He said ”the extreme and radical rate of population growth” meant more high-rise apartment blocks, overcrowded transport networks and loss of parklands were inevitable, and it was time for a national debate about whether this was what people wanted.
Mr Bourke said he and a small group of like-minded people expect to reveal the name and plans for the party within three weeks and where they want to run candidates.
He refused to say who else was involved organising the party or to detail its policies beyond cutting most levels of immigration, apart from the numbers of refugees, to ensure Australia’s population would remain at about 23 million over the long term.
The entrepreneur Dick Smith has backed the plans to form the party as ”a good idea” because it might finally force the government and the opposition to publicly discuss an issue they refused to touch.
”I reckon Kevin Rudd’s realised nine out of 10 people don’t want a big Australia,” he said.
Concern about population projections had increased along with concern about the impact of global warming. ”There was the hypocrisy of the PM going to Copenhagen saying he wants to reduce global warning and double the population. You just can’t do it,” he said .
Last week Mr Smith launched the second edition of Overloading Australia, a book by Mark O’Connor and William Lines, which argues that Australia has the highest rate of population growth of any comparable country and that it should peg its population at present levels.
Joining him at the launch were other like-minded thinkers including the former NSW premier Bob Carr, singer John Williamson and Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan.
He said the fear of being branded racist had scared environmental groups from discussing the issue of population increase despite its huge impact on the natural environment.
Mr Smith said all governments encouraged high levels of growth because that was what big business wanted, especially property developers, who depended on an ever-increasing demand for accommodation to maximise their profits.