will no doubt have rigorous peer reviewed evidence that you’ll provide for us.
Until that time , BB , well have to assume that you’re talking dung.
Well regardless of my own preferences, the simple reality is that population density has risen rapidly all over Sydney. Given that immigration is going to continue at some level then we can expect that trend to continue. Beyond argument I would have thought. Actually I would have had no problem staying where I am. The move was driven by a range of issues. Fleeing the crowds in the surf was a factor but other than that I don't mind the increased density. Public transport has improved hugely, new hospital nearby, lots of gigs going on, great choice of restaurants, cafes and bars within walking distance. I will miss a lot of things.
Blowin a lot of the water on the West Coast is very hard (high calcium carbonate) - but if you had desal chances are I surveyed the plant once..
BB - overcrowding:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
Let us hope we all get to be the beautiful ones, as it all collapses. I recently lost out and we've had TV reinstalled after 4 glorious years. In the last week, Melbourne, I've seen murder, drive bys into cars, collisions in intersections no seatbelts, brawls across roads, infrastructure falling on moving cars - Calhoun was right. My old man was a town planner and he confided after about 750,000 the benefits begin to be outweighed by the negatives.
And water ain't water:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2625659/Cocaine-use-Britain-wid...
Say no to drugs.
What of the repeated polls stating that the majority of Australians don’t want to continue with the current levels of immigration ?
You think that should be ignored by parliament?
There’s never been a debate permitted, ad hominem attacks are deployed to silence any dissent and no mandate has ever been established. What entitles both major parties to carry on with this authoritarian behaviour?
You probably won't BB.
Every buttefuck town in Australia now has a good Vietnamese restaurant and good coffee.
Once you detune your nervous system going back into the rat race will seem fun for about 24 hours before the "get-me-the-fuck-out of here" reflex kicks in.
For driving in the city:
For driving in the country:
Not as clear cut as you think Blowin.
https://theconversation.com/australians-think-immigration-should-be-cut-...
um, yes it is.
Australian Population Research Institute: 54% want lower immigration;
Newspoll: 56% want lower immigration;
Essential: 54% believe Australia’s population is growing too fast and 64% believe immigration is too high;
Lowy: 54% of people think the total number of migrants coming to Australia each year is too high;
Newspoll: 74% of voters support the Turnbull government’s cut of more than 10% to the annual permanent migrant intake to 163,000 last financial year;
CIS: 65% in the highest income decile and 77% in the lowest believe that immigration should be cut or paused until critical infrastructure has caught up;
ANU: Only three out of 10 Australians believe the nation needs more people.
So why don’t you answer my questions?
Prove that continued mass immigration improves the environment and society . As the burden of proof is on those who desire to completely alter the face of our nation .
And then tell me how it’s not authoritarianism for both major parties to embark on an umandated and unwanted crusade to flood our country with people.
You can answer each question in a seperate post in order to give them your full attention if you’d like.
So the IPSOS and Fairfax don't count? Not to mention that only 7% listed it as their main concern. I think I pointed out before that political realities govern policy. A simple majority in the whole population doesn't necessarily make it smart policy. So are you planning a revolution Blowin or are you going to work within the system, join a political,party, stand as an independent whatever?
Australia did very well economically before the current rate of migration was first introduced with Howard.
So all those pundits out there who say we can't return to that more sustainable rate need to explain why.
Besides aren't there plenty of countries around the world right now with much much lower migration rates and they are doing just as well economically as Australia?
Ultimately, this whole notion of economic growth needs to turned on its ear but in an era when the height of economic consciousness is an argument about giving tax dodging multi-nationals when more tax cuts may I suggest that's along way off.
Oh......we’re saved !
Just when it looked as though house prices may have taken a turn towards affordability and gloom would set across the land....along comes a hero in our time of need !
Here comes the brave citizens of China on their white horse looking to treat Aussie homes as an investment vehicle and continuing to prevent young Australians from ever owning a roof to shelter their families by pushing up house prices again.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/chinese-home-buyers-set-to-snap-up-austra...
Yay !!
hey Blowin check out what the Kiwis and Canadians did to stop the overseas speculator dead in their yuan. Love the Kiwis, they are light years ahead of us in so many ways - told the yanks and their nuclear ships to fuck off 2 decades ago, SSM, carbon price and laws like this to stop overseas buyers. They could do better, but light years ahead of us sheep shearers not sharers, ha. More generally there needs to be way more push back on china by the world.
GS that last sentence... you are beginning to sound, well, slightly Presidential... haha
Blowin, counter view to Domain:
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2019/01/chinese-buyers-wont-rescue-aust...
