u/Newworldimpartiality

Ireland: During 2007-2010, the property and construction collapse exposed banking weakness that led to major government support and EU–IMF assistance.

Key variables: house prices -50%, GDP -10%, unemployment up to 15%.

---

Finland: The Finnish example of the early 1990s involved a housing-market collapse, a banking crisis and a deep recession.

Key variables: house prices around -40%, GDP -10%, unemployment up to 20%.

United States: The GFC housing crash contributed directly to mortgage losses, financial-market stress, a deep recession and rising unemployment.

Key variables: house prices around -30%, GDP -4%, unemployment up to 10%.

Australia: The GFC did not produce the same housing/banking crisis. Australia felt economic pain, but avoided the similar outcomes seen in the US and Ireland.

In Ireland, Finland and the United States, housing weakness appeared before the major banking and economic impacts.

During the GFC, Australia largely imported the shock from overseas. The housing market was not the origin of the crisis.

However, Australia's current housing price situation, driven largely by higher interest rates and policy changes, could be a problem because major housing downturns elsewhere have sometimes led to major economic distress.

Is it laziness? Or are people afraid to open themselves to scrutiny with a post and prefer to snipe at others with a comment ?

Footnote: As a proxy for non-homeowners I have used the ABS 2021 Census figures that state 30.6% of households are renting. However, this might overstate the figure for non-homeowners because some of these people will be ‘rent-vesting’.

The US nuked Japan in WWII, used Agent Orange extensively during the Vietnam War, and in 2026 alone has carried out questionable military interventions in Venezuela and with Iran. So, at what point does the US undermine its claim to moral authority in international affairs?

Which part of the ‘Modern Game’ of AFL football did Alastair Clarkson not understand? It appears that everyone else at North Melbourne fully understands the ‘Modern Game’ but for some reason Alastair Clarkson did not get the memo.

The AFL needs to be strong. What has occurred with the Sydney Swans is totally unacceptable and deserves penalties that will make a difference.

To properly make a statement about the violence that has take place against women, we need decisive action. Nothing short of removing premiership points from Sydney and excluding them from the 2026 finals series.

These demographic trends demonstrate that Australia is not simply geographically located in the Asia-Pacific region; it is becoming socially, culturally and more economically connected to Asia.

Australia’s future is therefore being shaped by its relationship with Asia, and by the strong Asian connections within Australia .

So, if Australia does not recognise that its connection to Asia is critical to the future growth and prosperity of Australia, is it possible that Australia will miss many opportunities and fail to reach its potential?

These demographic trends demonstrate that Australia is not simply geographically located in the Asia-Pacific region; it is becoming socially, culturally and more economically connected to Asia.

Australia’s future is therefore being shaped by its relationship with Asia, and by the strong Asian connections within Australia .

So, if Australia does not recognise that its connection to Asia is critical to the future growth and prosperity of Australia, is it possible that Australia will miss many opportunities and fail to reach its potential?

Some people argue that Japan’s response was pragmatic because it prioritised long-term national survival and economic reconstruction over historical grievance.

That is, Japan traded its lack of diplomatic action against the U.S. for guaranteed military security.

However, others argue that post-war Japan completely betrayed the memory of more than 200,000 victims of the bombings while at the same time choosing to be a subservient puppet of the U.S.

If we look at major international investment announcements in Victoria over the past five years, it seem like a significant proportion of the headline investment has been concentrated in a small number of projects, particularly AI infrastructure, Moderna’s mRNA manufacturing facility and the Golden Plains Wind Farm.

Outside of these projects, Victoria appears to have attracted fewer large-scale, internationally mobile private investments than might be expected for one of Australia’s major economies .

While Victoria’s major infrastructure projects have supported economic activity and employment, the longer-term question is whether Victoria can sustain strong economic growth if public investment and government borrowing can not continue to play a major role? The question is whether private investment, especially from offshore, can help to fill the gap.

The opportunity in Western Melbourne is attractive because Melbourne has something Sydney might struggle with - space to continuously build very large AI campuses.

But the deciding factor might be whether Victoria can provide guaranteed, scalable electricity. If it can provide access to hundreds of megawatts, ( and potentially gigawatts), of reliable power in the west, then the Melbourne-Avalon-Geelong corridor becomes much more compelling.

So, can Victoria generate enough power to service the huge demands of these AI hubs?

If successful Melbourne‘s West would be in a position to provide a debt ridden Victoria with a variety of revenue streams through taxation, charges and various other revenue measures.