Where in the hell is Australia heading?

[sptrawler]

This is exactly what has been happening for a very very very very very long time now (emphasis on the very). It has produced no results. It is time to drag the industry kicking and screaming, as there really is negative time left for action.

Oh yeh, don't make me laugh, they certainly brought Cool and Cosy and several other insulation companies kicking and screaming. Yes kicking and screaming into administration.
They also did a marvelous job of building school canteens, I think not.
Yet you expect me to believe these buffoons who couldn't run a garage sale are going to change the way Australia produces energy, lead the world with new technology.
What an absolute load of CR*P.
Tell me something this government has succeeded in doing well or even thought out well. Actually if you do come up with something, let them know, they could use it to turn around public opinion.
Do you come up with this rubish while sitting under a pyramid in the zen position incense or something else burning in the backgound. LOL

 

[sails]

Here's a $600,000 tuckshop. Not much bigger than a cubby house.

Full story here from SMH: $600,000 school tuckshops are 'unusable'

 

[sptrawler]

Not to worry sails, the government could use that building to throw a party for all its supporters.LOL

 

[joea]

Hi.
Glen Stevens from the RBA thinks the Australian people are ready to spend again.
Well I am only a "dumb dick" from Nth. Qld. and I believe the Australian people will spend again when the rate is lowered.
The rates should be about 0.5% lower than where they are.
Stevens, Gillard and Swan have been on the "happy weed " too long.

Once again the RBA has got it wrong.
Dump Steven and install Costello and we may have a shot at surrival.
If not , then we are heading for a cliff with a big drop.
joea

 

[startrader]

Hi.
Glen Stevens from the RBA thinks the Australian people are ready to spend again.
Well I am only a "dumb dick" from Nth. Qld. and I believe the Australian people will spend again when the rate is lowered.
The rates should be about 0.5% lower than where they are.
Stevens, Gillard and Swan have been on the "happy weed " too long.

Once again the RBA has got it wrong.
Dump Steven and install Costello and we may have a shot at surrival.
If not , then we are heading for a cliff with a big drop.
joea

Yes, and isn't it a comforting thought to think that he gets paid $1 million per annum to come up with those interest rates. How many hours a week would it take him to ponder what the interest rates should be? There is only so much research you can do on this and I think it is quite wrong that he is being paid this amount of money.

 

[Ruby]

.............. because they do come at a price, a very high cost of dealing with a deteriorating climate.

Where do you get the idea that we have a deteriorating climate?

. It is time to drag the industry kicking and screaming, as there really is negative time left for action.

With each post you make you show your exteme naivety!

(My bolds)

 

[Julia]

H
The rates should be about 0.5% lower than where they are.

Not as far as I'm concerned.
I'm really tired of always seeing the emphasis with interest rates being placed on how they affect borrowers. A bit of understanding for the interests of those who have worked hard enough to save and be depositors has been quite pleasant for a damn change.

And Startrader, Mr Stevens is being paid for somewhat more than simply the number of hours he spends thinking about where interest rates should be. Perhaps, however, you could email him with your recommendations.

 

[sails]

Where do you get the idea that we have a deteriorating climate?...

Because he is here on a mission as part of the campaign to "educate" the stupid Aussies into accepting climate change /AGW - or whatever he wants to call the warming invention? (see below...)

Of course, he won't admit it. There are a few of them around - thankfullly looks like only one assigned to ASF.... Seems they have nothing else to do all day except post AGW propaganda.

 

[sptrawler]

I reckon your right on the money there sails, him and nbnmyths.LOL

 

[startrader]

Not as far as I'm concerned.
I'm really tired of always seeing the emphasis with interest rates being placed on how they affect borrowers. A bit of understanding for the interests of those who have worked hard enough to save and be depositors has been quite pleasant for a damn change.

And Startrader, Mr Stevens is being paid for somewhat more than simply the number of hours he spends thinking about where interest rates should be. Perhaps, however, you could email him with your recommendations.

I am well aware of what Mr Stephens is being paid for and I have no recommendatioins for Mr Stephen, so won't be emailing him thank you. In my opinion the Reserve Board will be more inclined to lower than raise the interest rate over the next year when they take all relevant factors into account and it has nothing to do with what I WANT them to do. FYI it would suit me better if the rates were higher or remain the same but that has nothing to do with my point - which was that Stephens is grossly overpaid for what he does (over twice what his US and UK counterparts are paid) and certainly he doesn't get it right all the time.

So get down off your high horse as I also don't think joea's statement was just a mindless, selfish rant.

 

[noco]

Where the hell are we heading? After reading the attached link and watching Christine Milne on Qand A Monday ABC, we are heading into dangerous waters and we should turn the ship around.

