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Having recently returned to Australia after a few years abroad, the state of the nation is on a terrifying precipice. Mostly due to political reasons The natio

Having recently returned to Australia after a few years abroad, the state of the nation is on a terrifying precipice. Mostly due to political reasons The nation is in a run away housing boom, one of which people have been warning will explode since around 2000/2001. The fact it's continued this far has made it more and more alarming The extremely conservative government in charge since 2013 (ironically called "The Liberal Party") has pushed in blatantly corrupt and utterly abhorrent directions in virtually every political policy since day one The nation is warning of a "brain drain" taking place as the young and skilled jet off to the US, Europe and others. Australia has become a digital backwater due to the "National Broadband Network" (NBN) becoming a political football and being firmly run into the ground With a ballooning near half trillion dollar government debt (at the time of writing) and a housing market on the verge of either total collapse under its own weight, or simply running out of runway to continue expanding, an aging populace with its educated young leaving and a government paralyzed by its own incompetence, Australia is heading for some seriously tough times

fit2rule 9y ago
I'm a brain-drainer - born and bred in Perth, but well and truly never lived in Australia. As soon as I could, I left .. and every time I return, it is as a tourist. That said, I hope there are some houses left to buy, at the end of a long dusty road, next to a beach or two, some day in the future. Would be fun to return when the madness is over (i.e. Australia gets real Internet, &etc.)
- calsy 9y ago
  You were born and bred in Perth, but never truly lived in Australia, that makes no sense.
  - asdfgadsfgasfdg 9y ago
    OP probably means had a job and lived as an adult etc.
  - fit2rule 9y ago
    I was born and lived an Aussie life, but in my young adult life moved out of Australia and have lived all over the world. I don't associate with Australian culture much, but I sure miss the beaches. So when I go back, its mostly tourism...
tomhoward 9y ago
As an Australian who has paid close attention to these matters for many years, I share your concern but think the assessment is overblown. The housing boom is driven by a combination of: (a) Australia's cultural devotion to home ownership as a conventional life milestone; (b) foreign investment and immigration, and (c) high incomes due to the mining boom and prolonged overall economic strength. Of those factors, (a) and (b) are not going to end any time soon. A global recession/economic crisis would obviously affect (c), but Australia has weathered several of these in past decades. If/when it happens, it should cause a slowing and/or a correction, but not a total crash, unless the world economy crashes. On the other hand, continued global growth, particularly in China and India, will keep fuelling demand for Australia's resources, products, services and land. Why is the worst-case scenario more likely than the best? The political situation might seem grim, but it's not nearly as bad as the US or the UK or parts of continental Europe. The "brain drain" issue has been a concern for many years, but if anything I'm starting to see that reversing; people I know who had left for Silicon Valley or New York or London for better career opportunities are now looking to move back, because Australia seems so idyllic compared to the chaos that's reigning elsewhere. I've noticed a vast improvement in the scale and quality of entrepreneurial activity in Australia in the past few years, and I keep hearing from expats that they're noticing how much better things are getting back home, and how much they'd like to come back and be a part of it. The NBN is an issue that people love to use to hurl abuse at the government whilst simultaneously complaining about ballooning national debt. You can't have it both ways. It was a costly and risky project from the moment it was conceived by the previous government, and since then it's just been a case of getting it done while keeping cost blowouts and delays to a minimum. As a technology professional who cares about fast broadband as much as anyone, I can tell you that the NBN services I've had at my previous home (FTTB) and my new home (FTTP) are as reliable and fast as I could hope for, and I find cellular and terrestrial internet in Australia to be at least as good, and usually better than what I've experienced on recent trips to the US. I don't deny there's cause for concern; I've been as mindful of, and worried about the risks as anyone. But painting it as all negative, and pinning all the blame for all the problems on the current government is inaccurate, unfair and excessively pessimistic. So yes, there are challenges; there are great challenges everywhere in the world, as there always are. But there are also great opportunities and reasons for optimism. It pays to take a balanced view.
akst 9y ago
For non Australians, the “Liberal” in the Liberal parties name stand for economic liberal.
- conanbatt 9y ago
  Same interpretation in Argentina. Liberals in the U.S. are unique in this regard, they mean exactly the opposite in the economic sphere.

fit2rule 9y ago

I'm a brain-drainer - born and bred in Perth, but well and truly never lived in Australia. As soon as I could, I left .. and every time I return, it is as a tourist. That said, I hope there are some houses left to buy, at the end of a long dusty road, next to a beach or two, some day in the future. Would be fun to return when the madness is over (i.e. Australia gets real Internet, &etc.)

calsy 9y ago
You were born and bred in Perth, but never truly lived in Australia, that makes no sense.
- asdfgadsfgasfdg 9y ago
  OP probably means had a job and lived as an adult etc.
- fit2rule 9y ago
  I was born and lived an Aussie life, but in my young adult life moved out of Australia and have lived all over the world. I don't associate with Australian culture much, but I sure miss the beaches. So when I go back, its mostly tourism...

tomhoward 9y ago

As an Australian who has paid close attention to these matters for many years, I share your concern but think the assessment is overblown. The housing boom is driven by a combination of: (a) Australia's cultural devotion to home ownership as a conventional life milestone; (b) foreign investment and immigration, and (c) high incomes due to the mining boom and prolonged overall economic strength. Of those factors, (a) and (b) are not going to end any time soon. A global recession/economic crisis would obviously affect (c), but Australia has weathered several of these in past decades. If/when it happens, it should cause a slowing and/or a correction, but not a total crash, unless the world economy crashes. On the other hand, continued global growth, particularly in China and India, will keep fuelling demand for Australia's resources, products, services and land. Why is the worst-case scenario more likely than the best? The political situation might seem grim, but it's not nearly as bad as the US or the UK or parts of continental Europe. The "brain drain" issue has been a concern for many years, but if anything I'm starting to see that reversing; people I know who had left for Silicon Valley or New York or London for better career opportunities are now looking to move back, because Australia seems so idyllic compared to the chaos that's reigning elsewhere. I've noticed a vast improvement in the scale and quality of entrepreneurial activity in Australia in the past few years, and I keep hearing from expats that they're noticing how much better things are getting back home, and how much they'd like to come back and be a part of it. The NBN is an issue that people love to use to hurl abuse at the government whilst simultaneously complaining about ballooning national debt. You can't have it both ways. It was a costly and risky project from the moment it was conceived by the previous government, and since then it's just been a case of getting it done while keeping cost blowouts and delays to a minimum. As a technology professional who cares about fast broadband as much as anyone, I can tell you that the NBN services I've had at my previous home (FTTB) and my new home (FTTP) are as reliable and fast as I could hope for, and I find cellular and terrestrial internet in Australia to be at least as good, and usually better than what I've experienced on recent trips to the US. I don't deny there's cause for concern; I've been as mindful of, and worried about the risks as anyone. But painting it as all negative, and pinning all the blame for all the problems on the current government is inaccurate, unfair and excessively pessimistic. So yes, there are challenges; there are great challenges everywhere in the world, as there always are. But there are also great opportunities and reasons for optimism. It pays to take a balanced view.

akst 9y ago

For non Australians, the “Liberal” in the Liberal parties name stand for economic liberal.

conanbatt 9y ago
Same interpretation in Argentina. Liberals in the U.S. are unique in this regard, they mean exactly the opposite in the economic sphere.