#article : Heading in the right population direction

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Howie
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#article : Heading in the right population direction

#1 Post by Howie » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:27 am

Interesting article on population growth in SA.

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Source : http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/specia ... om=&ucat=2&

Heading in the right population direction
We may be able to see some weak rays of light starting to penetrate one of South Australia’s darkest tunnels. The issue is the state’s dwindling population, which, without some fairly drastic intervention, will begin to go backwards from around 2030. It’s perhaps torturing the metaphor but if we are to have such a train wreck – and it will be that – it would be better that we are at least heading in the right direction rather than slipping back along the track just waiting for the express trains that are the other states to roar right over the top of us.

The reasons for encouragement? Like an alcoholic, we can only make progress when we admit we have a problem. We are starting to recognise the fact. Media references are beginning to flow, particularly now the election has begun, and Business SA has made a further contribution by sticking to its guns. It fired some of the first rounds in 2004 when, just prior to the last state election, it released a policy document that called for a South Australian population base of two million by 2013.

Last week, it again called on the political contenders for the government benches post-March 18 to declare their positions on population from their opposing corners by issuing its Blueprint for SA’s future – another weighty tome that contains 72 recommendations, which has been “welcomedâ€

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#2 Post by Will » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:28 pm

I see the number one issue facing the state in terms of population growth is the ingrained negative mentallity of young people.

I think it is essential that the state targets kids in primary school with the SA Great message. There should be an information campaign to teach kids the truth about this state.

Because at the moment, and I think you have all seen this, we have 13, 14 year old kids going around saying Adelaide is a boring hole, and that they want to leave. What surprises me is how kids so young can make such comments. I blame the parents. They instill in their children a hate for this state, and they preach doom and gloom. Many people are stuck in the past, and once they instill a hatred for Adelaide in their children the cycle will continue.

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#3 Post by bdm » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:27 pm

People lack vision and faith in this city.

Oh, and there's the problem of a selfish generation with no interest in families or children.

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#4 Post by AG » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:30 pm

While I was in Hong Kong I noticed that some schools that I visited had programs specially designed to teach children not only about Hong Kong, but promoting it to others on the streets. The results aren't surprising, as basically every second local I bumped into had virtually given me an endless list of places worth seeing.

It's normal these days that in the majority of developed countries that the birth rate continues to decline. You can't exactly force people to have children. One of the solutions that seems to go straight over the top of everyone's heads to increase the population is to increase our immigration intake from overseas. It isn't just South Australia, it's the whole of Australia that needs it. Australia's population is beginning to age, and SA is the place in which this is occurring the quickest.

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#5 Post by starman » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:42 am

I dont mean to sound too extremist, but what about introducing a birth policy like China, except in the reverse.

Have one for your husband, have one for your wife and have one for SA.
3 kids to a family - with goverment support to keep them in SA and a strong influenece to target them to the jobs they need for SA.
Should get 2 mil by 2030 if you introduce that now.

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#6 Post by Howie » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:44 am

We won't get the levels of population we want through birthing alone. Migration is where it's at. There are plenty of cashed up non-residents already living here (whether on visas, visiting shortterm) .. we could start by offering them citizenship.

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#7 Post by starman » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:47 am

So how do you think its possible for SA to get half the nations annual migration intake (say 125,000) a year... does the Goverment force people where to live? or do they get a choice?

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#8 Post by Al » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:14 pm

bdm wrote:Oh, and there's the problem of a selfish generation with no interest in families or children.
I only partly agree with you on this. The big issue is affordability of children and big families. With big mortgages and ever increasing cost of electricity, phones, cars and food, not to mention childcare, people are generally finding that the additional cost of raising children can be difficult. For every child you have, raising them to their teenage years can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

More and more people are simply deciding to wait until they've paid off a decent wack off the house or car, etc before thinking about kids. The problem with this idea though is that when they are ready to commit, they could be pushing 40 and when they have kids, it's a total change of lifestyle. This scenario scares people off alltogether and I know of a few couples who simply decided not to have kids because it would impose on their way of life - hence the 'selfish' argument.

The Government's baby bonus was a half-hearted attempt to increase the birthrate but all it really did was increase the birthrate of plasma tvs and holidays. What would've been better would be putting that money into child care or providing free nappies or something along those lines.

My personal opinion, the short to medium term solution is increased immigration - not a flood but a gradual increase as more people arriving can create a greater critical mass for economic activity which then supports more immigrants. The problem is how to ensure the immigrants stay in SA once they're here instead of moving interstate. I would guess it would involve a competitive jobs market and affordable living standards as well as decent entertainment.

Just my 2.2c.

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#9 Post by Al » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:18 pm

starman wrote:So how do you think its possible for SA to get half the nations annual migration intake (say 125,000) a year... does the Goverment force people where to live? or do they get a choice?
I thought the Feds did have a points scheme in place. If someone wanted to migrate to Australia, they would need a certain number of points (eg, character, skills, notoriety, etc) and if they said they wanted to live in Adelaide, they would get more points than if they said if they planned to stay in Sydanee. I'm not sure how long that initial commitment to stay in a place has to be though. I'm guessing a few years until they received their citizenship or PR.

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#10 Post by AG » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:14 pm

Introducing a policy that forces parents to have 3 children will never work because of the economic and social problems that it would create. I can't see how it would benefit any individuals, and if any government announced plans like that they would be commiting political suicide. The cost of raising a child in modern times is significantly more than it was 50 years ago. Why do we need to increase the world population even more when there are dozens of other countries struggling to keep up with their growing populations? Immigration is a good solution, as not only does it help Australia but also takes the growing load off of other developing countries.

China's one child policy has some extreme downsides as well. In Chinese culture, men are usually ranked higher in status than women. So every family wants a boy. There's millions of incidents in China every year where girls have been abandoned, drowned or left to die because of the one child policy. The gender balance is completely unequal as well, and this can be seen in Shanghai where the ratio of males to females is almost 3:2.

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#11 Post by starman » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:45 pm

Whoa thats a lot of gay people then. Shanghai: World's Gayest City. Thats so sad though, Chinese men being 'forced' into becoming gay because theres not enough women.

They'd be lucky in Australia where the ratios 102 chicks for every 100 guys.

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#12 Post by AG » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:30 pm

Shanghai men being mostly gay? Where'd you pull that from?

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#13 Post by Al » Sun Mar 19, 2006 5:24 pm

Actually I think India may need to look at something like the one child policy too if it continues to grow like it has been. It is said that the world cannot afford a China with an American (USA) lifestyle, let alone a China and an India with the same expectations.

The problem with population is that generally poorly educated social groups tend to have more children than people who are more educated. It's the same all over the world and I think the reason is that more children, more helpers around the house. Richer nations tend to have less children because the populace tend to live a relatively easy life.

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#14 Post by Al » Sun Mar 19, 2006 5:26 pm

starman wrote:Whoa thats a lot of gay people then. Shanghai: World's Gayest City. Thats so sad though, Chinese men being 'forced' into becoming gay because theres not enough women.
Woah, slow down before you hurt your brain.

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#15 Post by Will » Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:18 pm

The state should establish its own immigration offices overseas. I know this is a federal responsibility, but these state offices would encourage people to migrate to SA as opposed to the other states. The state government could even financially help new migrants and help them to find a house, job and provide English classes. New migrants should also recieve a gift basket with quality SA produce.

And also the state should look at non-traditional countires to recruit migrants. Places like Latin America and Eastern Europe are filled with thousands of proffesionals willing to migrate.

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