Not all Canadians are white 

Karl Flowers writes: Re. “Chinese real estate invasion? Not according to the data, fellas” (Monday). Bernard Keane highlighted that the Chinese were not the only significant foreign investors in residential real estate. He noted that the Canadians and Americans were also heavily involved in this activity. People familiar with the level of Chinese migration to Canada or anyone who has recently visited Vancouver will suspect that a large share (perhaps two-thirds) of the Canadian investment in Australian real estate is by Chinese-Canadians. Allowing for this factor would help explain the otherwise unusually high level of Canadian investment, as it would be rare that Canadian outbound investment is more than around 20% of USA outbound investment in most investment markets.

This is not enough to invalidate Keane’s key point, based as it is on 2012-13 data, but it does suggest a little more caution than does the headline to the article or one of his conclusions that “and if you lump in the Brits and the Kiwis, investment from ‘white’ foreigners exceeds that from ‘Chinese’ foreigners.”

Peter Matters writes: Foreign real estate investment is restricted to the top end of the market. As such it has little influence on the kind of properties battlers so desperately need to buy.

The real obstacle are the developers imbued by a combination of greed and ignorance, well supported by a 24/7 tsunami of brilliant, one-sided marketing based on their own financial interests. The absence of information on infinitely better and very much cheaper low- and high-density housing has been caused by the developers’ success in suppressing the information of such availability.

Renewable energy is dead

Derek Dutton writes: Re. “Policy uncertainty drives renewable energy investors overseas” (yesterday). When will the Australian media tell the public renewable energy is dead? Europe has removed all subsidies, tax credits and feed-in tariffs. Renewable energy companies shares have dropped 80%, and some gone bankrupt. Finding wind and solar has only increased emissions. Intensive wind power in Denmark has been a terribly expensive disaster.

The Greens will attack Tony Abbott for dropping the Clean Energy Foundation, but there is nothing to spend the money on. Despite the fact nothing has been reducing carbon emissions, the climate’s temperature is in decline. Australia, having Kyoto allowance to increase i’s tiny emissions 8%, never  needed a carbon tax.

Don’t weep for the chair sniffer

Phil Gray writes: Re. “Crikey says: there’s something about Troy” (yesterday). Don’t weep for Troy. Does he have issues? Yes he does. But so do millions of other Australians, many of whom do not have the same resources at their disposal as Buswell does to help confront his demons. Buswell’s only problem is that he doesn’t want to confront them and so revisits (ad nauseum) the kind of conduct that has caused him to lose his position. Don’t be under any illusions that had a member of the great unwashed with “issues” been seen allegedly driving erratically, “smoking” the tyres of their car and smashing into a fence, the coppers would be so lenient. Western Australia will be far better off without him in Parliament.