Neferti~ wrote:In case you have forgotten how HUGE and isolated country towns in Australia are, SN, in comparison to "little UK" ....Super Nova wrote:The UK decentralized government back office activity into the towns that had little economic activity. It helped some but not all of these towns. Another advantage is a cost reduction to the government, less welfare and lower wages due to lower cost of living. Cheaper rents.
Not a bad thing economically but the draw back was if they weren't before they became leftie towns and provided secure votes for labour in perpetuity. That was also the governments main game plan.
We are not talking about "decentralizing" Government and wiping Canberra out (as it would), we are talking about an area in NSW where Barnaby Joyce presides .... he has a IDEA ... I tend to approve and would expect an INFLUX of Sydneysiders applying for jobs up there.
Isn't that a bonus?
Not everybody has your talents, SN, or income .... but reinvigorating a place like Armidale might give pissed off Sydneysiders an incentive to move (housing and rents would be way cheaper) and create a business of their own and make some money, rather than be on welfare.
why do they only do this in times of unpopularity thats what bugs me.. its a knee jerk...we can ill afford....
Armidale is 5 hours away from Sydney I cant see many moving .. looks like Canberra would be closer...
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I do hope you are right nef....I like Barnaby and think yes its a good idea to not centralise all govts...however its a shame its not brand new... just shuffling the deckchairs.