The Greens have weighed into the population debate, saying global growth is threatening Australia's status as the lucky country.
Party leader Bob Brown on Monday will move a motion in the Senate calling on the Rudd government to establish an independent inquiry in Australia's population. He says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's vision of a "big Australia" with a population of 35 million by 2050 isn't sustainable.
"We live in a fantastic continent, privileged above all on the face of this planet," Senator Brown told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
"It's going to take some very wise decision-making to keep it that way. "I'm saying definitively we do not have the infrastructure or plans for the infrastructure to carry 35 million people by 2050."
The Greens want an inquiry to investigate Australia's "carrying capacity" in terms of population impacts on infrastructure, the environment, health and education. It would report back by mid-2011.
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Senator Brown said the world was buckling under a "vast and threatening population weight".
He said Australia's skilled migration program should be cut while the much-smaller humanitarian intake was increased.
Overseas aid should be boosted to help other countries reduce poverty and fertility rates.
Senator Brown denied his tough stance would see the Greens lumped in with the right-wing anti-immigration crowd. "We are a humanitarian party and an environmental party," he said.
"But there is a lot of ignorance which drives fear of discussing population because you'll be labelled 'racist'."
The Tasmanian senator did acknowledge, however, that calling for slower population growth would be popular.
"I've seen the polls, they don't want it (35 million by 2050)," he said.
"People are concerned about it. "It's a debate I get all across the country." 1353
