Mass unemployment stalks South Australia

A few years ago I did some research in Canberra on the effects of ageing populations on the economy and what happens when young people leave. There are parallels. When young peopleleave Adelaide, the population ages. When tens of thousands of young people leave over a 30 year period, (and less than ten per cent return), there are a raft of cultural, social and economic issues. The most obvious effect is capability gaps in the workforce and an inability to recognise patterns. It's not a necessary condition that the population gets dumber – although that is a side effect. It's more a case that the states where the young people go, get smarter and profit from their tax dollars.

Currently, about 5000 people leave SA per year over those who arrive. Yet those aged between 20-30, rarely tell Medicare of a change of address, who in turn notify the ABS. I estimate that the real evacuation rate interstate is around 6000-7000 people per year. This tallies with the findings of SA's Adelaide-based universities, who can't fill many courses with domestic applicants, so they lower the entry scores.

One inconvenient truth, rarely reported, is that Adelaide's arts scene has been decimated over the last three years. The state government is pouring money in to major arts events such as the OzAsia festival and the Festival of Arts but smaller companies are closing, wiping out the 'ground floor' of performing arts in SA.

Conclusion

The lack of choice between the Tweedle Dum of the ALP and the Tweedle Dumber of the Liberals, means the only real political party is the pragmatic, isolationist and nationalist NXT party.

There are no federal or state government welfare plans for the men and their families at Holden and the automotive supply chain. This failure to plan ahead will cripple the state and create an economic blight that will haunt governments for two generations.

In 15 years of writing about economics, generational and organisational change, I have not seen such a raft of wicked and serious problems that now confront South Australia. If there is a devil in economics, it has made a home here. When the history of this state is written, there will be a large and damning chapter on this period.