Population policy: ‘Civil war’ talks over city growth
Population policy: ‘Civil war’ talk over city growth
- From: news.com.au
- July 21, 2010
- 98 comments
Immigration
Asylum seekers
Labor ended the “Pacific solution” and temporary visas, but kept mandatory detention. There’s been a spike in boat arrivals since 2008. Julia Gillard has a plan to process claims elsewhere.
Border control
Tony Abbott says the spike in boats shows Labor has “lost control” of Australia’s borders and the only way to stop them is to vote for him. He would bring back Howard’s policies.
Big Australia
Forecasts put Australia’s population on track to hit 35 million by 2050. Kevin Rudd was a fan of the idea, but Tony Abbott and most other parties weren’t. Julia Gillard has moved away from a target.
IN the nation’s largest city, the population pressures are building so much that they are starting to talk as though they are caught up in a civil war.
In western Sydney, local leaders are referring to a “common enemy”. But it’s not a shallow rejection of asylum seekers or other migrants, it’s a resentment of the other side of town.
Already home to one in 10 Australians, the city’s west is getting ready to fight the eastern suburbs and north shore for its share of trains, roads and jobs. “There is a common enemy, they live in Woollahra and Mosman,” Christopher Brown, from a tourism and transport forum, said in reference to ritzy Sydney suburbs.
“We should stand up … and say we are not going to take it any more,” he said, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Gillard first to pull population lever
Gillard first to pull population lever
- From: The Australian
- July 21, 2010
JULIA Gillard’s comments yesterday put the issue beyond doubt — she is the first Prime Minister to seek election on the platform of a smaller growing Australia and rejects the current growth model as “irresponsible”.
It seems Gillard’s over-arching election strategy is to slow Australia’s population growth, a populist pitch long available to Australia’s leaders and long resisted.
In the 60-plus years of postwar immigration, infrastructure investment has lagged people arrivals. It always does and it always will. This argument could have been deployed at any time in history to slow population growth but Gillard is the first Prime Minister to pull this lever.
Labor has decided on a poll-driven approach to probably Australia’s most important public policy achievement in its first century.
The issue is not that Australia needs better infrastructure and superior urban co-ordination and environmental planning. It does, undoubtedly.
But Gillard chooses to convert this into a political campaign for lower population growth.
It is a sure winner and a beautiful pitch to Greens, Hansonites and marginal seat voters in the suburbs with its nostalgic invocation of preserving “clean beaches and precious open spaces” that define “our Australian sanctuary”.
Gillard dodges migrant intake question
Gillard dodges migrant intake question
- From: The Australian
- July 21, 2010
- 6 comments
JULIA Gillard has refused to say whether she plans to cut back the migrant intake in line with her argument for a reassessment of population policy.
And the Prime Minister has also stoutly defended her industrial relations regime, insisting her Fair Work Act does not need to be tweaked despite ongoing complaints that its provisions prevent teenagers from taking after-school jobs.
On Tuesday Ms Gillard said in a speech that the nation needed to ask itself whether it was time to stop packing more people into Sydney’s western suburbs when the region’s infrastructure and services were struggling to meet the demands of the existing population.
Gillard to make population pitch
NB Julia is listening to the people.
Gillard to make population pitch
Updated
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is set to deliver a speech in Brisbane today to quell concerns surrounding the stresses on Australia’s cities from a rising population.
There is likely to be a major focus on Australia’s population and immigration levels during the five-week election campaign.
After announcing yesterday that Australia would go to the polls on August 21, Ms Gillard headed to Queensland, which is shaping up to become the key battleground.
Big business controls population policy- Brown
18 July 2010 Big business controls population policy – Brown The fact that Australia’s population is now 800,000 above earlierprojections is due to big business demanding a huge influx of businessand skilled immigrants to match the mining boom in recent yearsAustralian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today. “We will not get a sustainable population if Continue Reading →
Of course population is still a problem
The elephant is still in the room, and will not leave until we make
Of course population is still a problem 7
Photo courtesy James Cridland via FlickrFred Pearce keeps on saying that population growth is no longer a problem. He said it again yesterday as part of his World Population Day message.
In Fred’s view, it’s very simple. Fertility rates have come down sharply over the past half century. Problem solved.
Sorry, Fred, saying that population growth is no longer a problem doesn’t make it so, no matter how many times you say it. Neither does wishful thinking.