Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Adelaide – Athens of the South’s long, slow decline

By Malcolm King - posted Thursday, 15 December 2011


The Sunday Mail will still be handed out free at the football on Saturday night and people of colour leaving a crime scene will still be described by the electronic media as '"people of Aboriginal appearance." Hoon drivers and cars crashing in to houses will be over reported. Hard news will be under reported.

But the untrained eye will begin to notice more buildings for rent as businesses and shops close down. The CBD will remain a desert at night. There will be jolts as major contracts for defence or mining come to an end.

The signs of decline and fall can already be found in the hollowing out of primary and high school enrolments in the 10km radius from the CBD. Less young people means less students and less students means less schools.

Advertisement

The media will play a role too in the decline of Adelaide as a city-state. It won't report it. It may report the symptoms, but its function as an 'attack dog' over the last twenty five years makes it entirely unsuitable now to change its collar and suddenly start to report. It's a part of the problem – young people know that. That's why they don't buy newspapers or watch TV news.

Without sounding ghoulish, Adelaide needs brains – and lots of them. I don't just mean "Thinkers in Residence," who fly in with a whole lot of whiz bang ideas and then fly out again.

Adelaide's greatest contribution to culture is not through the arts. It is through its ability to attract international students and migrants to settle.

The international education industry poured $1.05 billion into the South Australian economy in 2009/10, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Adelaide continues to attract record numbers of international students, with 34,000 choosing Adelaide as their study destination in 2010.

Rarely have I seen a city so in need of new ideas, new blood and new ways of doing things. Adelaide's innovative spirit has been bred out and it's entrepreneurial heart crushed by nanny state regulation and complacency.

'Adders' must look to Asia for new models of action. It must look for movers and shakers, not in frilly party dresses born from privilege and status. But, draw down the kind of ethos born from single-mindedly and aggressively pursuing a commercial vision.

Advertisement

The academic Pierre Ryckmanns (aka Simon Ley) put it wonderfully when he wrote in an essay on provincialism, "Culture is born out of exchanges and thrives on differences. The death of culture lies in self-centeredness, self-sufficiency and isolation."

Difference is not an easy idea to sell in Adelaide.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. Page 6
  8. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

33 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Malcolm King is a journalist and professional writer. He was an associate director at DEEWR Labour Market Strategy in Canberra and the senior communications strategist at Carnegie Mellon University in Adelaide. He runs a writing business called Republic.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Malcolm King

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 33 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy