ROBERT CROCKER: Frankly, not only are the ‘baby boomers’ ignored (Boomers missing in vibrancy debate, InDaily, 2 January 2014), but the State Government is rapidly dismantling whatever was responsible or consultative in our development system, especially as this applied to the city. This will not deliver ‘vibrancy’ but anodyne ‘sameness’ on a monumental scale, and destroy the unique character of our city and its surrounds. As things stand, we may well end up with a copy-cat city of tilt-up franchised stores and malls, a sort of Mediterranean Singapore, but without much in the way of greenery, with all ‘vibrancy’ being squeezed into a few back alleys or occasional showcases like Leigh street. The developers will have gone on to greener pastures elsewhere, but we will have be stuck with their products for years to come.
Leon C. Lack: I agree entirely with Professor Hugo, his analysis of the size, vibrancy, and economic strength of the “baby boomers”.
The city council and state governments would be wise to include them in their future vision for the state.
K.D. Afford: In light of the soaring temperatures in the interior of the country that are now setting new records and, coupled with the warning by scientists that a 4°C rise is likely by the end of the century, it is time for action.
The current government must face reality and stop running away from evidence so profound that the abolition of the carbon tax will be seen as a criminal offense by those that follow us. They must act to support the voice of scientists.
To Mr Abbott I ask that he eat a bit of humble pie, give up on his mission to make things worse for the future and instead call for bipartisan action to address the catastrophic events that face us with climate change.
Richard Brinkman: A tale of two Holden men (InDaily, 23 November 2013) should remind Australians that foreign capital will flow anywhere its owners damn well please where they can turn a dollar. Americans in particular regard Australia as a vassal state, its value principally as a geopolitical base able to strengthen America’s objectives in our region, especially with regard to containing China.
Michael Schilling: I also enjoyed Darren Starr’s piece, Making Adelaide a City of Choice (InDaily design, 23 November 2013), but it made me think about this city and this State. Adelaide is a great place to raise a family. It is compact, the traffic conditions are much better than in Australia’s other cities, and it has the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa and the southern vales region, not to mention the coastal area around Victor Harbor and the South East.
But it is also a city of compromise that does not and will never have the buzz of Sydney and Melbourne. Many people here have a huge inferiority complex that often results in the rejection of anything practiced and hailed in other States. Then there is a strong tendency to resist change. And SA governments seem to be too timid to pick up a bold idea for fear of voter reaction. But when something is picked up, they do not seem to have the resolve to see it through. Examples are the attempt to turn Adelaide into an IT hub in the mid 1990s, and the drive to make Adelaide a university city of note under Premier Rann. Both of these ideas had ‘legs’ but both were perhaps poorly executed and both fizzled out for lack of political will.
So, where does that leave me? I still believe that Adelaide is a great place to live, but I also still despair over the lack of a ‘can do’ attitude and a never ceasing energy to simply criticise rather than engage in constructive dialogue and praise more often. There are notable exceptions of course and they do help. But there is the hope that these negative and inferiority-based attitudes will change with time with an influx of businesses and people. To advance this State, government, business and community leaders will have to continue to spend effort to bring about the attitudinal changes needed, and that will take time. So, in the meantime, I will continue to enjoy myself in this most liveable city, which has so much potential, but which some of my friends currently, and perhaps cheekily, describe as “Bendigo by the sea”.
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