Guest essay by Viv Forbes
To compete in today’s world we need to score well on resource availability, capital assets, energy costs, tax burden and workforce/management. It also helps to have secure property rights and a sound currency. Today’s Australia scores poorly on all counts.
In 1901, the year of Federation, Australia was the richest country in the world per capita.
The Pioneer generations, with freedom to explore and invest, had developed valuable mineral assets – gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, coal, tin and iron. And they had bred up large numbers of sheep and cattle on our native grasslands.
Energy was abundant – wood, horse power, kerosene, gas, hydro and coal powered electricity – we were among world leaders in cheap energy. Sydney had gas lights in its streets as far back as 1820.
The Pioneering innovators also invented game-changers such as the stump jump plough, the Ridley-Sunshine Harvester and froth flotation of minerals, and they developed better Australian versions of Leviathan coaches, Southern Cross windmills, Merino sheep, Shorthorn cattle, Federation wheat, Kelpies and Blue Heeler dogs.
The Builder generations who followed the pioneers invested heavily in productive capital assets like flour mills and wool sheds, mines and collieries, smelters and saw mills, power stations and electric trams, trans-continental railways and overland telegraph lines, orchards and plantations, stockyards and abattoirs, breweries and vineyards, dams and artesian bores, factories and universities, exploration and research, pipelines and harbours, railways and roads. There were no “Lock-the-Gate” signs.
Governments were decentralised with minimal taxes and red tape, creating new business was easy and union power was minimal and generally beneficial for workers.
But then the Termite generations took over, and for much of the last forty years taxes, handouts and green tape have been smothering new enterprise. We are sponging on the ageing assets created by past generations and building little to support future Australians. The monuments left by this generation are typified by casinos, sports arenas, wind-energy prayer wheels, sit-down money and debt.
The trendy war on carbon has already inflated our electricity costs – this will hasten the closure of more processing and manufacturing industries. Green tape is shutting-the-gate on new investments in exploration, grassland protection, dams, power stations, fishing, forestry and coastal development. Taxes are weakening existing industry and the savings that could build new industries are being wasted on bureaucracy, delays, legalism, subsidies, climate tomfoolery and green energy toys. Finally, union featherbedding is crippling any large survivors.
Australia’s future prosperity demands cheap energy, more investment in productive assets, reduced government costs, more productive labour and the freedom to explore and innovate.
We must change, or more jobs will follow Holden.
More at carbon-sense.com
“climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 5:37 pm
According to Forbes this would simply not be impossible because Australia is not competitive in all the ways that count, including in energy costs.”
Can you remind non-Australian readers what was one of the reasons Ford stated in it’s decision to withdraw from Australia?
We have not only sponged off of the capitol our ancestors built up, we have systematically looted the capitol our grandchildren have yet to create.
National debt anyone?
Chad Wozniak covers most of our government disorder.
We pretend we are operating with democratic political systems, but it seems clear to me we are living in Kleptocracies.
Who benefits from acts of government?
Another way to look at the bureaus and politicians, is as actors who begged for the opportunity to play the roles of a very old morality play.
Civilization requires rule of law, some order and equality before the law for all, simply put we need to be able to trust strangers, to be able to trade and cooperate to our mutual benefit.
Govt is a gong show/morality play to help maintain the illusion, that civilization works, hence the actors who contribute nothing productive to society except this illusion, must perform their roles as written. Punishment of the ruling actors must be dramatic.
Violent retribution for breaches of public trust are required, the moral authority of government must be enforced or civilization falls.
Otherwise ask yourself, What do the functionaries of government contribute?
They produce no food, no durable goods and take not make wealth.
Someone inquired about Australian extinctions. Below see links of extinctions of vertebrate fauna and vascular plants. You can safely assume suites of invertebrate and non-vascular plant extinctions to go with each higher order extinction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_animals_of_Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_flora_of_Australia
The true damage to Australian biodiversity has been within-species loss of genetic diversity.
Forbes ignores each and every one of these which leads inevitably to the view that he does not give a rat’s about extinctions.
I notice that anyone who disagrees with anything that the anointed ones pontificate on in the blogs is almost automatically called a troll. If you can’t argue the issues, please desist from calling me a troll. It is rude.
Patrick
[According to Forbes this would simply not be impossible because Australia is not competitive in all the ways that count, including in energy costs.”
Can you remind non-Australian readers what was one of the reasons Ford stated in it’s decision to withdraw from Australia?]
