No 50

SUSTAINABLEPOPULATION

AUSTRALIA

The Newsletter of Sustainable Population Australia Inc(formerly: Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population Inc

Page 1

June 2001

Patrons:Professor Frank FennerProfessor Ian LoweProfessor Tim FlanneryDr Mary WhiteDr Paul Collins

Dr Mary White: SPA Patron

Dr Mary White addresses SPAConference in March 2001

SPA members will be delighted and heartened that Dr MaryWhite, scientist and well know author of many books on

the environmental challenges facing Australians, has joinedour other prestigious patrons.

Mary White grew up in Southern Rhodesia and attended theUniversity of Cape Town where the subject of her MastersDegree thesis in Botany was Palaeobotany.It was supervised by Professor Alex duToit, a ‘father’ of Continental Drift, andfrom this chance association a lifetime’sinterest in Gondwana and its environmentsand biota has evolved. After University, aninterest in systematic botany in Africa,travelling and living in the wilds with hergeologist husband and young children,provided more background to understandingsouthern flora.

The White family came to Australia in 1955and from 1956 until the 1980s Mary Whitewas a consultant to the Bureau of MineralResources in Canberra, reporting on fieldcollections of plant fossils and producing 55 BMR Records.She was also part-time consultant to mining companies, whileraising five children. As a Research Associate of theAustralian Museum in Sydney since 1975, she has curated atthe plant fossil collections, establishing a fully documentedresearch collection of 12,000 specimens and writing scientificpapers on her discoveries in the collection. This work showedher that there was no book which presented the big,interdisciplinary, picture of the evolution of a continent and its

flora through time, and inspired The Greening of Gondwana.

Since 1984, Mary White has been a full-time writer andlecturer, presenting her interests in the prehistoric world andthe evolution of the Australian continent and its biota to theenjoyment of everyone interested.

The Nature of Hidden Worlds and Time in Our Hands (onthe fossil record and semiprecious gemstones) and fourchildren’s books followed The Greening of Gondwana. An

account of how Australia became the driestvegetated continent, After the Greening,The Browning of Australia was publishedby Kangaroo press in 1994 and won theEureka Prize. (The Nature of HiddenWorlds has been released as Reading theRocks — Kangaroo press 1999 and Timein Our Hands is to be re-released in 2001)Listen ... Our Land is Crying, on theAustralian environment, its problems andsolutions, followed in September 1997. Itscompanion volume Running Down - Waterin a Changing Land — was launched onthe 23rd of October 2000 by Dr GrahamHarris, Chief of CSIRO Land and Water.It covers palaeodrainages, ancient river

systems, what our rivers were like at the time of Europeansettlement, and how they are today, groundwater and allaspects of Australia’s most precious resource. Listen andRunning Down explain how the geological history of thecontinent pre-determined many of the problems that European-style land and water use have caused.

The Greening of Gondwana, After the Greening, Listen

Continued Page 8

The SPA Newsletter is mailed quarterly to members of SustainablePopulation Australia Inc.Membership is open to all who agree with SPA’s aims and objectives.For further information, please contact the SPA National Office oryour nearest SPA Branch.All membership applications and renewals, and Newslettercontributions, should be sent to the National Office.

Newsletter Editor: John Coulter

SPA NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: Dr Harry CohenPhone (08) 9381 9729 bhHarry.Cohen@health.wa.gov.au

Vice President: Dr John CoulterPhone/fax (08) 8388 2153coulters@camtech.net.au

Secretary: Hugh Oldham (02) 6281 3319oldhamwh@austarmetro.com.au

Treasurer: Sue Nancarrow (02) 6247 0333Committee: Ana Guinea (02) 9939 6889 ah

Dr Patricia Weaver (08) 9386 1890Sandra Kanck (08) 8336 4114 ahSheila Newman (03) 9783 5047

SUSTAINABLE POPULATION FUND TRUSTEESMiss Margaret Brewster Dr RRC (Rafe) de Crespigny

Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC, CBE

SPA NATIONAL OFFICENational Director: Jenny GoldiePostal address: PO Box 297 CIVIC SQUARE ACT2608Office: 256 Baroona Rd, Michelago, NSW 2620Phone: (02) 6235 5488 Fax: (02) 6235 5499Email: info@population.org.auWebsite: http://www.population.org.au

