One Problem Leads to Many Others

I've decamped to regional South Australia for a few weeks to deal with some business interests our family has here.

It's my favourite place to be because it seems more 'real' than the inner city concerns that I encounter most days.

But there are some similarities which came up in conversation over a dinner with some local business owners.

First up, people are worried about the government and the direction of the country. In their mind, the Prime Minister is not what he represented himself to be during the election campaign.

The sense is that he is being true to his Fabian roots while pretending to be something else. It's consistent with the Fabian Society logo of a wolf hiding under the corpse of a sheep.

That duplicity spells uncertainty for business, and uncertainty often leads to a lack of investment because of a lack of confidence in the future.

A number of specific concerns were industry dependent but theycould often be traced back to a common link.

Agri-business were worried about the obvious escalation in the attack on farmers over emissions, livestock and fertiliser use. That's a worldwide trend now finding its way down-under.

Then there's the housing crisis. I was surprised to find it's just as big a problem in regional areas as in our capital cities.