If this is supposed to be a defence of Forbes’ view, it simply does not work because it cheryypicks a tiny part of the economy and tries to extrapolate from that.
The point is that Australia’s niche strengths are mineral exports, agricultural exports, services exports and its location close to that part of the world which is driving tremendous economic growth.
jr
[We have not only sponged off of the capitol our ancestors built up, we have systematically looted the capitol our grandchildren have yet to create.
National debt anyone?]
In fiscal terms the Australian national government debt is small and manageable. But you are onto a reasonable approach when it comes to the environment: we have chewed up our forests, soils, river systems and biodiversity – all examples of eating the beneficence of future generations.
Here in Victoria we have over 700 years of brown coal available* that we used to develop our state as a manufacturing centre because of the availability of cheap energy. Now the price of electricity is going through the roof because of green madness, manufacturers are leaving in droves and our competitive edge has gone because brown coal is dirty and should not be used. During the second world war gasification from coal was used to power vehicles.
*easily accessible much more is available in a seam that runs from the Latrobe Valley through to Altona and Bacchus Marsh.
‘[Khwarizmi says:
December 26, 2013 at 9:52 pm
climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 5:37 pm
This article is truly bizarre. The thing is this: Australia has, over the past couple of decades, climbed UP the ladder of the world’s largest economies.
============
Norway has $ 71,870,000,000 in the bank, while Australia, in very distinct contrast, owes $57,140,000,000.]
You are demonstrating that you know nothing about economics. Australia’s economy is far larger than Norway’s economy. According to Forbes, this is impossible because Australia is uncompetitive. Forbes is spouting economic rubbish on a climate science blog.
I fail to see why Anthony allows this sort of specious rubbish to defile his science blog.
No argument from this Aussie, because Viv and I are part of that last generation that gave material help to national wealth through the discovery and development of new wealth that was sold to benefit citizens here.
Unfortunately, affluence seems to generate a mindset of easy come, easy go, so that Viv and I are sources of his comment “But then the Termite generations took over, and for much of the last forty years taxes, handouts and green tape have been smothering new enterprise. We are sponging on the ageing assets created by past generations and building little to support future Australians.”
We provided enough termite food to go around to the undeserving.
There are no mass extinctions here, either seen by observers or recorded officially.
There is no really detrimental change that is not an inherent pat of people living normally on the land and taking what is needed with a view to avoidance of permanent harm. There is a very inflated list of claims by ignorant greens who have alas, infiltrated the education system.
The golden rule of conduct is to do as you wish without imposing your beliefs upon others. This is what is now being broken. We have become a Nation of people telling other people what they cannot do.
A fine essay. You write the truth.
or more jobs will follow Holden.
Who or What or When was “Holden”?
Gerard
[Here in Victoria we have over 700 years of brown coal available* that we used to develop our state as a manufacturing centre because of the availability of cheap energy. Now the price of electricity is going through the roof because of green madness, manufacturers are leaving in droves and our competitive edge has gone because brown coal is dirty and should not be used. During the second world war gasification from coal was used to power vehicles.
*easily accessible much more is available in a seam that runs from the Latrobe Valley through to Altona and Bacchus Marsh.]
You are in luck and you should be very happy.
The Abbott Government has sent clear indications that it was lying repeatedly when it said that it would spend $3 billion of taxpayers’ money achieving the 5% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2020.
That said, the little they will do, apart from destroying one of the few success stories in Australian technical innovation (in renewable energy) will be to destroy the brown coal generators in the Latrobe Valley.
Incidentally, you show almost no knowledge about where the real increases in energy prices have come from. I suggest in particular that you investigate the prices rises consequent to gold-plating the transmission infrastructure. But I bet you are not interested in knowing what is really going on.
The test will be simple: will all price rises subsequent to the introduction of carbon tax disappear when the carbon tax disappears. According to your theory they will.
I bet they will not.
SE
[A fine essay. You write the truth.
or more jobs will follow Holden.
Who or What or When was “Holden”?]
Holden was the local marque for locally-built cars by General Motors. Following a rant in parliament by our Treasurer, Holden decided to pull the plug on car manufacturing in Australia.
Gail Combs says:
December 26, 2013 at 5:31 pm
That was exactly my first reaction when I started reading Viv’s post. The term “parasites” states it more baldly, succinctly and directly.
