Peter, Shepparton is the new norm. Breeding requires investment. In turn, that means investors must assess all the pros and cons and then decide to buy a pup rather than a new TV or whatever. Even then, it is often more a social decision rather than a business one. Administrators believe that fiddling with a few fees and rules will fix the shortfall. Wrong, it won't. It just saves money for people who were going to breed anyway. What they should be doing is finding out why people are not investing (whether old or new people) and then creating programs to reverse the situation. 20 or 30 years ago you might have bought a car with no aircon. Today, you want a reversing camera in a $20k job. And you will get it, too. Kids no longer walk to school - they want a chauffeur. That TV is half the price it used to be - and it's better quality. Your clothes come from Asia, not Australia. Flying to England once cost a year's wages and took the best part of a week. Bradman's team went by boat.
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