PM blasted over population

26 Mar 2010, 1:56 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The Australian Greens say 20th century thinking has stopped the government forming a population policy, after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admitted he hasn't sought advice on a sustainable figure. (AAP)

The Australian Greens say 20th century thinking has stopped the government forming a population policy, after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admitted he hasn't sought advice on a sustainable figure. (AAP)

The Australian Greens say 20th century thinking has stopped the government forming a population policy, after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admitted he hasn't sought advice on a sustainable figure.

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The Australian Greens say 20th century thinking has stopped the government forming a population policy, after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admitted he hasn't sought advice on a sustainable figure.

The nation's population ticked over 22 million in September last year, and is on a trajectory to reach 35.9 million by 2050.

Various groups are calling for a policy to ensure Australia's population growth is sensible, but Mr Rudd believes in the benefits of a "big Australia".

He told Fairfax Radio on Friday he had not sought advice on an ideal figure, despite being asked the question "many times" in the past year.

"I don't have official advice before me as to what is, quote, an ideal population figure for Australia," he said.

"I have simply taken the information provided to me as my predecessors have about where it's headed, and it's a slower growth rate for the next 40 years than it was for the last 40."

Greens leader Bob Brown said the admission was "simply not good enough" and repeated calls for a national inquiry on growth, an idea that has already been put to the Senate.

"There is no overall view on how we're going to handle tens of millions more people in Australia, with hundreds of million of people, including climate change refugees, wanting to come to Australia," he told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

"We've still got 20th century thinking through both the big parties."

The Greens believe Australia's humanitarian refugee intake could be increased, while skilled migration should be cut.

Senator Brown also called for the debate to consider the global population, which would stop expanding so rapidly if countries were lifted out of poverty.

Earlier this week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released an update on the nation's population, which reached 22,066,000 on September 30, 2009.

This was an increase of 451,900 people during the year, keeping the growth rate high at 2.1 per cent.

The majority of the growth, 66 per cent, was due to overseas migration, with the remainder, 34 per cent, due to natural increase, or the excess of births over deaths.

Former NSW Labor premier Bob Carr on Wednesday called for Australia's immigration intake to be slashed by half, while Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who has Australia's fastest growing region in the state's south-east, urged a national approach.
 

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Your Comments

we are not "dumb"!

Milly O - from millyosborne@aanet.com.au, 2 years ago

Immigrants coming to Australia must think we are stupid, if we have a world class educational system, yet at the same time have "skills shortages"! We don't have lack of abilities, but education has become a big business, more interested in profits than educating our own young people. Fees are simply prohibitive, and places are too few owing to the large number of international students. Our politicians are not interested in the long term. They measure their success by economic growth.

Wanted: New Major Party in favour of Reform

Bob Oort - from Georgica NSW, 2 years ago

Just listening to ABC Lateline: Rudd says: "The Australian public is increasingly aware that reform is needed". Good on yah Ruddy, how long have you known? And why then is nothing happening that remotely resembles reform.

"humanitarian refugee intake could be increased"

Icaria - from SA, 2 years ago

That's all well and good in theory and ideal but we're already struggling with issues of social disintegration, as it is. If we're to do this, a massive effort is going to need to be put into avoiding ghettoisation and classism. Cutting skilled migrant programmes could potentially worsen the problem, as they represent a huge pool of potential translators, community liaisons and educators, uniquely suited to dealing with 'cultural divides'.

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