SPA REGIONAL BRANCHES

NSW: Ph (02) 99396889, PO Box 3070 DURAL NSW 2158,tomistrugar@hotmail.com President: Tomi Strugar.WA: Ph (08) 9364 3716, PO Box 1397 SUBIACO WA 6904,weaverp@cygnus.uwa.edu.au. President: Dr Harry Cohen.VIC: Ph (03) 9783 5047, Fax (03) 9783 4556, PO Box 238 BerwickVIC 3806, pcarter@melbpc.org.au Website www.vicnet.net.au/~aespop. President: Peter Carter.S-E QLD: Ph (07) 5530 6600, Fax (07) 5530 7795, PO Box 199MUDGEERABA QLD 4213, aesp@onthenet.com.au. President:Simon Baltais.NTH QLD: Ph (07) 4775 5059 (ah), PO Box 1839 AITKENVALEQLD 4814. President: Russell Cumming.SA: Ph 0414 952 111, 17 Currawong Ave GLENALTA SA 5052,carmeng@camtech.net.au. President: Paul George.CANBERRA: Ph (02) 6235 5488, Fax (02) 6235 5499, PO Box 297CIVIC SQUARE ACT 2608, colinsett@one.net.au President:Gifford Jones.

EditorialJohn Coulter

A challenge to SPA members

Recent polls have consistently shown that a Labor win ismost likely in the forthcoming Federal election. Morgan

Poll has the L-NP on 32%, the ALP on 44.5%, Democrats10%, Greens at 4%, One Nation 5.5% and support for OtherParties and Independent Candidates at 4%. On a two-partypreferred basis, support for the L-NP is 40.5% and supportfor the ALP 59.5%; a landslide win for Labor if these figureshold.

Labor Leader, Beazley has said that Labor would adopt apopulation policy but has preempted what that policy willcontain by announcing a larger immigration intake and anattempt to stimulate a higher fertility rate at home. SPAmembers will be alarmed that our next government is thereforelikely to take us further away from an environmentallysustainable future for our country and our children. This Labordirection shows the party turning its back on its traditionalsupporters and playing to the big end of town. The light onthe hill is being snuffed as the party snuggles up to the brightlights and support of real estate speculators, the buildingindustry, and retail and media interests, in turn supported bythese businesses.

In this issue, the article by Sheila Newman comparesimmigration in France and Australia and shows that in Francewhere urban and country planning are strong and governmentis a major provider of public housing, the pressure to increasepopulation size does not exist. By contrast, in Australia whereboth urban planning and public housing have been emasculatedand run down by Labor and Coalition governments since thedays of Whitlam and Dunstan, real estate speculation, togetherwith strong pressure for private building and constructioninterests have lobbied intensely, and largely effectively, forhigh immigration. Her article shows that the reason for thiseffectiveness lies in the fact that the costs of high immigration,while large in total, are spread thinly across a large population,while the benefits are concentrated in the hands of a few. It isthese few who lobby hard, while the voices of the many remainmuted.

Furthermore, immigration continues the dispossession ofAustralia’s indigenous people. Non-indigenous Australiansstole this land from its previous owners and now we invitemore and more of our own kind in to share the spoils. Neitherof the old parties, with their economic rationalist ideology, wantimmigrants with indigenous attitudes toward land andenvironment. But they actively welcome business and skillmigrants who share the same exploitative values asthemselves. The ATSIC submission to the Jones Inquiry into

Continued Page 8Page 2

Immigration, Housingand Land Speculation:

Comparison of Australiaand France

by Sheila Newman, member SPANational Executive & former

President of the Victorian Branch

Soon after the Second World War,France and Australia encouraged

population growth. In both countries,immigrants were brought in to supplylabour for manufacturing industries.Australia also wanted to increase the sizeof its local market. Both France andAustralia wanted a bigger domesticpopulation for defence reasons. Francefeared Germany’s higher birthrate;Australia feared the high birthrates ofits Asian neighbours.

