Visions that could make SA really GREAT

[ozisnowman]

I think that the State Government does not have any visions to make this
State the envy of all others, they are predominantly scared of repeating the
StateBank fiasco and borrowing funds. However borrowing funds for the right
infrastructure projects could bring jobs, royalties and resources to this State
that would make others envious.

Suggestions.

Develop a Nuclear Power Industry to provide clean green fuel to the nation
which will be forced to look at green options under the carbon trading scheme.
This Nuclear Power Industry should look at processing of raw materials and the
selling the processed rod at a much higher rate. As part of this plan a controlled
and well developed storage facility for waste would be developed which you
could charge and arm and a leg for... as well as ensuring what was done with
the original resource and that its not used for other purposes.

As part of this a pipeline from the North could bring water for use in the
Power plants as well as for Agriculture etc as we cant rely on the Eastern States
running the Murray properly....

With an expanded Olympic Dam and possibly other similar mines and Power Industry,
Processing Industry, Storage Industry etc we would have money in the coffers to
undertake other infrastructure development that would trully make this State great...

[Wayno]

The vision of an uranium industry where raw material is processed into rods locally in SA already has a good level of govt support. How to make it happen is the tricky part. Mining companies prefer the significantly cheaper option of shipping raw material offshore for processing. It's a catch 22 - do we mandate uranium processing in SA to the detriment of future mining prospects?

The vision of nuclear power generation in SA is a hot potato. I doubt we'll have a Premier with enough chutzpah to make this happen in the next decade. Such a shame as i believe there's already sufficient public support for it. As an example, the Mayor of Whyalla volunteered his backyard for a nuclear power plant, and the local community agreed.

The main issue being the storage of nuclear excrement in SA is still a political no-no. Of course the Federal govt might solve this issue for us by declaring a nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory. If that occurs i'm sure we'll see plans for power plants around australia.

And lastly, a water pipeline from the north through SA?!? i'm not sure that makes economic sense - but i could be wrong...

[Will]

It is obvious that the eastern states do not respect us. As another forum member stated in another thread, they view us as a small child whose opinion is not relevant.

In order to rectify this, our state government needs to develop vision.

We need ambitious visionary things so as to attract the attention of others.

Our state should strive to attract world class sporting events, such as bringing back the Grand Prix, as well as international standard golf and tennis tournaments. We should bid for the Commonwealth Games. In addition we should bid for a world expo.

We should develop tourist infraestructure that will give tourists as well as locals something to do in the city. We need a Guggenheim Museum, bring the National Motor Museum into the CBD, open a museum of the City of Adelaide as well as other things such as the International Botanic Garden that was part of our submission to the ACC last year.

These things cost money, I am aware of that. However the cost of doing nothing, the cost of becoming the backwater of Australia will be greater!

[Wayno]

These things cost money, I am aware of that. However the cost of doing nothing, the cost of becoming the backwater of Australia will be greater!

and we almost had the financial ability! but alas, our turn at earning big $$$ from the mining industry has been put back by 3-5 years. Hopefully whomever is in government when the economic tide turns will have a vision in the top drawer ready to go!

[Neuropolis]

It is obvious that the eastern states do not respect us. As another forum member stated in another thread, they view us as a small child whose opinion is not relevant.

In order to rectify this, our state government needs to develop vision.

We need ambitious visionary things so as to attract the attention of others.

Our state should strive to attract world class sporting events, such as bringing back the Grand Prix, as well as international standard golf and tennis tournaments. We should bid for the Commonwealth Games. In addition we should bid for a world expo.

We should develop tourist infrastructure that will give tourists as well as locals something to do in the city. We need a Guggenheim Museum, bring the National Motor Museum into the CBD, open a museum of the City of Adelaide as well as other things such as the International Botanic Garden that was part of our submission to the ACC last year.

These things cost money, I am aware of that. However the cost of doing nothing, the cost of becoming the backwater of Australia will be greater!

The prob,em is not how other States view us. The problem is in how we view ourselves. It has always been this State's biggest problem. We have an inferiority complex Statewide. We don't need more buildings or museums. What we need to do is to observe the habits of happy and successful people. Those people are less interested in what others think and more interested in who they are and what makes them happy.