These guys also have a chart in their article
A chart? They must be right! More to the point Australia does need better controls over foreign buyers of residential property. If we are not careful we will end up with Sydney being like London with heaps of empty properties. It is already happening in some areas.
Is that your only caveat regarding foreign ownership, BB ?
Blowin could you send those Chinese buyers my way I have 5 acres of paradise to cash in.
Signed
Lazy prick stealing the future generations life, Baby Boomer
It's the only one I would be confident about Blowin. In other areas Australians also have large investments overseas so it may not be wise to start a tit for tat situation. If they can't invest here, why should they let us invest there? I am open to suggestions and I feel sure you will have some.
You seem to have it arse about , BB.
We can’t invest in China , so how come they can invest here ?
Actually, no foreigner should be allowed to purchase Australian land. And no Australian should be able to buy land in a Foreign country. As much as I’d like to be able to legally and confidently purchase ocean front land in Indonesia, I do very much admire their staunch opposition to control of their sovereignty being handed to foreigners acre by acre.
And then there's this...
https://cdn.tspace.gov.au/uploads/sites/79/2017/09/Register_of_Foreign_o...
Summary of key Findings:
The total area of agricultural land in Australia with a level of foreign ownership has fallen from 52.1 million hectares at 30 June 2016 to 50.5 million hectares at 30 June 2017.
Since the release of Agland 2016, the ABS has revised the total amount of agricultural land in Australia. To reflect this change and provide a basis for comparison across 2016 and 2017, the 2016 figure for the total level of foreign ownership in agricultural land has been adjusted to 14.1 per cent.
The proportion of agricultural land with a level of foreign ownership (foreign held) has fallen from 14.1 per cent (adjusted) at 30 June 2016 to 13.6 per cent at 30 June 2017.
There have been some significant changes in foreign ownership of agricultural land across states and territories.
The majority of these changes are due to the acquisition and disposal of agricultural land by foreign investors, and existing agricultural land holders changing their status to or from a foreign person.
Key findings on a national basis include:
> Over 98 per cent of foreign held agricultural land is held within Australian incorporated entities.
> Around 80 per cent of foreign held agricultural land is held on a leasehold basis.
> Over 85 per cent of foreign held agricultural land is used for livestock purposes.
> The United Kingdom remains the largest foreign agricultural land holder (2.6 per cent of agricultural land), followed by China (2.5 per cent of agricultural land) and the United States of America (0.7 per cent of agricultural land).
> Changes in agricultural land interests by country of ownership compared to Agland 2016
can be attributed to:
– new registrations of acquisitions of agricultural land that have settled since 1 July 2016;
– agricultural land that has been sold to Australian entities and has been removed from the register;
– agricultural land that has been sold to other foreign entities with a different foreign
country of ownership;
– foreign entity restructures which have resulted in a change of the foreign entity’s status as a foreign person; and
– changes to Table 5 to better reflect the level of foreign ownership of agricultural land by countries.
> There have been several large transactions which have altered the country of ownership of agricultural land. For example, the sale of S Kidman and Co to Australian Outback Beef has increased the level of Chinese ownership of agricultural land by 2.6 million hectares (0.7 per cent), as Chinese investors have a 33 per cent interest in Australian Outback Beef.
Key findings on a state and territory basis include:
> An increase of 44.9 per cent (3,968,000 ha) in Western Australian foreign held agricultural land, primarily due to new registrations of acquisitions of agricultural land that have settled since 1 July 2016.
> Decreases in foreign held agricultural land by:
– 33.0 per cent (2,360,000 ha) in South Australia
– 10.8 per cent (1,910,000 ha) in Queensland
– 9.8 per cent (1,483,000 ha) in the Northern Territory.
In response to feedback provided about Agland 2016, this year’s report includes a
breakdown of foreign held agricultural land on a regional basis, using ABS Statistical Area 41 (SA4) level standards.
There is actually considerable Australian investment in China Blowin. Your opinions on land ownership are duly noted but I can't see them being implemented any time soon. You should really link up with a like-minded independent and take an active part in politics Blowin. You are clearly passionate about issues and though I usually disagree with you people who feel strongly about issues should get involved.
I’d go well at politics, BB .
A head like a burnt thong , the work ethic of a ten year old labrador and enough skeletons in my closet to start my own cemetery....
But seriously, I couldn’t stand the stress. I’d be bald and guilty of homicide within a month dealing with the professional pole smokers who parade themselves as career politicians.