High immigration was a feature of bothcountries’ population policies until theearly 1970s. Then, following the first oilshock in 1973, France drastically reducednon-European immigration. Australia toocut immigration but then restored highlevels after 1975.

Why did immigration policies of thesetwo countries diverge so markedly?Much of the answer lies in theirrespective housing and land developmentpolicies.

Political scientist, Gary Freeman, haswritten extensively on immigrationidentifying ‘diffuse’ and ‘focused’ costsand benefits. Diffuse costs are borne bythe general public and are difficult toquantify while focused costs are thoseborne by certain groups and are easy toidentify. The groups affected are able toorganise and lobby against them.Similarly, where benefits are focused, thebeneficiaries lobby in favour of them.

Freeman argues that high immigrationbecomes entrenched in countries whereits benefits are narrowly focused but itscosts diffuse. This is true of Australia.Freeman says, “businesses like realestate and construction benefit frompopulation growth”. In France, on the

other hand, real estate and constructionbusinesses do not benefit from highimmigration since land development isstate planned. Because they receiveno focused benefit from higherimmigration, neither they, nor any othersignificant group, lobbies for higherimmigration.

In the early part of the 20th century, theFrench instituted a system of landdevelopment planning whereby thenational government coordinated andplanned land-use and development inconsultation with local government. Itgrouped land for similar purposes -agriculture, housing, wooded reserves,conservation of existing open spaces.

This planning system was modelled onHaussman’s famous restructuring ofParis between 1853 and 1869. Thegovernment has the power to acquireland cheaply for public purposes,including housing. There are taxes onunearned improvements in land value.

Companies with more than tenemployees are required to pay one percent of salaries in tax to subsidiseemployee housing. Industry also hasmajor infrastructure obligations inlocalities where it sets up plant.

This planning philosophy was built on theconcept of “social solidarity”: that thosewho have become rich in a society owea debt to the society as a whole, for theirwealth has been acquired through manyanonymous acts of co-operation overtime. It provided an important rationalefor taxing speculative profits.

In France, housing is regarded as ahuman right where the State has a dutyto see that all citizens are provided withhousing. It does this by buildingdwellings and by subsidising rents andpurchases at all levels. Mortgages arestate-guaranteed in cases of hardshipand home loans are provided at lowinterest.

While there is a private home-buildingmarket, the public housing system serves

principally the lower socio-economicstrata, which is that of the traditionalimmigrant worker.

After the Second World War there wasa severe housing shortage in both Franceand Australia. In France, this lack ofhousing presented an obstacle toimmigration and population building.Although employers were expected toprovide housing for immigrant workers,they often failed to do so. French citizenswere given priority in housing.

In 1962, when the French colony Algeriabecame independent, nearly one millionFrench colonials and a few hundredMoslem refugees landed in France. Thisadded to the already severe housingshortage. In 1975 a flood of South EastAsian refugees added to the influx.

The repatriates from Algeria werefrequently just as resented andtraumatised as the Moslem refugees. ButMoslems and other immigrants, if theydid not have French citizenship, went tothe bottom of the housing pile, to thebidonvilles, as the French call slums.There were fights, strikes, murders andfires associated with dreadful livingconditions.

The Left saw the violence anddegradation of the bidonvilles as a wayto shame the right-wing government.They called for more housing forimmigrants. This was financially costlyand difficult to achieve logistically sincemost local councils (communes) did notwant immigrant housing. Immigrantswere concentrated in communist localgovernment areas and their mayorswanted other neighbourhoods to takeresponsibility for immigrants as well.

Non-naturalised immigrants may not votein local elections in France. Attemptswere made to induce immigrants ofbidonvilles to naturalise in return forhousing but many were reluctant toapply. Problems finding suitableaccommodation were a legal impedimentto family reunion.

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NET TOTAL[PERMANENT] IMMIGRATION FRANCE (INSEE)

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In 1973 Algeria stopped emigration toFrance on the grounds of racist treatmentof Algerians. That same year, Ger-manyand the other European EconomicC o m m u n i t y(EEC) countriesformally closedtheir borders tonon-EEC foreigni m m i g r a n tworkers. In 1974,France did thesame.