I've been to the Guggenheim. Believe me, we don't need it. We have plenty of unique things here already.

In our flawed attempts at trying to emulate the big cities of the world, we are actually acting just like pouting children. As one grows older and has children..one realises the folly of this mindset and major development becomes far less important.

If you want to live in the ultimate, never close city...move to NYC. Good place to visit...awful place to live, in my opinion...but then I love wide open swathes of land and an abundance of open space.

[Will]

It is obvious that the eastern states do not respect us. As another forum member stated in another thread, they view us as a small child whose opinion is not relevant.

In order to rectify this, our state government needs to develop vision.

We need ambitious visionary things so as to attract the attention of others.

Our state should strive to attract world class sporting events, such as bringing back the Grand Prix, as well as international standard golf and tennis tournaments. We should bid for the Commonwealth Games. In addition we should bid for a world expo.

We should develop tourist infrastructure that will give tourists as well as locals something to do in the city. We need a Guggenheim Museum, bring the National Motor Museum into the CBD, open a museum of the City of Adelaide as well as other things such as the International Botanic Garden that was part of our submission to the ACC last year.

These things cost money, I am aware of that. However the cost of doing nothing, the cost of becoming the backwater of Australia will be greater!

The prob,em is not how other States view us. The problem is in how we view ourselves. It has always been this State's biggest problem. We have an inferiority complex Statewide. We don't need more buildings or museums. What we need to do is to observe the habits of happy and successful people. Those people are less interested in what others think and more interested in who they are and what makes them happy.

I've been to the Guggenheim. Believe me, we don't need it. We have plenty of unique things here already.

In our flawed attempts at trying to emulate the big cities of the world, we are actually acting just like pouting children. As one grows older and has children..one realises the folly of this mindset and major development becomes far less important.

If you want to live in the ultimate, never close city...move to NYC. Good place to visit...awful place to live, in my opinion...but then I love wide open swathes of land and an abundance of open space.

No one is disputing the fact that we here in SA have an inferiority complex and are pathetically negative. However I disagree with the rest of your opinion because I strongly believe that doing nothing will only send us backwards. The ideas that I have suggested are not designed to copy another city, they are designed to allow Adelaide and SA to be the best they can be. That is what we should all aim for.

[Strangled Cat]

It is obvious that the eastern states do not respect us. As another forum member stated in another thread, they view us as a small child whose opinion is not relevant.

In order to rectify this, our state government needs to develop vision.

We need ambitious visionary things so as to attract the attention of others.

Our state should strive to attract world class sporting events, such as bringing back the Grand Prix, as well as international standard golf and tennis tournaments. We should bid for the Commonwealth Games. In addition we should bid for a world expo.

We should develop tourist infraestructure that will give tourists as well as locals something to do in the city. We need a Guggenheim Museum, bring the National Motor Museum into the CBD, open a museum of the City of Adelaide as well as other things such as the International Botanic Garden that was part of our submission to the ACC last year.

These things cost money, I am aware of that. However the cost of doing nothing, the cost of becoming the backwater of Australia will be greater!

I remember about 10 years ago when Geelong were seriously attempting to get a Guggenheim museum. The town in of Bilbao in Spain was the inspiration for the idea, as the similarities between to two cities were uncanny. Both Cities are Port cities with similar population, both at one point were facing tough economic times, with local industry all but gone. Fast froward a couple of decades to the late 90's and Geelong, keen to emulate the success of Bilbaos turn around from a dwindling "sleepy hollow' into a world class port city bustling with tourism all year round, and the economic benefits that went with it, seriously looked at incorporating a Guggenheim museum to coincide with their waterfront developement, just as Bilbao did with their waterfront precinct.

There were many issues which stood in the way of a Guggenheim museum being built in Geelong. Geelong itself was by far not the limiting factor. In fact the city itself would have lent itself quite well for it, providing other small issues like exact location etc were sorted. Further feasability studies concluded that to make it work, you'd need tourism, and a lot of it. Although it would increase tourism, Australia just doesn't have the numbers. Europe has over 700m people, the majaority of which could drive to Spain easily in a day. Australia on the other hand, 20m people? You'd have to bank on a lot of poeple from Asia coming, and that could be a hit or miss.