And the politics itself , which they love , does my head in. Whereas the Canberra crew would laugh off the perpetual sniping and the character assassinations , I’d probably end up on their doorstep looking to sort shit out.
But not a bad pension scheme...
You’re passionate,you ever considered a tilt ?
Nah, never considered anything formal. I am no good in meetings or at working the room. I am a pure opportunist but I've pulled a few polically motivated stunts over the years.
Go on...?
Someone is vying for the biggest clown in Oz politics...
Making Australia Great....what a tosser.
Been seeing his ads since Jan 1st, and thinking do people really have that short of a memory?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-22/clive-palmer-sets-up-kiwi-company...
Spending his creditors money to advertise himself.
Needs to be tied to a bull ant’s nest.
Still, is he any worse than the others really ? Our Prime Minister makes me feel ill.
I was part of a demonstration against the first Iraq war. We were demonstrating outside Parliament while the Senate was "debating" the bill to send troops. When we tried to enter the building the guard on the door started turning us back and letting others through. Being the smsrtarse loudmouth that I am I started yelling at him that he had no right to arbitrarily decide who could and couldn't go in ........ so very foolishly, he let us all in. We then disrupted the Senate by jumping up and yelling out until they forcibly ejected us. We were widely reviled in all media and no-one would publish our story which included a vehicle carrying Keating missing a demonstrators head by inches when she fell over while wrestling with a guard. I still believe that we were right, that the liberation of Kuwait was the worst foreign policy decision in many many decades. But I think my main achievement was a very significant contribution to increasing security at Parliament House.
Representative democracy in action !
Good work bb. The whole Kuwait/Iraq war mongering thing was a sick joke to which no one could laugh.
Blowin, you may be right even when the bar is set so low, but seeing such an ethically devoid rich fucker trying (again) to buy his way into the political system makes him just that little bit worse.
AS for Scomo, I hear ya.
Who would have thought!
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/ocean-cleanup-projec...
That’s unreal , BB.
How good is it that the world still contains something which can surprise you ?
Not the same deal , but in a similar vein , I’ve seen some interesting terrestrial rafts before . Particularly in Lake Kununurra in Northern Eastern WA . Islands which aren’t tethered to the ground and just drift around the lake with all manner of dense vegetation including large trees growing out a common root ball which must contain residual soil or else it’s just a natural hydro set up with the roots dangling .
Full of life with all kinds of creatures calling them home.
Most islands have been colonised by that means Blowin. They have found rafts offshore of the Amazon with half the ecosystem living on them.
It’d be nice to have a little forest of healthy Amazonian coca plants wash ashore at the local.
For science, of course.
........... or a political opinion we can agree on?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/23/panic-davos-inequa...
Good read.
Can’t really see the Davos crew feeling too imperiled yet though.
Hope you’re not thirsty !
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2019/01/sydneys-water-storages-plunging...
For God's sake, Blowin, why not think about running for a senior role with the Sustainable Australia Party - you've got the passion!
"Whatever your cause, it's a lost cause without population control."
Paul Ehrlich
As our major cities choke and the Murray Darling eutrophies our pollies smile and tell us it's all good . . . fuck that!!!
A senior role ?
Does that mean at meetings I’ll be serving both coffee AND donuts ?
Do it. You might even get more votes than Fraser Anning.
Wait, Blowie ISN'T Fraser Anning?!
Poh-Lin Hansun is always on the look-out for recruits.
Gotta pay to play though.
Like the Mormons, but without the chicks.
No bang for your buck, so to speak.
I’d fucking hate to be famous.
For any reason.
Hahahaha.
Even when you were a child TV advert star?
Don't start bullshitting again.
You're famous on here. Or is that infamous?
Sama sama.
Blowin, your political billboard for SAP couldn't be any worse than Clive's surely?
Blowin, pick your favourite candidate and volunteer to hand out How To Vote cards. I've done it a few times for both Labor and Greens. It is a real eye opener on the local culture. And you meet some cool people .... the ones who care enough to do something.
Predictable: Conflating bloody Hanson with SAP is tedious and false rhetoric.
Blowin, a mate of mine is looking to run for the Sustainable Australia Party in the New South Wales upper house. Things aren't 100% confirmed yet but if/when, feel free to contact him and help him out.
AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING KALEIDOSCOPIC JOIN-THE-DOTS/ADULT COLOURING BOOK EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT IN NARCISSISTIC/ONANISTIC BIG PICTURE PARASITIC FORUM BLEEDING.
LIKE POLITICAL LIFE, PARTICIPATION IS WELCOME, ENCOURAGED EVEN, BUT NOT NECESSARY.