André Postel-Vinay, the Ministerresponsible forimmigration, saidc e a s i n gimmigration was apreventative necessity due to: thedoubling of the third world’s populationby late in the 20th century; the likelihoodof profound and lengthy economic crisis;and the problem of the public housingshortage for both French and foreigners.This became the long-term policy inFrance and the EEC.

In 1974, following closure of its bordersto non-EEC immigrants, Frenchimmigration was the lowest since thewar. Natural increase was also low, andthus demand for new houses felldrastically. There had been almost noprotest about the closure of the bordersby the housing industry that had neverbenefited from immigrants.

Unlike the Australian propertydevelopment and housing industries, theFrench residential construction andproperty development industry did notseek to bolster itself with internationalloans, from Japan, for instance. InAustralia Japanese constructioncompanies provided important conduitsfor international loans for constructionprojects in Australia during the 1980s.The chart below shows how theAustralian housing industry maintaineda high production rate, in contrast to theFrench housing industry, which wasforced to adapt to new conditions.Instead, the French and West European

residential construction industriesrationalised, regrouped and restructured.They refocussed their designs andprojects on energy-efficient renovation

of existing structures.

Australia’s property development andhousing system, unlike that of France, ishighly privatised and motivated by landspeculation.

Although housing was affected by thedepressions of the 1890s and 1930s,between the 1860s and the 1890s therehad been a land speculation and buildingboom. This boom was largelyimmigration-dependent. Then gold ranout and drought set in. In the context ofan international depression, immigrantsdried up and Australians left the easternstates in search of gold elsewhere.

The 1903 the Royal Commission into theDecline of the New South Wales birthrate decided that the economicdepression was due to a “birth dearth”,and they immediately bannedcontraception and attempted toencourage high immigration.

Most of the members of the Commissionwere directors on the boards ofcompanies and banks which had tied theirwealth up in property speculation - soboosting immigration and the birth ratewas a personal issue for the membersof the Commission

After 1945, with the long boom, high

immigration and the housing shortage,the speculative conditions of the 1850sgoldrush were soon re-established. Theproperty development industry became

heavily dependent oni m m i g r a t i o n - f e dpopulation growth.

The combination of ababy boom andsustained high im-migration meant that,in 1973, land pricesincreased by 46 percent in Melbourneand 34 per cent inSydney. In outermetropolitan areas,the demands of rapidpopulation growth

exceeded the availability of servicedblocks. The Whitlam governmentattempted to bring about changes to landdevelopment, urban planning and publichousing to remove opportunities for landspeculation.

In this they were bitterly opposed by,among others, the Hamer governmentin Victoria which was later implicated ina variety of scandals involvingspeculation and public housing.

The Whitlam government alsoattempted, like the French, to drasticallyreduce immigration in order to protectlocal employment.

Also, like France, it attempted to makeAustralia energy self-sufficient and torein in oil use. A project to create a vastpipeline network round the continent todistribute natural gas was proposed bythe first Minister for Minerals andEnergy, Rex Connor.

The Cabinet minutes of the infamousKhemlani loan of 1975, which ultimatelybrought the Whitlam government down,reveal a very distinctive policy:

“...to deal with exigencies arisingout of the current world situation and theinternational energy crisis...[and] toprovide immediate protection for

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FRANCE: NEW DWELLING CONSTRUCTION & TOTAL ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH 1959-1997

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Australia in regard to minerals andenergy and to deal with current andimmediately foreseeable unemploymentin Australia.”

Whitlam cut back immigration “due tothe advent of world recession”, whilst“the Australian Population andImmigration Council was established toassist the government in the accurateassessment of Australia’s immigration

and population needs.”But the Whitlam government wassacked and these policies, which somewith hindsight would say showedforesight, were dropped.

The succeeding Fraser government leda return to high-energy consumption anda population building policy. States viedfor the foreign capital of Japaneseconstruction companies. Australia soughtto attract investment by offering cheapenergy leading to massive infrastructuredevelopment for rural industries.

As the economy was opened up to freemarket forces, speculation and housingprice inflation increased, with strongencouragement from Treasury.

In Australia, the private developmentand housing industries flourish in thevirtual absence of public housingcompetition. Although the Australian

immigration rate drives private home-buying prices up, there is no strongnational perception that populationgrowth is costly - except perhapsenvironmentally.

