Beoz

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/02/16/australia-has--third-world-population-growth-.html

Time for medium speed rail up and down the east coast.

Amazulu

Carr is an Australia-hating, socialist moron

Cut skilled migration but increase intake of refugees - that's a great way to make us 3rd world Bob

Wanker

GarryP

Can't even get a rail line from the airport to the CBD, what chance someone would/could build a high speed, long distance, line?

And I have to agree that putting crimp on population growth might be a good move (though for different reasons from Carr).

We know the predictions are for 50% unemployment by 2050 due to automation. We know that the jobs that will remain will have a particular shape and structure. It's certainly not too early now to focus on not allowing immigration on those we expect to be unemployed in short order.

The discontinuity is that in the past higher population numbers meant higher GDP. That's probably not true going forward. And even if wrong, its a hell of a lot easier to spike the population numbers later than deal with large numbers of structural unemployable.

Beoz

We know that the jobs created by automation will far outstrip jobs lost by automation.

Its already happened

But I do like your defeated approach. Just because left wing, you know that globally dying side of politics, has failed to build infrastructure, doesn't mean the rest will.

Come to NSW. Sorting Sydney out first then the rest will follow

Victoria is a lost cause, unless of course you want another stadium to please the union members

paulry

Yep

DC10

Interesting as I have heard recently that incoming migrant numbers have dropped SUBSTANTIALLY as the economy has cooled. Anecdotally you can even see it on this forum, and the NZ media is full of stories about the numbers coming home.

I actually have a little chuckle when they talk about Melbourne's (or whereever's) population rising to X million in X years - entirely predicated on a once in a lifetime mining boom which is well and truly over.

Beoz

Yeah this does suprise me too. That said, I'd say the growth is baby boom - not immigration. Mortality being another

Swerv-o

Bob Carr is the reason that Sydney is in the mess that it is - Pretty much his entire premiership was spent not investing in infrastructure or services because he fervently believed that the way to slow Sydney growth was simply to stop people coming here.

Absolutely bonkers - a large(ish) city like Sydney needs to grow, and needs a solid plan to allow it to happen - not burying heads in sand and hoping for the best.


S

Beoz

Bob Carr messed the place up. He's an embarrassment.

Beoz

It doesn't take much to see where people want to live.

High speed trains between cities doesn't make sense either when you have aeroplanes.

What Australia needs is more medium speed trains between built up areas. 150 km/h trains. None of this 80 km/h rubbish.

Brisbane to the Gold Coast, Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast. Sydney to Newcastle, Sydney to Wollongong, Melbourne to Geelong, Melbourne to ..... ah ... oh ... forget it.

People generally want to live by the coast in easy access to major met areas.

Swerv-o

I've been banging on about this for years. A medium/high speed train between Newcastle/Sydney and Wollongong/Sydney would turn those towns into commuter towns, and take the pressure off of the Sydney basin, while also opening up affordable housing for people working in Sydney. It's an absolute no brainer in my opinion.

As you say, it doesn't need to be 200 mph bullet trains, but making it a 30-45 minute commute to Central or Town Hall would be exactly what is needed.

The current Newcastle train is frankly as embarrassing as Carr. I believe there are figures that demonstrate that it was actually quicker when the trains were steam.


S

Beoz

3 hours in a train, 1 and a half hours in a car(r). Yep embarrassment.

DC10

.... how about Ballarat and Bendigo? Just any train would be appreciated by a lot of people there at the moment (in-joke for Victorians)

Better still would be more opportunities in these secondary cities so that people can live and work locally

GarryP

Sigh.

Now I know you are trolling, that's just a collection of too silly things to be your true thoughts. Hammering down on each stupidity in turn.

As you know full well, we *know* nothing of the sort, and any sensible commentator on the issue does NOT expect jobs to be created to replace those automated. Quite the reverse.

The only political part of the spectrum to *build* infrastructure is that which is 'not right wing'. As we've covered before, all right wing and far right wing governments do is cut and destroy. They are just incapable of positive contribution.

Oh, and you know I'm not left wing.

Oh, and the left wing is seeing a resurgence globally, off the back of the failure of the far right and their lack of sane plan for how the future world is shaping up (including the above).

Well, Sydney is being shown as an example of what NOT to do, with the destruction being wrought by incompetence on the liberal party side actively hurting it - all whilst Melbourne is booming.

Beoz

Sure, but would the really help the population growth situation? Is there really a high demand for commuting between the 2 places? If there is high demand is a car or bus service just as quick?

What about Bendigo or Ballarat into Melbourne? I notice it takes an hour and a half from Ballarat to Melbourne in a car. 120 km's. A 150km/h train with a few stops would bring that down to 45 mins. Easy commute.