11 November

Most country towns owe their existence to one or more extractive industries. Agriculture and mining the two biggies. I don’t see them surviving with barista coffee and tourism. It also makes the claims that this is ‘outback living’ highly questionable to me, yes these people are remote from big cities and the coast. But these towns only exist because of cities, they’re one half of urban life. It’s the cities that established the towns and kept them viable. Often they attract people who don’t much like people, and want to live away from them. But they still live lives absolutely dependent on the urban centres. Or people who want many of the comforts of city life, but with fewer people and vehicles and more affordable homes. Thus the gentrification of many of these towns. Like permanent holiday resorts.