Country towns not well
in [Aussie Motorcycles]
|
From: Andrew Price on 1 Dec 2008 15:13 Just back from a long promised long weekend out of Sinney. Bell's line, then the old Tarana road to Bathurst, twice round the mountain as homage to sacred ground, then the back road past Abercrombie Caves and through Tuena (the front road, through Oberon and Taralga, is now wholly sealed and the locals at Crookwell say its got the better views). If that's so, then those views would want to be pretty good as mine were spectacular for about 80k - a bit of ok dirt on my road less traveled but the Chook loves that) - into Crookwell for a late lunch and booked at a room at that most curious of institutions, the pub with no licence (nothing so sad as being the only guest in a once mighty pub). Into Goulburn to watch a movie (Australia, 6/10 if you like overdone melodramas - the indigenous bit is interesting but will be lost on the film's target market in the US). And they charged me $7 for a ticket - less than half Sydney prices. Bought a pair of warmer gloves in Bathurst (the calendar said "Summer" but no one had told them that on the southern tablelands) and walked the main street looking for a place that might stock them. Both Bathurst and Crookwell really showed signs of struggling, much more so than when I last looked. Stopped and had a good look at the wind farm outside Crookwell - on the highest point on the dividing range, one side drains to Sydney, t'other to Adelaide. The have plans for 200 more generator units in the district, hell knows they have the wind for it. Not many permanent jobs generated though, and that's what's needed. On and off the slab as soon as possible at Marulan, tourist road to Robertson for pie and coffee, not as smooth as I would have liked through the turns to the coast, over the sea bridge and the Royal National Park back home. Recommended therapy - anyone tried the Tralaga road recently and can say if its good? Best, Andrew
From: Diogenes on 1 Dec 2008 15:38 On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:13:58 GMT, Andrew Price <arathorn(a)bigpond.net.au.x1> wrote: > Both Bathurst and Crookwell really showed signs of struggling, >much more so than when I last looked. In 1974 I did a bike tour from Sinny to Cairns (staying inland till Rocky). Did the same trip again in 1983. I was literally shocked to see the degree to which the towns along the way had gone into decay. Some had become ghost towns, others looked terminally ill. It was quite depressing. I don't hink it's ever picked up much since then, and now that our mad embrace of globalisation means our rural industries have to compete with places where workers are paid a pittance, I don't see a real lot of hope for them. Tourism? Forget it. It won't generate enough to keep those places viable. And anyway, in the prolonged global recession we're in, there won't be the hordes of tourists need to prop things up. "Say goodbye to Hollywood... Say goodbye, my baby..." Onya bike... Gerry
From: Zebee Johnstone on 1 Dec 2008 18:12 In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:38:14 +1100 Diogenes <cynic(a)society.sux.ok> wrote: > Some had become ghost towns, others looked terminally ill. It was > quite depressing. I don't hink it's ever picked up much since then, > and now that our mad embrace of globalisation means our rural > industries have to compete with places where workers are paid a > pittance, I don't see a real lot of hope for them. > I don't think country towns ever did things that compete with workers in other countries. They were mainly agriculture. They profited a lot from tarrifs and from other rorts, and they profited from unsustainable farming methods. The problem for Oz will be that much of the land isn't useful for anything but housing and we aren't putting houses on it... And if we did, there'd be no water for them. In 50 or 100 years time you won't see much inland at all unless there's a way to farm roos and rabbits, but you might see fewer people in Oz generally and them starving as they've built on the ground with good soil and water. Given the high demand for meat in developing countries, raising and marketing roo might be a boom industry. Won't employ that many people, but then farming hasn't either. The days of huge demand for seasonal labour in the wheat and canefields is long gone. Fruit picking doesn't sustain country towns either. Zebee
From: Diogenes on 1 Dec 2008 18:28 On 1 Dec 2008 23:12:39 GMT, Zebee Johnstone <zebeej(a)gmail.com> wrote: >In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:38:14 +1100 >Diogenes <cynic(a)society.sux.ok> wrote: >> Some had become ghost towns, others looked terminally ill. It was >> quite depressing. I don't hink it's ever picked up much since then, >> and now that our mad embrace of globalisation means our rural >> industries have to compete with places where workers are paid a >> pittance, I don't see a real lot of hope for them. >> > >I don't think country towns ever did things that compete with workers >in other countries. > >They were mainly agriculture. They profited a lot from tarrifs and >from other rorts, and they profited from unsustainable farming >methods. > >The problem for Oz will be that much of the land isn't useful for >anything but housing and we aren't putting houses on it... And if we >did, there'd be no water for them. > >In 50 or 100 years time you won't see much inland at all unless >there's a way to farm roos and rabbits, but you might see fewer people >in Oz generally and them starving as they've built on the ground with >good soil and water. > >Given the high demand for meat in developing countries, raising and >marketing roo might be a boom industry. Won't employ that many >people, but then farming hasn't either. The days of huge demand for >seasonal labour in the wheat and canefields is long gone. Fruit >picking doesn't sustain country towns either. I don't think tarrifs are necessarily a bd thing. I do think a lot of our manufacturing and primary industry has been hurt by cheap imports. And I do think it has affected the rural economy. Of course, I could be wrong. I aint no expert on these matters. And I'm opposed, in principle, to globalisation. Call me an economic luddite... Onya bike... Gerry
From: theo on 1 Dec 2008 20:21
On Dec 2, 8:28 am, Diogenes <cy...(a)society.sux.ok> wrote: > On 1 Dec 2008 23:12:39 GMT, Zebee Johnstone <zeb...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > >In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:38:14 +1100 > >Diogenes <cy...(a)society.sux.ok> wrote: > >> Some had become ghost towns, others looked terminally ill. It was > >> quite depressing. I don't hink it's ever picked up much since then, > >> and now that our mad embrace of globalisation means our rural > >> industries have to compete with places where workers are paid a > >> pittance, I don't see a real lot of hope for them. > > >I don't think country towns ever did things that compete with workers > >in other countries. > > >They were mainly agriculture. They profited a lot from tarrifs and > >from other rorts, and they profited from unsustainable farming > >methods. > > >The problem for Oz will be that much of the land isn't useful for > >anything but housing and we aren't putting houses on it... And if we > >did, there'd be no water for them. > > >In 50 or 100 years time you won't see much inland at all unless > >there's a way to farm roos and rabbits, but you might see fewer people > >in Oz generally and them starving as they've built on the ground with > >good soil and water. > > >Given the high demand for meat in developing countries, raising and > >marketing roo might be a boom industry. Won't employ that many > >people, but then farming hasn't either. The days of huge demand for > >seasonal labour in the wheat and canefields is long gone. Fruit > >picking doesn't sustain country towns either. > > I don't think tarrifs are necessarily a bd thing. They tend to backfire when countries you want to export to impose them. > I do think a lot of our manufacturing and primary industry has been > hurt by cheap imports. And I do think it has affected the rural > economy. Of course, I could be wrong. I aint no expert on these > matters. > > And I'm opposed, in principle, to globalisation. Call me an economic > luddite... You're an economic Luddite. But so am I to some extent. OTOH,I bought a new pair of jeans this week. $23.99 in Big W, not made in Australia. My main criteria was cost. Theo |