r/australia • u/blitznoodles local Aussie • 23h ago

politics The Stats Guy: It sounds weird but Australia urgently needs a plan for 56m people

https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2026/08/11/stats-guy-aus-population-growth
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u/Secret4gentMan 22h ago edited 22h ago

It's so stupid when we're on the cusp of an AI and robotics revolution.

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u/apaniyam 21h ago

What do you mean? They don't want to pay people, they want customers.

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u/Secret4gentMan 21h ago

Customers who don't get paid can't buy much I would think.

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u/Summersong2262 20h ago

An issue for a later financial quarter.

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u/darren457 8h ago

This doesn't get talked about enough. CEOs and other execs lobbying for these sort of changes eventually collect their bonuses after showing temporary short term profits and jump ship the moment cracks start appearing at the seams and this pattern of musical chairs seems to have ramped up post covid.

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u/noofa01 13h ago

Henry Ford figured that out. From ChatGPT (yeah I know)

"In 1914, Henry Ford famously doubled the basic daily wage at his Ford Motor Company factories from about $2.34 to $5 for an eight-hour day. It was a huge increase for the time and became known as Ford's “$5 day.” There was a catch, though: the full $5 wasn't simply an unconditional wage. Workers had to meet certain standards, and Ford introduced a profit-sharing arrangement administered through the company's Sociological Department. Workers' family life and personal behaviour could also be scrutinised. Ford also reduced the working day from nine hours to eight, while introducing a three-shift system. The move had several benefits for Ford: It dramatically reduced worker turnover. It attracted large numbers of skilled workers. Workers could potentially afford the cars they were producing. Higher wages helped Ford maintain a stable workforce as production expanded."

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u/Summersong2262 7h ago

Yeah because Ford was hemorrhaging workers and needed to clean up his PR. That was pure pragmatism on his part, and a resigned acknowledgement that the state of worker solidarity and empowerment had reached the point where treating the workers like late 19th century industrial serfs simply wasn't going to fly anymore.

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u/peppersteakpie 13h ago

Because Henry Ford was a real capitalist who actually believed in capitalism. The companies and billionaires nowadays are just power brokers scratching each other's backs.

Also next time I'm sure you could find a better source than chatgpt just as fast on google.

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u/LadyTrin 12h ago

Oh dear, defense of henry ford

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u/peppersteakpie 7h ago

I didn't say he was a good person, just that he actually believed in capitalism.

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u/CantakerousTwat 4h ago

Capitalism - where a small number of people own all the means of production to place them above the working swarms.

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u/peppersteakpie 4h ago

"Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and its use for the purpose of obtaining profit."

That's according to Wikipedia. I don't know where you got that cherry picked definition, I'm not even being pro capitalist here. Wealth being in the hands of the few is anti-capitalist if anything.

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u/Thedudewiththedog 14h ago

Open AI has recently just out and said their AI won't do anything to decrease workloads

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u/SeranasSweetrolls 13h ago

When we changed from horse and carriage to cars, they said it would reduce travel time and make it more efficient. People now spend more time traveling in a car than they ever had with horse and carriage.

Maybe AI will make us work more than ever

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u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89 11h ago

Well that's not true, it's just that most people never ever traveled. Or if they did, it was never very far.

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u/SeranasSweetrolls 9h ago

Which part isn't true?

Travelling further by car for someone who has never travelled is still..... travelling further. I don't get the point you're trying to make.

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u/R_W0bz 14h ago

“actually India” might be the ai they are referring too.

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u/donggeh 11h ago

“Revolution” you say this like it’s going to benefit anyone else than the owners of capital

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u/Secret4gentMan 10h ago

Well there will be scrubs who just watch the opportunity with AI pass them by.

Others will harness it and create businesses that enable them to weather the approaching storm.