declining standard of living in Australia

Yes, plenty of open space and abandoned houses, out where there are no jobs.
It's not like I didn't mention that in the opening post.

Would your solution then be to place a ban on all migrants from living in the high cost cities? Let them come to Australia, they just can't live within 150km of Melbourne, Sydney, any big city in Australia with over 100,000 people?

That might help ease up the pressure on the cost of real estate in these cities.

 

Already being addressed

457 visas are easier to get in rural areas

 

Most millennials would rather be renters. They invest instead in stock market or lifestyle

http://www.businessinsider.com/mill...-are-more-likely-to-live-with-their-parents-5

Anyhow the real estate market is about to crash here

I personally am more worried about the Chinese who seem happy to buy up large areas of other countries

 

Oh please, you'd "rather be" a renter too if housing prices were what they are relative your typical income as a millennial. It's not very affordable in their budget.

People are laying a lot of blame on the Chinese, but Chinese are only making up about 6% of the buyers in Sydney. So it is making things a bit worse, but it can't be the primary explanation for what's happening.

 

@Bowerbird - fyi.

Bravo! The quote, not Bowerbird.

 

After 26 consecutive years of economic growth most Australians either believe they have not benefited or don’t know if they have gained, according to a new poll.

The national poll of almost 3,000 people for the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia is evidence of what it calls an “economic disconnect”, with perceived winners including large corporations and executives.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ns-dont-feel-gains-of-26-years-of-growth-poll

Due to the trick pulled on us by the rulers our economy is stagnating because our wages have stagnated. Not surprising that as wages haven't kept up with the cost of living (the real one, not the CPI) that our economy is in the doldrums. The elites have done well, the rest of us have not done well at all.

 

NEW houses? So they're buying high priced older houses, demolishing them, and building new? That's a very expensive enterprise!

But I disagree that kids can't get onto property ladder. That will only happen if they have a sense of entitlement in regards to where they live. Or if they refuse to stay at home with parents long enough to save a their 10%. Basically, only if they're stupid

 

The primary explanation is that some kids think they can afford areas their parents could afford, but fail to adjust their expectations to a 500% increase in prices. Doesn't matter what the reasons for that increase are (Chinese, whatever), if we fail to accommodate the increases and adjust our lives accordingly, we'll end up life-renting a run down dump in some shiity city fringe area - like a perpetual 19 year old.

 

Those of us who've been investing in property over the past 20 years have done very well.

 

Not as much you'd think. The cost of new construction (as expensive as it is) is actually still less expensive than the property space underneath, in many of these high-priced areas.

And that's why we're going to see many areas devoid of young families. The younger generation is moving away to other areas in a great exodus, and most of the ones who do stay can't afford to have children or are too busy working to have families.

 

I made cursory enquiries about building recently, and the cost of the BUILD was $600k, and the architects fee was a hefty percentage of that. Add in the cost of demo, and the purchase price of the property (in any built up area around Sydney or Melbourne) will be over $1mil. That's easily $2m out the gate. Not sure how 20-somethings are doing that!

Meantime, young families don't belong in inner cities, so that's probably a good thing.

 

The number of Aust students learning a second language has fallen by an amazing 50% in ten years.
The number of students doing science fell the same amount over ten years (c 2006-2016)
If USA is any guide then entrepreneurship is falling, same with patents and even Nobel Prizes.
I observed US libraries - 80% of the students were Asian, 20% white and 0% Afro American.
We are seeing the rise of Asia and decline of the West.
This is nothing to do with Labor or Liberal. This is attitude, OUR attitude.

 

That is so true, something I have been saying for years ... BUT, OUR is politicians if we are talking to them. They too have "our" attitudes, but they are supposed to be leaders, to see what is happening and to lead us out of it. We need some true visionaries.

 

Or Heroes. Our politicians are mostly venal, cowardly weasels.

 

And how then do you describe our ELECTORATE?

I recall when Australia had the Woomera technology. I think "we" were the third nation to launch a rocket.
This was scrapped by the Menzies Govt. It turns out the Menzies actually wanted his country to participate
in the burgeoning space industry (now about 350 billion dollars) but Australians were almost completely
united in not wanting to "waste money on space."
And now in 2018, we finally "get it."
If YOU saw the value of space what would YOU have done?

 

They were the "good" old days. Gone. No use lamenting.
I agree somewhat- the electorate is happy to settle for second best.
Just as working people have abandoned unions. Now we are at the mercy of casualisation of the workforce and degraded working conditions.

 

Okay. So in the Menzie analogy I suppose you would have abandoned the nascent Woomera technology
and spent those funds upon roads, schools and hospitals? Because if you DIDN'T then you would not have
a seat in Parliament anymore? That's how politicians are "cowardly weasels" - they do what Australians want
them to do. I put it to you that our political system is working just fine.

 

Woomera was used primarily by the British. That was in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. Australian scientists did research there and among other things invented the Jindvik. The US used it in the 1970s, they had a fairly large USAF contingent at Nurrungar, not far from town. I worked in Woomera at that time and got to know a few USAF personnel, great blokes. The European space organisation ELDO also used it for launches. Australia wasn't really involved in going into space at all, we offered a damn fine place for research and military ops though.

 

That's true. But my understanding was that this would have belonged to us after the research was over.
I guess we had to put up the money - and didn't.
In ten years I suggest the world's space economy will be one trillion dollars a year. I think Australia has snagged about 0.3% of that. But again, this isn't down to lazy politicians, it's down to lazy Australians. Politicians just do what they are supposed to do - represent their electorates.

 

Yeah right, represent their donators more like it. So all the millions spent on lobbyists is a waste of money?
All those companies whose sole business is to lobby politicians on behalf of the rich and super-rich. All those businesses and people who donate millions to both parties to buy an ear are wasting their money.

Come on, be reasonable, we have very little say.

 

Greenpeace and the World Wildlife fund lobby too.
So too do the scouts.
So too can you.
That's what lobbying is about.
But you can put a trillion into a campaign and find some local union leader,
activist or left wing mayor now run your country. That's democracy too. And
we should love it because no-one has demonstrated a better system.

 

Been doing it

Quietly educating people about all the research that came from NASA

 

Well I would much rather a professional politician running my country, but a left or right wing mayor or an activist would be better than a business man. Especially a multi millionaire banker .

 

It amazes me how many people say that the problem is that what we have running the country are politicians. A lot say we should have businessmen, others say union leaders, no one wants politicians. The problem is that there are too many that are not politicians, oh thay think they are .

When I have an operation I want a doctor, when I want government policies I want a politician, but I want a good doctor and a good politicians ,the later is harder to find.

 

Yes, maybe we could get activists to run our large corporations.
They could change the emphasis from profits to social agendas.
You would soon change your large corporations into small corporations.
And buy your goods and services from foreign corporations (think China)

Business is best left to business people, causes left to activists.