Ian Smith: It's a shame Adelaide is crumbling.

[victorious80]

However, in line with the demands of the protesters who took NIMBY politics to a new level, Clipsal buildings are temporary; put up and taken down each year during a nine-month period. Amazing, but a fact

Bullshit.

A nine month period. It would be a 6 month period at the most. Our events & festivals are better now
than ever before how can he say Adelaide is crumbling.

It actually takes nearly 8 months. They start late November, early December.

As for the global companies thing, well SANTOS is the only true Australian company based in Adelaide that can be considered global.
BAE Systems Australia might be HQ'ed in Adelaide, but it comes back down to a point he was making about companies being gobbled up by bigger firms.
BAE Systems Australia is basically the likes of Tennix and other Australian defence firms which were bought out.

ASC really isn't worth mentioning because they haven't actually designed, developed and built anything of their own.
They've just been responsible for building existing designs. The Collins submarines for example are based on a German design. The Hobart destroyers are based on a Spanish design, which in turn is based on an American design.

Funny that he forgot to mention that population growth is continuing to improve annually

Don't we still have a negative growth rate? As in more people are still leaving then staying/coming?

Despite the fact existing sports facilities consist of the god-forsaken, windswept AAMI Stadium and a quaintly out-of-date Adelaide Oval, the debate about a new stadium has been embarrassing. Similarly, plans for a new hospital were derailed for months by a vocal few who chose to ignore the fact that, when built, the hospital could be the most modern and well-equipped in the southern hemisphere.

THIS is what I call bullshit.
The AO redevelopment is going ahead, with the move away from AAMI in 4 years time.
The new hospital was never derailed. There was some vocal opposition, but the government never postponed plans for it.
Both projects are going ahead. The debate about the Oval might be embarrassing, but why bash Adelaide over it? The campaign was led by Adelaide Now and associated News Corp papers. Take a swing at them, not the people of Adelaide.

Melbourne or Perth would have jumped at such a chance, but Adelaide fostered tumbleweeds.

His peek into an alternatively reality tell him this?

Contributing further to the slowly sinking feeling is the demise of local media. First, Adelaide is a one-newspaper town. A strong and bold press should be one fundamental ingredient of a city's development. The Advertiser carries the burden alone.

He is writing for a news limited paper..
Maybe he could give old Rupert a call and get him to move over for Fairfax?

Not overly important but i would like to point out that the Collins Class was a new design, designed by ASC with the assistance of an overseas designer. it was based on an existing Swedish design, but was adapted to meet the vastly different operating environment experienced in Aussie waters. similarly, the AWD design is based on an existing Spanish design (which was in direct competition with the American design). the reason for involving overseas designers is because they have vast experience and knowledge that ASC simply do not have at the moment (similar to the reason why SA are using Spanish desalination plant designers). however, by working closely with these experienced designers, knowledge and skills are slowly transferred to ASC and in time they will hopefully reach the same level as these experienced overseas designers. in fact, during the design of the Collins Class, many Swedish engineers came to Adelaide to assist with the design and loved it so much that they stayed - the ultimate knowledge transfer!

So I guess what i am driving at is that it would be unfortunate to dismiss ASC too quickly, as they really are helping to put Adelaide on the global shipbuilding map, and a nice by-product is that they bring in significant knowledge and experience to our state.

[ricecrackers]

you have to understand his opening paragraph was about attention grabbing before the real content started....and from there on it is a case of nail on the head. there is often many home truths in such criticism and to ignore it or rail against it would be burying one's head in the sand.

this forums banner says it all..



I'm not sure we'd want to become like Brisbane though where many of its residents complain about its declining lifestyle.

The solution he does offer is further amalgamation of councils. I think this would be a good idea given many local councils currently excel at doing absolutely nothing. Anyone who lives in the Mitcham area and has had any dealings with them will know what i'm talking about.

[ghs]

I'm not sure we'd want to become like Brisbane though where many of its residents complain about its declining lifestyle.

I agree. I remember a couple of years ago I met a couple from Brisbane. They told me that they liked Adelaide
because it was clean and open and said that they didn't like how Brisbane has turned into a concrete jungle.

