UNSUSTAINABLE POPULATION GROWTH WILL DESTROY OUR PRISTINE BUSHLAND & WAY OF LIFE
Spokesperson for the Pelican / Blacksmiths Progress Association, Mr Chris Osborne, said today that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s endorsement of the the Treasury Secretary’s, Ken Henry, projection that the Australian population will grow by 13 million people by 2049 to 35 million would place amazing pressures on our limited coastal bushland areas, and rich farmlands in the Hunter Valley, all of which would inevitably threaten our way of life.
Mr Osborne said that the Prime Minister had not thought the issue through, and that such off the cuff statements did not help the serious public debate that needs to occur on population policy.
As the leader of the nation he needs to be more careful with how he manages this issue."
Ken Henry even said in his speech that Australia hasn’t even been able to manage the current population in terms of adequate infrastructure and protection of the environment," Mr Osborne said.
And what’s worse if that the leader of the country has come out and endorsed the projection saying that he ‘actually believes in a big Australia’ and he ‘actually thinks it’s good news that our population is growing’."
Mr Osborne said that successive Governments have failed dismally to provide a comprehensive population and sustainability policy. Australia’s population is growing at 1.8% a year, far above the Asian region average of 1.1%, and almost off the First World scale (0.25% p.a. would be more typical).
They have failed at every turn to provide the Australian public with accurate and environmentally sustainable population projects", he said.
And Australia’s capacity to sustain a large population is limited because the continent is largely arid with old, nutrient-poor soils and a variable climate, with only six per cent of the continent is arable."
Mr Osborne called on the Federal Government to establish a Ministry of Population, which would subsume the Immigration portfolio, and to establish a Bureau of Population Research along the lines of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
I am sure the current residents of the region do not want to leave a failed and harsh legacy to their grandchildren and future generations," Mr Osborne said.