It is not the first timed I have mentioned how socilaist left idiology, call it communism if you like, do not believe in freedom of speech and their desire to control the media. They will do anything to force their idiology onto people especially the naive. The word 'PUNISHMENT' was mentioned by the innocent face of Chistine Milne. Please look behind her.

To those who allowed these Green 'RATBAGS' into parliament, SHAME ON YOU. YOU WILL RUE THE DAY.


http://blogs.news.com.au/couriermai...reens_plan_to_silence_the_press/#commentsmore

 

[wayneL]

Where the hell are we heading? After reading the attached link and watching Christine Milne on Qand A Monday ABC, we are heading into dangerous waters and we should turn the ship around.

It is not the first timed I have mentioned how socilaist left idiology, call it communism if you like, do not believe in freedom of speech and their desire to control the media. They will do anything to force their idiology onto people especially the naive. The word 'PUNISHMENT' was mentioned by the innocent face of Chistine Milne. Please look behind her.

To those who allowed these Green 'RATBAGS' into parliament, SHAME ON YOU. YOU WILL RUE THE DAY.


http://blogs.news.com.au/couriermai...reens_plan_to_silence_the_press/#commentsmore

It seems that it has been so long since our fathers and grandfathers put their lives on the line for the sake of liberty that we have forgotten its significance... and how many of them paid the ultimate price for it.

 

[noco]

It seems that it has been so long since our fathers and grandfathers put their lives on the line for the sake of liberty that we have forgotten its significance... and how many of them paid the ultimate price for it.

wayne, too true, too very true.

As a Great Grand Father, I have been through this RAT BAG stuff before. The young and the naive will have to experience it for themselves with the hope they wake up before it is too late.

People power and commonsense will prevail and we will get through it in time. Thank God for our West Minster system. If we were a republic BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID.

 

[Logique]

It seems that it has been so long since our fathers and grandfathers put their lives on the line for the sake of liberty that we have forgotten its significance... and how many of them paid the ultimate price for it.

So true Wayne, is this the Australia fought for by the Anzacs. Is this the Australian Labor Party of Curtin and Chifley. Ever dimmer grows the Light on the Hill.

 

[joea]

Not as far as I'm concerned.
I'm really tired of always seeing the emphasis with interest rates being placed on how they affect borrowers. A bit of understanding for the interests of those who have worked hard enough to save and be depositors has been quite pleasant for a damn change.

And Startrader, Mr Stevens is being paid for somewhat more than simply the number of hours he spends thinking about where interest rates should be. Perhaps, however, you could email him with your recommendations.

Julia
Don't you think the retailers would appreciate a bit of spending. Jobs are important.
The money has to come from somewhere.
Gillard and Swan have the "wind up " the Australian people because the people know they are incompetent. We do not know what crazy scheme they will think up next.

As for those people who have worked hard, they are now watching their super and investments decline.

We need to jump start our economy.
1 Lower interest rates.
2 Devalue our dollar slightly.

Do not worry about emailing Stevens, he stuffed up when Labor took over and he raised the rates.
email Costello and get his opinion. At least it will be the truth.
joea

 

[Gringotts Bank]

And now for something a bit different, as to where Australia is headed.

Just then whilst watching tv, Colliers Real Estate advertised the release of new high rise apartments in inner Melbourne.... completely in chinese. Yep, the whole ad was in chinese. There goes the neighbourhood.

 

[moXJO]

How big of a problem are these wind generators popping up all over farmlands? Also read that some farmers stopped herding cattle to instead use their farmland to become a carbon sink (cows farting is a no no). So using prime farmland for green dreams has become more important than food production?
I heard Labor will next introduce 'stop breathing for the planet hour'

 

[Smurf1976]

These are all good points, but I would like to ask how you would propose this be done? Green energy costs more than coal. The way around this is to price coal emissions - because they do come at a price, a very high cost of dealing with a deteriorating climate.

Whether you price emissions through a market ETS or force industry to use green energy, it will not be as cheap as coal, so the end effect is the same as it is now.

How exactly would you suggest we circumvent this?

Fundamentally it is about productivity of energy supply and, since virtually all activity uses energy, productivity of the overall economy.

Fossil fuels (and nuclear, hydro etc) are essentially a means of leverage. Man puts x amount of effort in to extract the energy, and we get vastly more back than we put in.

An easy way to demonstrate this was the old exercise bike and treadmill that the Hydro (Tas) used to have as part of public education exhibits etc. If you pedal as hard as you can possibly manage then with a bit of luck you'll generate all of 200 Watts and it's much the same running on the treadmill. And of course you will quickly become exhausted doing this.

