[Thermodyne]

Well from what I have seen, it could happen, given the right catalyst. But it would be a long shot. I have family that are Australian citizens, and they would like me to move down under. After a few weeks down under, I was glad to be back up over. America is a mess, but Australia is well on the road to being a second tier third world nation. A free trade agreement with the UsofA would help them a lot, but distance will limit the amount of income that will be created. IMHO based on my observations, Australia is two countries joined by a common government. On one hand you have the cities and on the other hand you have the vast rural areas. And both compete for limited resources. The cities are nice, but the standard of living is not what it is in the US. And in the country, the gap is even wider. If it were not for the low cost of living, people would be complaining very loudly. And if they were voted into the US, it would be as four or five states prolly, not one. That would give them 8 to 10 senators and 25 to 75 congressmen depending on population. Washington will think long and hard about bringing that many new votes into the game that is national politics here in DC. In the climate as it is today, I don�t see Australia being allowed in. It would take a shake up along the lines of a world war or planet wide disaster/event to alter this.