Adelaide most competitive place to do business

Are people still pushing the argument that renewables are to blame for unsustainably high prices? In 2017?

I do like the sound of how Adelaide is positioning itself, personally I think it's underrated from a lifestyle and also economic opportunity pov, if I worked an average job for an average wage I'd live a much more comfortable life in Adelaide than Sydney imo and increasingly Melbourne too, especially if I had a family to raise

 

@sanj I was only just thinking of this a couple days ago.

Majority of my clients are on average incomes $40-80k usually dual income.
But they're able to purchase properties in decent area's <15km from the CBD
Most are still able to purchase a least 1 IP post-APRA, a good amount purchase multiple and a few even complete 1>2 or 1>3 developments.
And most importantly able to live a pretty good lifestyle due to excess income available with the low mortgage and decent yield.

How do you survive in Sydney if you earn <$100k?

 

Exactly. Yes it can be done to live in Sydney on sub 100k but for many earning average wages they are likely not to be in a field so specialised that Sydney is the only.option and the sacrifices that come with living in Sydney on a lowish income would arguably not stack up with the better lifestyle in another city.


How many people spending 15- 20 hours a week commuting to and from work have time left to enjoy what makes Sydney such a popular city?

 

Probably should have said $40-80k p.a bracket instead of sub $100k

Exactly right that commute time adds up. I literally did a calculation when a manager in the CBD asked me to move into head office.
The commute time, transport/parking costs >$20k p.a and that's just Adelaide CBD to my place 12km away.

 

Certainly a factor i have taken into consideration throughout my working career. I have been fortunate that until my current place of employment they have all been located whithin a 10 min drive.

My current employment is a 6 1/2hr drive away, but fortunately i only have to make the trip once a week and the entire cost is covered by my employer.

I think time is a currency that is all too often ignored, i have always valued it above my hourly rate of pay.

 

Also the tight vacancy rates, which have been that way for as long as i can remember. Personally the primary factor i have taken into consideration when calculating the risk/ reward.

 

Yeah; crazy, right?

A bit like folks still hanging on to the belief that Tim Flannery and Al Gore (and the various Climate models) are still worth listening to more than a decade after all their failed predictions....

I fail to see how an increase in Gas costs can affect the cost of electricity...but I am pretty stupid.

 

Solar thermal power plant announced for Port Augusta in SA

"Mr Weatherill said the solar thermal plant was "the biggest of its kind in the world".

"Importantly, this project will deliver more than 700 jobs"


Solar thermal power plant announced for Port Augusta 'biggest of its kind in the world' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

Oh boy, even significantly more expensive power for South Australians!

 

"Amazingly, the contract will deliver power at just $78/MWh – which is around one-half of previous estimates – and significantly cheaper than the gas generation fleet that currently dominates the state’s power needs."

"The operation of the contract will improve competition by adding more capacity to the system from a new market participant. In particular SolarReserve will have a strong incentive to ensure its capacity is running at peak times, which will put downward pressure on peak prices for all consumers."

Giant solar tower to provide all S.A. government electricity needs

 

Jason - that's some grade A spin they're using. They key is that they've pillaged the energy generation in this State so the only remaining options are expensive generation. Quality baseload power which provides more than the this site will complete has a LCOE of less than half of the cost of this gimmick. Every time they put in more programs which don't actually provide any net gains for the environment, they just damage the budgets of every single household in SA.

I'd rather the government take more than five minutes to think of a cohesive broad energy strategy, than jumping from one hair-brained overpriced scheme to another.

The proposed price is meant to be a 20 year contract, it will be interesting to see in the future how the market adjusts if they end up being the monopoly player in the market with limited competition potential.

 

OZ Minerals has given the final approval for the development of the $900 million Carrapateena gold and copper mine in South Australia's mid-north.

"The mine is expected to create up to 1000 jobs during the construction and operation phase."

Copper, gold mine approved in South Aust

 

Me too, used to live out there

Condolences, at least there was beer

Fossil fuels have been massively subsidised in many ways, and still are, but I don't see that recognised anywhere. I'll try to find the peer-reviewed article from about a year ago and post it when I have more time, remind me if I don't

SA did something stupid, which was to decommission existing but ageing fossil-fuel power stations before securing financially viable power supply, and gave the renewable haters the leverage to blame it for this situation. It reminds me of the quandary NGO charities face; in spite of being more efficient than many organisations, society closely measures end-to-end performance and chastises them when they're not 100% efficient, whilst never subjecting private businesses or government organisations to the same level of scrutiny or expectation. It's the scourge of the money donated being seen as being discretionary (in the same way as renewable non-polluting power is), without considering all the life cycle costs or long-term costs.

 

Hybrid office building in Adelaide cuts cord to electricity grid

"Fluid solar has a 1200sq m factory in the nearby industrial suburb of Edinburgh. It has 24 orders for small houses, which range in size from 40sq m to 160sq m.

The houses are powered by similar renewable energy systems as the office building, can be run off-grid and can be built on site in a matter of days.

“Our order book is probably filled till Christmas but we’re certainly looking to have some projects moving into 2018 to keep the momentum going and build production,” Assoc Prof Davies said.

“We’ve looked at 5000sq m as our next step up when demand picks up. I’ve got a joint arrangement with an existing manufacturing business to gear up and help build large volume if we can show the demand.”

Assoc Prof Davies said the small modulated houses had a number of markets including as backyard granny flats, off grid holiday homes and housing for people on fixed incomes.

He said the fast build times, low or no ongoing electricity costs and a price of about AU$1000 per square metre compared with $1200 – $1800sq m for traditional housing made them very affordable.

Fluid Solar has approval to build a 20-apartment complex in Munno Para, which Assoc Prof Davies hopes to have installed before Christmas."


Hybrid office building in Adelaide cuts cord to electricity grid - One Step Off The Grid

 

Steep decline in visitors to Adelaide's CBD: survey

"The proportion of people who say they visit Adelaide's CBD daily is the lowest in a decade, according to the latest city users survey, which also shows a steep decline in people shopping and working in the city."

Steep decline in visitors to Adelaide's CBD: survey - InDaily

 

There are many reasons why this might be the case- i diont know, havnt read the article in detail...but adelaide seems to me the cbd has the most jobs and shopping and entertainment options, so a steep decline in visitors to Adelaide cbd would NOT look good for adelaide.
If this number was increasing, they would be planning all kinds of infrastructure to accomodate that growth.

 

Have you heard of Glenelg?

 

yeah, the beachside suburb, 9km from adl cbd but it would be nowhere compared to the CBD in terms of influence, jobs etc.

If the CBD aint the main engine of a city ( any city), its worrisome. If the CBD isnt growing as the main engine of a city ( or a large growth nearby in terms of jobs and gdp$), then its also worrisome.
Glenelg would be no where near adelaide CBD in terms of power, influence gdp output, jobs,etc..so unless glenelg has some ultra extroadinary growth ( if so, please share as it not easilly accessible on the media), then a sharp decline in Adelaide CBD as the article suggests bodes badly for the city, likely glenelg included, given its only 9km from the city.

 

It is definitely intriguing and yes the cbd itself is traditionally the driver of a region. But it doesnt seem to be the case for SA.

Point in case if you lived in Glenelg and didnt work in the cbd, is there any reason to access the cbd for something that isn't already available within your immediate area?

I think this holds true for nearly all of metro Adelaide. I know personally even the far outer north is becoming so well serviced that it is no longer necessary to travel outside of the area.