Now, you'd need to sprint for a good 10 hours to heat the water for a hot shower. And you'd need to sprint for 15 hours non-stop to generate the equivalent power we get from just one litre of diesel.

So fossil fuels are a means of leverage. We put very little in, in order to get a lot out. Hence the vast majority are not employed in any form of energy extraction industry and man is able to do things (eg flight) that could not possibly be powered by muscles.

The problem with "more expensive" sources is that fundamentally, they are "less productive". We have to put more effort in per unit of energy produced. Now think about that... If we are going to put a lot more in so as to get the same out, then all of a sudden we're going to have an awful lot of people employed in the electricity generation industry and that is why it becomes expensive.

It's like any industry. If you switch to less productive means of doing things then you need to either employ more people to do the same work, or you do less work with the same people, or you do some combination of the above.

If we take it as given that coal is generally the cheapest (most productive) means of generating electricity in Australia, then any decision to cease using it is basically a decision to drop the overall productivity of the economy. Given that we don't have unlimited labour resources to offset the productivity drop, that ultimately means we end up with less overall economic wealth than we would otherwise have.

Technically, yes we could switch to a predominantly renewable energy supply in SE Australia (Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic, Tas, SA) I have little doubt about that. But the problem being faced nationally is probably best explained by these figures from Tas (where this energy debate is decades old...).

Electrolytic smelting = 45%
Paper manufacturing = 7%
Other heavy industry = 8%
Space heating = 12%
Water heating = 8%
General use electricity (light industrial, commercial and residential) = 20%

Of all of that, only the last 20% is a reasonably "safe" electrical load. The 60% consumed by heavy industry exists in Tas only due to electricity being at a competitive price. And the 20% used for water or space heating is an electrical load only whilst electricity remains competitive with other fuels (noting that historically electricity had very little of the space heating market).

If a new power source can not supply electricity at a price that is viable for smelting then there is simply no point in building it. If we can't expand or maintain supply at that price, then the smelters will ultimately be out of business. Now, those smelters and mills just happen to account for well over half the state's exports...

The situation isn't as severe nationally but the same principle applies. There is simply no point in building any new source of supply with a production cost above the lowest value use of electricity - market supply and demand 101 there.

 

[ghotib]

How big of a problem are these wind generators popping up all over farmlands? Also read that some farmers stopped herding cattle to instead use their farmland to become a carbon sink (cows farting is a no no). So using prime farmland for green dreams has become more important than food production?
I heard Labor will next introduce 'stop breathing for the planet hour'

If wind farms are a problem, how much greater is the problem of coal seam gas wells popping up all over farmlands? And city water catchments? And even in suburbs? Cattle have no problems with wind farms, but they sure do have problems with contaminated water.

 

[Julia]

Julia
Don't you think the retailers would appreciate a bit of spending. Jobs are important.
The money has to come from somewhere.

Well, for a start retailers could consider providing some actual service. For too long they have taken for granted that sales will be ever increasing just because people spent without consideration and felt affluent.

They now do not feel affluent at all, but are feeling the pinch from ever increasing bills for electricity, rates, water, rego, food, everything really. They also know that these increases will seem like chickenfeed when they're faced with the increases across the board from the carbon tax.

Further, most people are aware of the global financial mess, and quite reasonably consider a GFC MK II could be on the way.

So they are fearful and are saving to provide a bulwark against this future uncertainty imo.
I don't think for a second this would change if the RB were to drop rates slightly. Any increase in household finances would just go into that savings account.

Consider, too, the increase in online shopping: and why not? You don't even have to leave home, the prices are way cheaper, and you don't have to trawl through some overpriced store hoping some slack assistant will actually deign to provide some help.

And when you're feeling unhappy about Mr Stevens earning $1M, how about considering this against the backdrop that the four CEOs of our major retail banks earn $44 MILLION between them. Do you really think Mr Stevens' responsibilities are not at least equivalent to those of the CEO of a mere retail bank???

Further, if you look at Mr Stevens $1 million p.a. against the billions the government has wasted, I'd say the RB governor is providing pretty good value for money.

You disagree with what he is doing. Perhaps that's why he's in the job and you're not.

Gillard and Swan have the "wind up " the Australian people because the people know they are incompetent. We do not know what crazy scheme they will think up next.

So true. I shudder to think what else may be exercising their lurid imaginations.

As for those people who have worked hard, they are now watching their super and investments decline.

Oh dear. Well, perhaps they could take a bit of responsibility for becoming financially literate and looking after their super and investments so that they do not decline.
Mine haven't, and neither have those of thousands of people. It's simply about managing what you have, as opposed to sitting there passively watching your net worth diminish.