More than 2 children "irresponsible"

The UK government's green advisor, Jonathon Porritt, says couples who have more than two children are irresponsible. He recommends more abortions and contraception as a means to save the environment.

I wonder what he thinks about Australia's baby bonus. ;-) My advice to the UK government is don't abort them. Send them to Australia. Our government will pay good money for them.

Rudd Calls for More Regulation

News.com.au reports that Kevin Rudd has had enough time over the past few months to write a 7000 word essay on the end of the free market in Australia. In the new work, it is claimed, he declares "a new era of re-regulation". "The time has come, off the back of the current crisis, to proclaim that the great neo-liberal experiment of the past 30 years has failed, that the emperor has no clothes", he is quoted as saying, "Ironically, it falls to social democracy to prevent liberal capitalism from cannibalising itself."

Now, it is all well and good to produce a document reaffirming what has been labor party policy since day one, but I wonder if he could have better timed the release of this statement. It comes as businesses all over Australia are trying to refinance loans. I wonder how foreign investors will feel about lending money to Australian companies when our prime minister has just announced a new era of regulation, without specifying details.

Making an unqualified statement that you will soon increase regulation merely introduces a new cost; regulatory risk; which will have to be priced into the financial markets and loans made by foreign investors to Australian companies. It is beginning to look like very poorly thought out communications strategy from the PM's office.

Australia Day 2009 "riots"

For most Australians, the national holiday is a well earned chance to relax. Many choose to head to the beaches, and in the larger population centres, the 'many' turns into a crowd.

Now, a lot of Australians like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage or two on their national holiday, and, as a result, the occasional fight breaks out. News reports from as far away as the UK report "100's" of youths clashing at Manly, in Sydney, and Burleigh Heads, near Brisbane.

Yet a look at the number of arrests tells a different story. Apparently there were only 4 people arrested at Burleigh. Two 16yo boys, a 15yo boy, and a 15yo girl, after a minor scuffle, something that happens in schoolyards on a daily basis. This is hardly a riot, so why is the MSM attempting to make it look like one? You be the judge.

Welcome to Strategy Australia

This blog is intended as an open comment forum for discussion of a broad range of topics related to Australia. First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Benjamin Melville and I am a 27 year old economics student based in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

My objective is to bring Australia's most important news to forefront, invite comment and keep it on the agenda long after the mainstream media has moved on. I will try to keep the blog posts as politically neutral as possible, but I will most certainly allow politically biased posts in the comments section, no matter what end of the spectrum you root for. I hope to maintain real-time comments, so please don't abuse my generousity :-).