Adventure Ausrama Blog

I do not often agree with Christopher Pyne on government policy, Dare I say, I have "never" been in favor of his hair-brained ideas until now. Indeed, I would take his latest plan even further. He is attempting to make maths and science compulsory for students in years 11 and 12. These two critical subjects should be part of the core curriculum in all years of school throughout primary and secondary education. I may say "When I was a lad..." Yet on this point I believe I have a solid foundation. When I was at school maths and science were for everyone. Advanced maths and science were only for those who proved themselves capable of effectively coping with the main subject areas. When my children were at high school there were five grades of maths in years 8 to 12. Many students, with their parents' guidance I may say, chose a level too high for them to cope with in the next year. This ruined their whole higher education. If one attempts a higher ...

There are calls from many quarters for keeping Australia's car industry alive. I am not so sure that a country needs its own motor industry anymore. Times have changed. No vehicle is made entirely in one country today. The days of getting prestige from it are long gone. Propping up a floundering car sector is against all practical economic and social theory. It doesn't make sense to spend taxpayers money in such a wasteful way. Holden and Ford continue to take handouts while still not making any profit. Ford has already gone. The days for Holden are numbered. Holden was never a truly Australian car. It was an old General Motors design left in a drawer collecting dust until it was thrown on the table at a meeting in Australia. Australia has never been a manufacturing country. It is not like Britain which has very in the way of natural resources so must generate income somehow from industry. Large businesses have only been in the primary sector. Exporting wh...

Many university students cannot do simple arithmetic or write a complete sentence. Without using spelling checkers, spelling is atrocious. This is because the school leaving test is overwhelmed by "choice" subjects. Oddly, English literature is preferred by many over plain English. Many history teachers cannot spell or understand correct grammar. They say they teach history not English. A large proportion of students have been accepted into university science and health when they have not done maths, i.e., applied arithmetic, in high school. The usual solution at university is to send you to the remedial teacher who throws up his hands and says you do not know the basics. Students usually go to or pay other students to correct their assignments before handing them in. The problem here is that examinations have to be passed though they have been brought down to the ridiculously low level of 10 per cent of the total subject mark. It has been made too easy to ge...

According to the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey we have never been able to buy so much with our income. Over the last decade income inequality has hardly changed, Wages have risen faster than inflation. Of course, we know that announced inflation is lower than real price rises. Although Australia's debt is low compared to other developed countries, less than half of Australians believe this. Despite the good times, many are feeling down and depressed feeling that the country is not doing well economically. This is probably due to the negative political arena at the moment with any bad news being blown out of proportion, with political blame and counter denials being kept uppermost in people's minds. We should be happy but the minority, politicians, are pulling us down. Things are certainly changing now with Chinese demand for primary products falling as well as prices producers receive. The new government, in September, will have to deal with ...