The Real Threats to Australia

I logged into Facebook this morning and the screen lit up with irate comments from all my Brisbane-based friends about the G20 and the extreme levels of security being deployed in and around the city. Many of them regretted the fact that they didn't get out of town for a few days, as apparently it almost impossible to move around up there. I can't blame them, when going down to the local supermarket and buying a carton of eggs becomes a crime then the world has definitely gone mad. Guys, better put your hankering for an omelette on hold for a few more days until Putin and Obama split town.

In the current paranoid environment, it is of course unsurprising that Brisbane has been inundated with police is for the duration of the G20 talks. Every other day in the press we are bombarded with stories about ISIL or another renegade Muslim sect wanting to blow up some building or other that it is no wonder people are on edge. The coup-de-gras came the other day when I was riding the escalator down to the platform at Parliament station and the walls were littered with entreaties to dob in a terrorist. If one were a cynic (and its hard not to be where politicians are concerned), you might draw the conclusion that these ads were deployed by the Napthine government to scare the bejesus out of voters and cause them to keep the status quo and re-elect the Liberals in a couple of weeks.

I don't dispute that there are a lot of bad people in the world, not to mention a lot of crackpots, and that many of these wish harm towards their fellow man. But I seriously have to question whether the threat they pose is so serious as to justify the sort of rubbish that the inhabitants of Brisbane are having to endure this week, or that we all have to submit ourselves to every time we want to get on an aeroplane.

You also have to wonder about the motives of intelligence organisations like ASIO. I am a firm believer in the Steven Levitt school of thought that people respond to incentives, and faced with the opportunity to grow its budget and increase its power, what do you think ASIO is likely to do? Send out soothing press releases that the terrorist threat is a beat up and we should all just relax a bit? Of course not, it is going to stir the pot as much as it can and thereby increase its share of the hapless taxpayers' money. This is made all the more worrisome by the fact that ASIO has a rich and long history of major cock-ups but at the same time, by virtue of its mandate, doesn't have to be held accountable for what it does.

What concerns me the most about all this focus on threats from outside our borders is that it is taking attention away from what I see are the real threats to this country - which to my mind are all internal and have nothing whatsoever to do with national security.

Subject to commitments with work and the endless round of Christmas parties that go on in the property industry, I intend to elaborate on some of these things in the coming weeks. However, if people are really looking for something to worry about, they should consider the following:

• The economy: the dramatic slowdown in mining activity combined with the corrosive effects of a high Australian dollar has horribly exposed just what a "one trick pony" the Australian economy has become. Now that mining investment has dropped off, it is really hard to identify any industry in this country that is doing well, except perhaps housing which is being driven by the emergency low interest rates needed to try and stimulate the rest of the economy. The key in times like this is for people to innovate and come up with clever ideas to stimulate business activity, however the 3 groups with the biggest pools of money to help fund entrepreneurs in the banks, the government and the super funds are so risk averse that it almost impossible for anyone with a good business idea to secure funding.
• Infrastructure: its really hard to think of any major port, transport or other major infrastructure which isn't related to mining that is underway or on the drawing boards. For example, for years it has taken 50% longer than it should to fly to Sydney because of choked up runways, yet the desperately needed second airport is no closer to happening than 30 years ago when it was first proposed. There just doesn't seem to be the political will or intelligence at any level of government to try and make these things happen, and this is a real concern considering Australia's population is still growing strongly - and all these people coming into the country mostly want to live in the big cities. 
• The environment: if you subscribe to the view of 98% of the world's scientists that the climate is a serious issue and we really ought to be doing something about it, then our lack of action in this area is a real worry and will leave us on the outer with the major world powers. It was interesting to see this week the Chinese starting to take the issue seriously and while the deal they have struck with Obama has no chance of getting through the US Congress, it is a definite sign that the large countries see this as a priority and not as a load of "crap", as our foot-in-mouth prime minister once described it.

The list could go on and on, but as it is Saturday afternoon and I have some domestic matters of my own that I need to worry about such as a filthy swimming pool and a garden that is starting to grow triffids, I will have to leave it there. I sincerely hope that life gets back to normal in Brisbane very soon and that Napthine or Andrews gets rid of those stupid ads at Parliament Station  when the election is over in a couple of weeks.

These will be small wins, but the bigger stuff like being allowed to buy eggs in peace and being able to flip the bird at those annoying tits at the airport who scan you for gunpowder will need to wait until our political leaders put ISIL in proportion and start focussing instead on the real problems in this country. God knows when that will be.