[Wayno]

Anyone who lives in the Mitcham area and has had any dealings with them will know what i'm talking about.

i know what you mean!

[Aidan]

I'm not sure we'd want to become like Brisbane though where many of its residents complain about its declining lifestyle.

Considering that Adelaide will be more like Brisbane when we've developed more, it's worth investigating the reason for this. Why are Brisbane lifestyles declining?

The solution he does offer is further amalgamation of councils.

How does our average council size compare to that of Victoria these days?

I think this would be a good idea given many local councils currently excel at doing absolutely nothing. Anyone who lives in the Mitcham area and has had any dealings with them will know what i'm talking about.

But would merging it with Unley improve things? Or would it just inflict that ineptitude on Unley residents?

[rev]

Not overly important but i would like to point out that the Collins Class was a new design, designed by ASC with the assistance of an overseas designer. it was based on an existing Swedish design, but was adapted to meet the vastly different operating environment experienced in Aussie waters. similarly, the AWD design is based on an existing Spanish design (which was in direct competition with the American design). the reason for involving overseas designers is because they have vast experience and knowledge that ASC simply do not have at the moment (similar to the reason why SA are using Spanish desalination plant designers). however, by working closely with these experienced designers, knowledge and skills are slowly transferred to ASC and in time they will hopefully reach the same level as these experienced overseas designers. in fact, during the design of the Collins Class, many Swedish engineers came to Adelaide to assist with the design and loved it so much that they stayed - the ultimate knowledge transfer!

So I guess what i am driving at is that it would be unfortunate to dismiss ASC too quickly, as they really are helping to put Adelaide on the global shipbuilding map, and a nice by-product is that they bring in significant knowledge and experience to our state.

True, my mistake. I was thinking of the company Kokums, off the top of my head sounded German.

Still, ASC wont be of real significance beyond Australia until it can design and develop it's own systems. I'm sure ASC could design the hull of a frigate or submarine. But the technology inside will largely be foreign.
What makes the German shipyards, for example, significant globally is the technology they have.(AIP etc)

[frank1]

Although this article outlines some truths about SA, particularly buisness aspects, IMO there is one core issue about SA that fails to be emphasized. SA needs to concentrate on setting up graduate positions, particularly for university graduates. For example SA could become the research centre for geothermal energy and uranium research. SA could focus on research institutions while the rest of the Australia sells out to become a 'service' country. These type of research centres have done wonders for places like Germany, Findland, Sweeden, Norway.

If SA focuses on this issue, i believe the rest of the so called 'attractions' e.g. corperate offices, nightlife, entertainment precincts, etc will quickly follow with the inflow of people.

[ricecrackers]

Although this article outlines some truths about SA, particularly buisness aspects, IMO there is one core issue about SA that fails to be emphasized. SA needs to concentrate on setting up graduate positions, particularly for university graduates. For example SA could become the research centre for geothermal energy and uranium research. SA could focus on research institutions while the rest of the Australia sells out to become a 'service' country. These type of research centres have done wonders for places like Germany, Findland, Sweeden, Norway.

If SA focuses on this issue, i believe the rest of the so called 'attractions' e.g. corperate offices, nightlife, entertainment precincts, etc will quickly follow with the inflow of people.

yes, Australia becoming a service country is a worrying development. together with under education this is causing the decline of the USA.
if we continue to outsource skilled manufacturing, research and software services to the third world then Australia and similar countries like it will be either be conquered or lay in their own ruins within 100 years.

[Aidan]

Although this article outlines some truths about SA, particularly buisness aspects, IMO there is one core issue about SA that fails to be emphasized. SA needs to concentrate on setting up graduate positions, particularly for university graduates. For example SA could become the research centre for geothermal energy and uranium research. SA could focus on research institutions while the rest of the Australia sells out to become a 'service' country. These type of research centres have done wonders for places like Germany, Findland, Sweeden, Norway.

If SA focuses on this issue, i believe the rest of the so called 'attractions' e.g. corperate offices, nightlife, entertainment precincts, etc will quickly follow with the inflow of people.

