Theoretically, Keynesian economics is all about supply and demand and the marketplace will work the rest out. That sounds dandy but the waters in todays marketplace are decidely muddied. We have long celebrated our right to freedom of choice but I think many people don't realise that the oligarchies/monopolies including include Coles and Woolies are seriously starting to dilute our freedom of choice and sense of community. Many rush to get cheaper bread, milk and petrol but I don't think they stop and think how these prices can be sustainable in the long term. They must ultimately come at a price.
Woolies in Maleny opened about 6 years ago and at the time they were on record, in response to local opposition, saying that they were prepared to run at a loss for 4 years because that's the amount of time it takes to wipe out the smaller independent supermarkets such as IGA. If you take a stroll in the main street of Maleny today, IGA is still there and flourishing while Woolies must still be happy to lose money. Not a lot of people in there at all, ever. I have shopped there for items that I would have had to drive down to the Coast to otherwise buy. However I think this happy ending is probably few and far between when looked at nationally. It works in Maleny because of the nature of the people who choose to live there and why they choose to live there. I refuse to buy Wesfarmers or Woolies shares because of this unfailing greed but do realise that it would take a groundswell of opposition for them to make any difference in their corporate strategies. That's why I live where I can make a difference. And it's important to me. A lot of people who talk the talk about the dominance of multi-nationals fail to walk the talk. I live in near Montville about 10 kms across the Ramge from Maleny, about 600 households in total and our community has walked the talk. It took 2 hears of petitions and Council meetings for the Village Association to convince the then premier of Queensland, Peter Beatie, to call in the approval granted by the then Maroochy Shire Council for a 18 hole golf course and housing development by a Victorian company Links, who at that time had financial backing from Babcock and Brown. Links has similar developments in Victoria and NSW I think. Similarly, we successfully petitioned the Qld state government for an Iconic status designation, along with Port Douglas and Noosa, which has laid to rest any future sub-divisions and housing development within our boundaries. So what I'm saying is that we can make a difference if we choose to. We just need to convince more people to do the same.