Meanwhile, clearing of land, rezoningand speculation continue unabated, aidedby the States. For instance, theDepartment of Infrastructure in Victoriaprovides a mirage of statistical trends

that make Victorians believe populationgrowth is inevitable. It prepares barelyreferenced documents like ChallengeMelbourne to encourage the surrenderof yet more land to urban developments,with more houses per square meter.

And, like the Kennett Liberal governmentin Victoria, the Bracks’ Laborgovernment aggressively endorses highimmigration and population growth. Atthe national level, Kim Beazley, LaborLeader of the Opposition, calls for abigger population, as did Paul Keating,Robert Hawke, and Malcolm Fraser,three of the Prime Ministers betweenWhitlam and the incumbent JohnHoward.

Meanwhile in France, no one except theUnited Nations is talking up population,and France’s population is on a courseto decline to 1960’s size.

Post-script: It is interesting to note thatin 1996 France’s external debt was$117.6 billion. That of Australia, with athird the population, was $222 billion in1999, nearly twice as big. France hadnet exports of $23.9 billion in 1999 andAustralia had net exports of minus $9billion.

The longer paper is 43 pages longand will be available in .pdf formfrom the national website orelectronically from

smnaesp@alphalink.com.au

Page 5

Visit New SPA Website athttp://www.population.org.au

Join a population Email dis-cussion group through this

By Jill Curnow

Cartoon courtesy Mount Barker Courier

Australians note the environmentaldamage caused by loss of native

species and deplore any further clearingof natural vegetation in order to establishcrops or infrastructure. Regions rich innative biodiversity provide us withaesthetic satisfaction, recreationalopportunity, clean air, water catchment,habitat for other species and astorehouse of genes. Many of these

functions can be provided by areas ofintroduced vegetation but exoticbiodiversity is less prized.

However, while we deplore ‘clearing’,we all live, work and travel on clearedland. Almost everything we consumehas been grown, harvested, transported,processed, quarried, mined, smelted,manufactured, transported, sold orconsumed on areas where native specieshave been partly or wholly eliminated.

Our Habitat: Cleared Land

Australians now live wealthy,comfortable lives because earliergenerations, here and overseas, clearedland to build infrastructure and producegoods. The loss of habitat for otherspecies has provided habitat for us.

In most cases land cannot serve bothbiodiversity and us at the same time. Amine site may be rehabilitated after themine has closed but while it is operatingit provides habitat for almost nothing.Cities provide for a few species —ornamental trees, cockroaches, rats,pigeons, but this is hardly biodiversity. A

wheat field can tolerate beneficial soilorganisms and insects but not speciessuch as kangaroos or parrots that willconsume the crop. Suburban gardenscan be home to native plants, birds andlizards but higher density in Australiancities is eliminating gardens.

Over the last two hundred years clearingand development were regarded ashighly desirable, but now the cumulativedamage has become apparent and public

opinion has swung towardsconservation. Those who proposefurther clearing, whether farmers,developers or loggers, are regarded asvillains, and there are powerful reasonsto resist their proposals.

However there is a danger that weappear hypocritical and cruel if we seekto impose the cost of our (relatively new)conservation ethic on a small proportionof the population, and we often do. If afarmer seeks compensation or financialassistance to meet new conservationrestrictions he may meet an angry

response from the city. I have heard afurious AESP member, commenting onproposed farming restrictions inQueensland, complain ‘the farmersexpect us to pay for it’. The memberappeared unaware that he spends almostall his time on cleared land, that heconsumes the products of cleared land,and that if conservation is necessary forthe benefit of all Australians now and inthe future, there is an argument that allAustralians should share the cost.

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The habitat of modern Australians ismostly cleared land, including placessuch as quarries and factories many ofus never visit. They form part of ourhabitat because we consume theirproducts. If we wish to retain andenhance native biodiversity we mustrestrict our impact — our habitat. Thenumber and/or per capita consumptionof humans dependent on this continentmust be restricted or it will be impossibleto provide space for other species andthe environmental benefits they bring.We may be more likely to achieveconservation goals if we approach theproblem equitably so that all Australiansshare the costs of conservation as wellas the benefits.