It seems slightly ironic that this was written on the same day as the Rann could pick the ball up thread ended with the reply that the state government thinks it's too expensive to attract the Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence here.

yes, Australia becoming a service country is a worrying development. together with under education this is causing the decline of the USA.

But Australia is not becoming a service country. The service sector is big, as it is in every advanced economy, but we still do plenty of manufacturing. Indeed our manufacturing sector has expanded since the '80s as we began to see the importance of value adding. But then the growth of China's manufacturing industry meant that fabrication is no longer such a high value part of the process. And it's unlikely to be again for several decades, as there are many other countries that could take China's place. But contrary to popular belief, there's a lot more to manufacturing than just fabrication.

The other thing that happened was the mining boom making mining more attractive. And agriculture is likely to do quite well (at least until the next drought) so we're not overreliant on services at all.

if we continue to outsource skilled manufacturing, research and software services to the third world then Australia and similar countries like it will be either be conquered or lay in their own ruins within 100 years.

Just because we're not doing everything here doesn't mean we're doing nothing. Besides, the concept of the third world won't last the century.

[AtD]

But Australia is not becoming a service country. The service sector is big, as it is in every advanced economy, but we still do plenty of manufacturing. Indeed our manufacturing sector has expanded since the '80s as we began to see the importance of value adding. But then the growth of China's manufacturing industry meant that fabrication is no longer such a high value part of the process. And it's unlikely to be again for several decades, as there are many other countries that could take China's place. But contrary to popular belief, there's a lot more to manufacturing than just fabrication.

The other thing that happened was the mining boom making mining more attractive. And agriculture is likely to do quite well (at least until the next drought) so we're not overreliant on services at all.

Industry contirbution to GDP, 2009/10, $billions:

Agriculture, etc: 31
Mining: 84
Manufacturing: 104
Sum of service industries: 823

GDP: 1,224
http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Det ... enDocument table 6

[Prince George]

Anyone who lives in the Mitcham area and has had any dealings with them will know what i'm talking about.

i know what you mean!

+1 - honestly I'd rather they move the boundaries and make us part of Marion.

BTW, who is Ian Smith?

[Wayno]

BTW, who is Ian Smith?

See here ==> Bespoke Approach

[rhino]

Is this Ian Smith the same Ian Smith who's married to Natasha Spot-Destroyer?

[Aidan]

But Australia is not becoming a service country. The service sector is big, as it is in every advanced economy, but we still do plenty of manufacturing. Indeed our manufacturing sector has expanded since the '80s as we began to see the importance of value adding. But then the growth of China's manufacturing industry meant that fabrication is no longer such a high value part of the process. And it's unlikely to be again for several decades, as there are many other countries that could take China's place. But contrary to popular belief, there's a lot more to manufacturing than just fabrication.

The other thing that happened was the mining boom making mining more attractive. And agriculture is likely to do quite well (at least until the next drought) so we're not overreliant on services at all.

Industry contirbution to GDP, 2009/10, $billions:

Agriculture, etc: 31
Mining: 84
Manufacturing: 104
Sum of service industries: 823

GDP: 1,224
http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Det ... enDocument table 6

That makes service industries 67.2%, which is lower than Wikipedia's figure of 71.3%. But of course the boundaries are not clearly defined. Either way it's a smaller proportion than that of Germany (72% according to Wikipedia)

My point is we're not like Hong Kong and Macau where the service sector's over 90%. We do other things and we do them well.

Perhaps that comparison's unfair, as proximity to China is one of the main economic drivers there. But I can't name a single advanced economy that isn't dominated by services - can you

The important thing is what else happens. We could neglect other kinds of industry, but we're not. We could neglect education, but we're not. We could neglect infrastructure - the threat's not totally gone, but thanks to Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, it's diminished!

Our economy will continue to thrive.

[chrism4549]

Aren't you guys ranked in the top 10 best cities in the world? I think it was #8 last time I checked. Obviously you're doing something right.

Maybe it could be more international, I don't know. What I do know is that I can't go three damn feet in a store without coming across a bottle of wine from there. Funny how that wasn't mentioned really.