I think that as far as us getting a Guggenheim museum, Adelaide and indeed South Australia would have a lot better chance with the right State and possibily Federal Government support. Geelong lacked any state Government support, it was up to the council to prove to the state Government (and inturn the Guggenheim board) that is was viable. With enough support, this state would have a much better crack at getting one in Adelaide than a few coucilers in a regional hub in Victoria, but as mentioned above, the real issues which the Guggenheim board themselves had was the lack of population, and the proximity of Australia to those large Asian markets.

I agree that we indeed need to do more in Adelaide. This city is falling further and further behind, and losing more and more of it's elite professionals to the Eastern States. There's a perception problem here, and it is warranted, as Adelaide is the butt of all jokes (along with Tasmania and New Zealand) interstate. It's an absolute shame I think, because the City itself is beautiful IMO, and there's so much here to offer and enjoy. It does make it hard to sell SA to my mates interstate, but those who have come over from Melbourne and stayed with us have actually admitted that Adelaide is a MUCH nicer place that they thought.

[Prince George]

The idea of "Guggenheim Adelaide" bubbles under the surface of the forums, threatening from time to time to flare up into a new "inner-city stadium" or "north-south freeway" hot-button topic . But we should remember, there are many Guggenheims and they haven't repeated the "Bilbao-effect" elsewhere.

Pop quiz - there are currently four Guggenheim's open (including Bilbao), five under construction, and two that have already closed. Without looking it up, how many can you name? Won't we risk Adelaide joining the ranks of Guggenheims that no-one remembers? Instead of looking for some external people or groups to fly in and tell us we're alright, let's get our own house in order.

[rev]

I don't think there is any "one" thing that will do it.
Rather I think fixing the things that are lagging behind, and doing it with a minimal of fuss, will really change the image of Adelaide in the eyes of outsiders.

Instead of always watering down building proposals which start off awsome most of the time and end up plane and boring, get them built as they are originally intended.
Instead of bickering about a new hospital, either build it or redevelop the RAH.
Instead of moaning about new stadiums, either upgrade AAMI completely with a total rebuild, or just get a move on and build a new stadium in the city.

Pass some local council by-laws in the CBD that require unique night lighting on new buildings. I think Times Square has some sort of ordinance of that kind.

The main problem in Adelaide is when something is proposed or suggested, the various minority interest groups all start bickering and moaning and trying to prevent it from happening.
This imo gives Adelaide a worse image then our boring brown skyline which hasn't changed much in many years.

[stumpjumper]

Ahem.

'My Vision For Adelaide' by S. Jumper

The Old Adelaide Gaol becomes the main interstate and metropolitan rail terminal.

SAPOL Thebarton is the bus terminal.

A twin track light rail rapid shuttle goes from the gaol along the north side of North Tce (hospital or not) to the Hyatt and Casino then through a 'cut and shut' tunnel under the wide 'footpath' on the north side of North Tce past Parliament House, under King William St, past Government House, the Art Gallery, universities etc to a new rail/O-Bahn junction near the wine centre. The shuttle service would be free, with cars every five minutes in peak times, perhaps run automatically without drivers.

The project could be staged over many years.

The Franklin St bus depot, btw, could easily be redeveloped as housing.

The cut and shut underground could be the start of a proper metro, with a service south along KW St (ie incorporating the present tram service) and north above ground to the Adelaide Oval. Imagine getting on a train at Marino Rocks or the O-Bahn at Modbury and getting off a light rail service at Adelaide Oval or Victoria Square, travelling on fast, efficient public transport all the way.

[ricecrackers]

The idea of "Guggenheim Adelaide" bubbles under the surface of the forums, threatening from time to time to flare up into a new "inner-city stadium" or "north-south freeway" hot-button topic . But we should remember, there are many Guggenheims and they haven't repeated the "Bilbao-effect" elsewhere.