[Watts
“climateace” can’t really help himself, he’s just another govwonk in Canberra that likely never had to actually produce anything of substance. Other than reports I doubt he has anything tangible.]
It is interesting that when people cannot argue the issues, the attack the person. It does not really matter whether I have produced anything of substance or not.
Unlike metereologists, for example, I have produced concrete stuff. At one stage in my life, I grew food that people ate. It was quite satisfying if very hard physical work.
But I didn’t like being the victim of farmgate prices contrived predatory international food corporations so I got out of there. I still, for old time’s sake, produce some beef.
Climateace you are what we politely call a WANKER. Get over it. You obviously live in a Canberra bubble where you read your own crap and believe it. The only extinction which we would all enjoy is Canberra. Hang on Canberra is broke………… 🙂
climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 10:31 pm
The point is that Australia’s niche strengths are mineral exports, agricultural exports, services exports and its location close to that part of the world which is driving tremendous economic growth.”
Services? What services? The “service” industry in Australia, like minerals, is being exported and that export industry is subsidised by the taxpayer. So too minerals. Australia no longer adds value to its natural resources. We simply, as we always have done, dig the stuff out of the ground, and ship it off somewhere else (China). I know for fact China is looking to extract resources from Africa because it simply is too expensive to source raw materials from Australia. Australia has always had a boom-bust economy solely based on mining.
Geoff Sherrington stays
[We are sponging on the ageing assets created by past generations and building little to support future Australians.”]
As we would say in the bush, bullsh*t.
Australia has had over the past decade one of the greatest investment-led booms in its history – in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars. That investment has created a vast new mining and fossil fuel industry. Australia has become an economic powerhouse in terms of its exports of coal, iron and natural gas. All this has, in a remarkably short time, created a shift-change in our economic history.
But you grinches fail to see the wood for the trees.
“climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 10:53 pm
At one stage in my life, I grew food that people ate. It was quite satisfying if very hard physical work.”
Australian farmers; largest group of middle class welfare beneficiaries.
Patrick
If you are right, the Australian economy would not have grown in size for something like 26 successive quarters – an amazing run for any economy at any time in any place. Npr would Australia be moving up the league of large economies.
Australia has done both. You are ignoring the facts.
Patrick
[Australian farmers; largest group of middle class welfare beneficiaries.]
Someone ought to do something to re-design the welfare. Most farmers are heavily in debt and working for the banks.
SteveB
[Climateace you are what we politely call a WANKER. Get over it. You obviously live in a Canberra bubble where you read your own crap and believe it. The only extinction which we would all enjoy is Canberra. Hang on Canberra is broke………… :)]
Personal abuse reflects on you, unfortunately. I imagine that when Anthony catches up with it, he will delete it as being completely against the moderation rules.
“climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 10:44 pm”
It was not rant in Parliament, it as a press release where he, quite rightly so, told GM to take a hike when they came begging for a taxpayer handout for an industry that makes cars no-one wants to buy.
[Mariss Freimanis says:
December 26, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Climate ace is a sad reminder of what happens if the younger generations aren’t taught where and how the comforts of their lives are produced. what we get is a generation of parasites who vigorously consume and at the same time work to destroy the infrastructure that keeps them comfortable.]
Here is someone else making stuff up about me. I am not a younger generation. I worked very, very hard as a child on the farm and as a young man as a farm labourer. I know exactly where milk and potatoes come from.
I find it disturbing that you simply rub out 12-13 million workforce in Australia as ‘parasites’. You must be assuming, since most of them by far are working in the private sector, that their bosses are stupid – which they are not, of course.
“climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 10:42 pm
The Abbott Government has sent clear indications that it was lying repeatedly when it said that it would spend $3 billion of taxpayers’ money achieving the 5% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2020.”
WOW! Politicians telling porkies BEFORE an election and then BACK-FLIPPING afterwards? Surely you jest? BTW, the LNP direct action plan is a plan that has not been implemented. So the AU$3bil you keep moaning about as having been spent hasn’t been spent and won’t be spent on reducing Australian emissions of CO2 by 5% (5% of ~1.5% of ~3% of 400ppm/v – laughable).
If Australia, and you, are serisous about “emission reductions” then you would halt, immediately, all exports of minerals in particular coal.
Patrick
How do you reconcile that we are uncompetitive in every single way (see Forbes above) and have been growing for something like 26 quarters, and have been climbing up the international league in terms of size of our economy?