ABS Stats 31/3/2002

For the year June 1999 - June 2000

Natural increase 120,800Net Overseas Migration 99,100Total Growth219,900 (1.16%)(Doubling Time 60 years)Population 19,157,000City Growth:Sydney 53,600Melbourne 52,100All other areas combined 114,200

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Dear Editor

I wish to congratulate Proffessor CliffOllier for his letter in the march 2001

Newsletter where he provides a timelyreminder for our organisation toconcentrate on population issues andnot be sidetracked with otherenvironmental issues such as Australia’sgreenhouse emissions. The greenhouseissue seems to be quite trendy amongenvironmentalists and unfortunately thisshifts the focus from the far morepressing problem of population. DrClive Hamilton summarised the issuemost succinctly by demonstrating thatby 2020, our greenhouse emissions willbe much higher (60% instead of 35%)under a high population growthscenario, so surely we as a group mustfocus on population and populationalone.

I also enjoyed reading the article by theCSIRO’s Dr Graham Harris. HoweverDr Harris seems to be perpetuating thenotion that much of the damage to ourenvironment occurred in rural areaswhen our population was much lower.While significant damage did occur lastcentury and our national population wasmuch lower, less than 4 million, thedistribution resulted in large numbers ofpeople across much of what is now adepopulated rural Australia. The factremains that many rural areas had muchhigher populations last century (eventhough our national population wasmuch lower) and this only changed wheneither the natural resources underpinningthese communities was removed, ie,gold or native pastures supportingsheep, or technology removed the needfor such a large rural workforce. Lastcentury for example, Wilcannia on theDarling river in western NSW had apopulation of over 30,000 people andwas dubbed the “Queen city of thewest” while Hill End in central NSWboasted a dozen hotels to support its

many tens of thousands of gold miners.Today, they are virtual ghost towns.

It would be ecological disaster torequire Australian rural environments tosupport such large numbers of peopleagain, but similarly, our cities are at theirown bursting points. Perhaps listingpopulation growth as a ‘key threateningprocess’ under the FederalGovernment’s recent EnvironmentalPlanning and Biodiversity ConservationAct will lead to a more sustainable future.The impact of population growththrough new housing developments onendangered or vulnerable species inremnant native grassland ecosystems inSydney’s Cumberland basin, is certainlyone compelling reason to havepopulation growth listed!

Yours sincerelyAlex Wells

TheALP has been openly and consistentlyundemocratic in its pursuit of higherimmigration intakes. Since the mid 60ssuccessive polls have shown an increas-ing proportion of Australians want asmaller intake and a decreasing propor-tion a larger one.

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Gaylord NelsonFounder of Earth DayIdentifies Population as

No1 Environmental Problem

When asked what is the number oneenvironmental problem facing the earthtoday, Gaylord Nelson, now 84 andfounder of Earth Day, replied: “If youhad to choose just one, it would have tobe population. . . . The bigger thepopulation gets, the more serious theproblems become. . . . We have toaddress the population issue. The UnitedNations, with the U.S. supporting it, tookthe position in Cairo in 1994 that everycountry was responsible for stabilizingits own population. It can be done. Butin this country, it’s phoney to say ‘I’mfor the environment but not for limitingimmigration.’ It’s just a fact that we can’ttake all the people who want to comehere. And you don’t have to be a racistto realise that. However, the subject hasbeen driven out of public discussionbecause everybody is afraid of beingcalled racist if they say they want anylimits on immigration.”

and Running Down form a four partsaga, a background to understanding whymuch of our current land and water useis unsustainable. Another book — on theBiosphere; bacterial origins for life;symbiosis; the microbiology of soils; andhow Australian ecosystems function —is in preparation.

Macquarie University granted MaryWhite a Doctor of Science degree inrecognition of her contributions toscience through her books in 1995. TheQueensland University of Technologygranted her the degree of Doctor of theUniversity on the 20th September 1999.She received the Riversleigh medal ‘forexcellence in promoting understanding ofAustralian prehistory’ in December1999. Running Down is short-listed forthe Eureka Prize in 2001.

