Waiting for Malcolm

If the National Party had any brains they would champion this policy because it is even more popular in the bush than in capital cities, but they don't. The ALP doesn't either because a few Catholic union leaders veto it. So much for representative democracy.

But there is an economic aspect to this as well. The Hockey idea of a co-payment to see a doctor, while excluding all the people like kids and the elderly who actually see doctors a lot, is nonsense. The greatest waste of health expenditure is the cost incurred by people over the last six months of life. There are examples of people getting hip replacements a month before dying of cancer but the broader question is more complex and must eventually be faced. Why do we spend huge amounts of cash keeping people alive when they are certain to die and in many cases would rather be dead? There is now an extensive literature on this kind of problem, including by doctors who have run intensive care units and other experts.

No-one does anything because it's hard and will draw attacks from religious folk eager to maintain their power over everyone else's lives. But pressure for change is building.

Malcolm is banned from implementing any kind of carbon tax but that is not fatal. The point is to reduce the amount of coal we burn and petrol we put in our cars. Gas can wait. Renewal of subsidies to alternative energy, plus some big solar plants such as those in operation in the US, and the end of Joe Hockey's weird hatred of windmills, would make inroads into coal use.

Weening the nation off petrol is the big challenge. We now import nearly all petrol from Singapore, creating national vulnerability far more dangerous than internal terrorist attack. The oil market is under the control of nations such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran so rationality can't be expected. Current price drops won't last and the long-term prospect can only be upward. Car makers are not making electric and hybrid cars because they are such nice guys.

The nation needs a long-term plan for energy production and consumption. Malcolm could be the ideal person to get this process going but his party will hate the very idea of even discussing reality let alone planning for it. The ALP is so puerile they would probably also attack him for it. The Greens would make only idiotic interjections.

Another big issue waiting for Malcolm is population policy. At current migration rates we have to build the equivalent of a major city every three years. That keeps property developers happy, and they pay a big slice of political party costs.

But even if we ignore the environmental costs of the existing policy, and the completely haphazard way it is implemented, there is a cost to the taxpayer. The best estimate I have seen is a sum of $100 000 per extra person for infrastructure and services. By cutting immigration, costs amounting to tens of billions of dollars could be avoided and we would be able to afford the maintenance and upgrades of existing pipelines etc that are putting pressure on State budgets. Abbott's obsession with road funding could be watered down significantly if immigration was cut to less than 100 000 annually.

Even the Greens go along with the high population growth policy so it is not so much a political issue as a reality issue. The public are way ahead of the chattering classes on this, as on so many issues, and could be appealed to. But there will be enormous pressure on Malcolm to maintain the existing illusions and sectional interests.

With all this and more waiting for Malcolm it is impressive that he still wants the job. The sooner he gets it the better. It's been fun laughing at Tony Abbott and his mates Cory Bernadi, Kevin Andrews and co. but its time to move on. Nothing much will progress until Malcolm has his turn.