Pop quiz - there are currently four Guggenheim's open (including Bilbao), five under construction, and two that have already closed. Without looking it up, how many can you name? Won't we risk Adelaide joining the ranks of Guggenheims that no-one remembers? Instead of looking for some external people or groups to fly in and tell us we're alright, let's get our own house in order.

its as ridiculous a topic to talk about as a monorail. in fact its more ridiculous.

The Guggenheim is the Guggenheim because it exists in one of the greatest, most diverse, cosmopolitan and creative cities in the world: New York City, population 18.8 million. ...and thats the only one in the world that matters. Why not say we should have our own Louvre, or Colosseum........ oh wait... we have

what i've been saying for some time is, until South Australians can understand some perspective, go buy some if need be (Andre Agassi famously said that about one of our most prominent South Australians some years ago); we will not move forward from this pathetic and unproductive inferiority complex.

Its correct the State Government are so gun shy about a repeat of the State Bank fiasco, its become a paranoid delusion that has effectively frozen them like some deer in the headlights from any positive risk taking, which is needed in anyone's life to move out of an unproductive rut.

Major Infrastructure projects are needed, and if they send us into billions of dollars of debt...well better that we have something to show for it as we will all benefit in the long run. we had nothing to show for the debt from 1990.

Water should be a priority, though i think a desal plant may be an environmental disaster... i'd rather see a pipeline project from the NT (money better spent than that white elephant train line).

Energy the next priority, an area Australia is lagging behind the rest of the industrialized world in. We have all this bloody sunshine and we barely do anything to harness it. The electrical transformer infrastructure also needs to be upgraded to be able to handle greater loads so we dont suffer the same fiasco we did last summer, with transformers burning out across the state. We should be building an energy infrastructure for tomorrow and beyond... not last week as is usually the case.

Next is data communication (hopefully the feds are taking care of this), then transport.

These are the 4 basic infrastructure pillars of a developed first world industrialized country.

At best South Australia probably scores a C grade in each with water scoring a narrow fail grade. Four decades of neglect has got us to this point, the least we can do is solve these problems, not solve them with spin, but with action. The state govt only care about their credit rating because it affects how much they can borrow........well if you dont build the infrastructure and do it right the first time, the economy will fail anyway eventually, your revenue wont be where it could be, your credit rating will fall and again you'll have nothing to show for it but a legacy of another 4 stagnant years in government.

And just to prove I really am talking out of my a@$% in a late night rant, i neglected to mention health-care. Well now i'm on the subject, would you care to comment on that Ms Gago?? ...sorry didnt quite catch that?

What a fantastic idea to save money, shunt our mental health patients out onto the streets...and the absolute worst cases that even our state government would not do that to...well perhaps we'll hide them away somewhere up in the hills like some Romanian mental prison facility. Good work Gail. ....no, we'll sell off the land at Glenside for a tidy profit so Mr Rann can build his Marj Mahal legacy on North Tce. hell, there may even be some money left over to erect another statue on the great boulevard in honor of our right honorable premier.

[stumpjumper]

I'm no great fan of Gail Gago, who in my opinion owes her position not to merit for the job but to it being her faction's turn for a ministry (and the ALP's misguided gender equality rule), but she is only the figure at the head of a large department of expert health planners.

What we don't need are useless and expensive 'icon' projects driven by the desire of politicians to memorialise their great years in power.

We need careful application of our limited funds and borrowing capacity to build infrastructure which creates advantage for us.

Without wishing to sound like a rusted on Lib and harker back to the halcyon Playford era, it must be said that the state's investment in infrastructure to support the growth of a vehicle manufacturing industry was a wise one which has benefited us for decades even if its day is drawing to a close.

Investment in physical infrastructure must be part of a larger scheme, and not merely the funding of monuments. Consider the 'National Wine Centre'. In retrospect, it was an orphan project, with no broader scheme outside its physical boundaries. As a result the centre was unsupported by an industry to which it offered no real connection, and it failed.

Let's think before we spend. In lobal terms, we are not in a position to throw money around.

[Aidan]

its as ridiculous a topic to talk about as a monorail. in fact its more ridiculous.
The Guggenheim is the Guggenheim because it exists in one of the greatest, most diverse, cosmopolitan and creative cities in the world: New York City, population 18.8 million. ...and thats the only one in the world that matters. Why not say we should have our own Louvre, or Colosseum........ oh wait... we have

When the Bilbao one has done much more for that city's image than the original NYC one, how can you pretend it doesn't matter?

what i've been saying for some time is, until South Australians can understand some perspective, go buy some if need be (Andre Agassi famously said that about one of our most prominent South Australians some years ago); we will not move forward from this pathetic and unproductive inferiority complex.

But moving forward is the best way to get perspective...

Its correct the State Government are so gun shy about a repeat of the State Bank fiasco, its become a paranoid delusion that has effectively frozen them like some deer in the headlights from any positive risk taking, which is needed in anyone's life to move out of an unproductive rut.

In contrast to their predecessors who were obsessed with paying off debt without properly considering the implications, this government is improving things, albeit slowly.

Major Infrastructure projects are needed, and if they send us into billions of dollars of debt...well better that we have something to show for it as we will all benefit in the long run. we had nothing to show for the debt from 1990.

We had a few things, like the Myer Centre.

Water should be a priority, though i think a desal plant may be an environmental disaster... i'd rather see a pipeline project from the NT (money better spent than that white elephant train line).

Having been to one of the public information sessions, I don't think your concerns about it being an environmental disaster are well founded. The waste brine would be diluted with seawater before being pumped out through diffusers into an area of the gulf where the prevailing currents flow southwards towards the ocean.

A pipeline from the NT would be very expensive, and there's not even a great source of water that would begin to justify that expense. And you're completely wrong to regard the railway as a white elephant - it has been tremendously valuable to the mining industry.

Energy the next priority, an area Australia is lagging behind the rest of the industrialized world in. We have all this bloody sunshine and we barely do anything to harness it. The electrical transformer infrastructure also needs to be upgraded to be able to handle greater loads so we dont suffer the same fiasco we did last summer, with transformers burning out across the state. We should be building an energy infrastructure for tomorrow and beyond... not last week as is usually the case.

I agree that a lot more should be done. It's not just solar - we have a lot of available geothermal energy at Moomba, but it's far off the grid. We need a HVDC connection between Olympic Dam and the Queensland grid via Moomba. Not only would this encourage geothermal and solar, it would give us cheaper power and a more reliable supply. That's definitely worthy of federal funding!

Next is data communication (hopefully the feds are taking care of this), then transport.

I think transport is a bigger priority, though it's good to see Canberra finally come up with a decent data communication plan.

These are the 4 basic infrastructure pillars of a developed first world industrialized country.
At best South Australia probably scores a C grade in each with water scoring a narrow fail grade. Four decades of neglect has got us to this point, the least we can do is solve these problems, not solve them with spin, but with action.

Engineers Australia see it rather differently - see http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org ... Inside.pdf

The state govt only care about their credit rating because it affects how much they can borrow........well if you dont build the infrastructure and do it right the first time, the economy will fail anyway eventually, your revenue wont be where it could be, your credit rating will fall and again you'll have nothing to show for it but a legacy of another 4 stagnant years in government.

That applied to the previous government, but this one does at least have a couple of underpasses and a tramline extension to show for it. 'Tis just a shame that there's not a decent tram service on it yet!

And just to prove I really am talking out of my a@$% in a late night rant, i neglected to mention health-care. Well now i'm on the subject, would you care to comment on that Ms Gago?? ...sorry didnt quite catch that?

What a fantastic idea to save money, shunt our mental health patients out onto the streets...and the absolute worst cases that even our state government would not do that to...well perhaps we'll hide them away somewhere up in the hills like some Romanian mental prison facility. Good work Gail. ....no, we'll sell off the land at Glenside for a tidy profit so Mr Rann can build his Marj Mahal legacy on North Tce. hell, there may even be some money left over to erect another statue on the great boulevard in honor of our right honorable premier.

While I'm still sceptical about the Marj, I think you're being a bit unfair here. There's nothing particularly special about the Glenside hospital location. They'd be perfectly justified in selling it if there's a good alternative. And though they had plans to close Glenside, they did not do so. That was because they couldn't find a good alternative.