Sensational-Adelaide.com

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

Cruise wrote:

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

sorry to sound like a negative Nancy but is that sort of growth achievable?

you cant tell me you can keep up with infrastructure at that rate

but hey, the more the merrier

Howie wrote:

Cruise wrote:

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

sorry to sound like a negative Nancy but is that sort of growth achievable?

you cant tell me you can keep up with infrastructure at that rate

You get more people to fill the jobs, which in turns feeds our local economy which in turns results in more tax for the government, which means more infrastructure for more people to fill jobs, which in turns feeds.... etc. It's a chicken and egg scenario. Worry about getting the people here first, instead of losing them interstate.

There's no point nitpicking every decision that the Government does or doesn't make, let's just get on with it

Kennett calls for Adelaide vision
LAINIE ANDERSON
April 20, 2008 12:30am
JEFF Kennett, the man credited with transforming Melbourne, has urged South Australians to put aside their differences and adopt a bold, long-term vision for Adelaide.

The former Victorian premier – architect of major projects such as Docklands, Federation Square and CityLink – predicts SA will become an economic powerhouse in coming decades, and says it's time for Adelaide to become a confident, modern metropolis.
"I absolutely believe that by 2030 there is a very real chance that South Australia will be one of the high-speed economic states of Australia," Mr Kennett said. "Adelaide is a lovely city, but in my opinion it still hasn't identified its core.

'"You need to stop thinking in terms of 2010, and instead think about what sort of city you want Adelaide to be by 2030, even 2050. Then you need to work out what investments and assets will be required to realise that vision."

Mr Kennett, who initiated a massive public works program for Melbourne, despite inheriting multibillion-dollar budget woes, says short-term party politicking should not stymie debate about the city's future.

He has encouraged Premier Mike Rann to establish a bipartisan commission, led by Mr Rann and Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, to create an apolitical, long-term blueprint for the city.

The leaders are at loggerheads over inner-city development, Mr Rann declaring that the 2010 election would offer a choice between Labor's hospital redevelopment and the Liberals' inner-city sports stadium.

"Elections should not be about hospitals or stadiums," Mr Kennett said.

"Those issues should be decided upon by the premier of the day because he has a lot more information to hand than any other citizen or group with a vested interest. But there is also great value in the state trying to anticipate the future and develop a very exciting program that in no way threatens Adelaide's character or reputation, but builds on it."

Mr Kennett said Adelaide was already recognised as a leader in education and the arts, and this should be fostered.

"If I was Mike Rann, I'd be investing in things relating specifically to education. You have a reputation for very high quality in this area, not just within your education institutions, but within your arts precincts."

Mr Rann has long championed Adelaide as an international education city, with universities from the US, UK and India lured to SA in recent years, and overseas student numbers doubling to 23,500 since 2003.

Asked if he thought Adelaide would benefit from a sports stadium, Mr Kennett said: "I think, as part of a mix, yes. But on its own it's not that important."

But returning to his theme of Adelaide as an education city, he implied that a stadium could serve as a first-class training facility.

"In terms of something like education and sport, you'd want to make sure you put into place the very best teachers as well as the very best facilities, to provide the practice as well as the theory," he said.

"Unless you do things at the highest level, you might as well not bother. Above all else, make sure you create the best or the second-best venue in the world, whether it's a university, or a sports stadium or a hospital.

"With the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne we turned a simple piece of infrastructure into a major piece of infrastructure, and by doing that we secured the Australian Open for decades to come."

Mr Kennett said he was unaware of the parklands preservation debate, but maintained clever planning could ensure that city parks were both enhanced and better utilised.

In Melbourne, Mr Kennett used parkland to expand the National Tennis Centre, which he renamed Melbourne Park to advertise the city to an international audience.

But as part of the Federation Square and railyards redevelopment, the Kennett Government returned 93ha of open space and gardens to the city. And the man who was overwhelmingly rejected by country Victorian voters in 1999 said the whole of SA must get behind any program to revitalise central Adelaide.

"We did cause angst among voters in the bush," he said. "But we firmly believed that, as the capital of Victoria, it was absolutely essential that we get Melbourne out of its slump and the despair that had been around for a number of years. The most important thing we did was restore confidence to the people of Victoria."