Cont from P1

long term strategies in 1994 made thispoint eloquently:

‘For Aboriginal people today, as in1788, the land is not merely aresource to be exploited, acommodity to be traded; it is lifeitself... The Standing Committee’sreference scenario for the year2045 has only worse yet to come -a population almost doubled insize, taking over more and more of

beholden Labor Party takes Australiafurther away from sustainability.

The building of more houses not onlymeans more land clearing, moregreenhouse gas emissions as a directconsequence, but also more greenhousegas emissions from the making of housingmaterials and the process of building. Arough calculation shows that the energycapital invested in each average houseequates with the addition of anotherhundred cars to our roads for one year.

The diversion of scarce capital into realestate speculation and an expandinghousing stock means less moneyavailable for tackling the seriousenvironmental problems which demandurgent attention. A Labor Party intenton appeasing the greed of powerfulvested interests which offer it electoralsupport will be acting against the welfareof the majority of Australians and itstraditional values.

SPA members are urged to do whateverthey can in the leadup to the election tochange the direction in which, it appears,a Labor Government would takeAustralia’s future population. Now is thetime to influence the party that is verylikely to form our next Nationalgovernment.

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World population reached 6.1 billionin mid-2000 and is currently

growing at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent,or 77 million people per year. The reportpredicts that population could climb ashigh as 10.9 billion by 2050.

Half of the annual growth is occurringin just six countries - India, China,Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh andIndonesia “World Population Prospects:the 2000 Revision,” prepared by thePopulation Division of the Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs, UnitedNations.

Editorial Cont from Page 2

the best land for housing, sufferinggreater pollution and congestion,and natural resources underincreased threat of depletion anddegradation. Such a prospect mustbe alarming for all Australians. Forindigenous Australians it is doublyso, because the damage that willinevitably be caused to the landthreatens the heart of our cultureand our way of being.’

Aboriginal people have never beenconsulted on immigration. Until theadvent of multiculturalism Aboriginalpeople were an identified group ofAustralians even though their rights andopinions were largely ignored. Theintroduction of multiculturalism by Laborsaw Aboriginal Australians relegated toa subset of a subset. Many SPAmembers would see AboriginalAustralians as having a unique andpreeminent role in deciding how anenvironmentally sustainable future is tobe secured.

Mr Beazley has never addressed himselfto the issue of population size andenvironmental damage. Like so manyothers who seek a larger population hemerely asserts that the environmentalconsequences can be managed. Henever quantifies the damage, the cost ofprevention or repair or the precisemanagement mechanisms he would putin place. As well as the obvious loss ofgood arable land around urban areas, aresource of which Australia has verylittle, there are the more intractableenvironmental impacts.

Clive Hamilton of the Australia Institutehas shown that immigration increasesAustralia’s greenhouse gas emissions.Per capita increase in greenhouse gasemissions is accounting for only halfAustralia’s increase, the other half iscontributed by population growth.Growth of greenhouse emissions alreadyexceeds the 8 percent increase allowedunder the Kyoto deal. Again, thesatisfaction of the greed of real estateand building/construction interests by a

Urban sprawl contributes just asmuch to global warming as landclearing does according to JimSullivan, a farmer from Matarankain the Northern Territory (ABC

Giff Jones, ACT branch president, writingin his personal capacity, received a lettervery recently from Kim Beazley whichcontained the following:

“...Australia needs a higher populationthan will occur at present rates. We can liftthe rate through immigration and bycreating social and economic conditionsthat are conducive to an increased fertilityrate in Australia.

“...Labor believes that long-term economicgrowth depends on the ability to conserve,repair and maintain our natural resourcebase.”

Economic policy is driven by politicsand big business - with the wider

community increasingly disenfranchised.Growing for Broke is a no-nonsensebook written in lively layman’s languageby a one-time lecturer in economics andtechnology. The book disparageseconomic rationalism, corporate excess,self-serving politicians and environmentaldegradation. The book proposes that atthe root of society’s future problems liesin the pursuit of endless “growth” as theprincipal economic objective. Though theglobal economy is larger than can besustained by the resources available, littlesense exists of any limits to growth. Bigbusiness, the government and the mediapursue economic growth before all otherpolicies. As portrayed to the public, theidea that the economy must grow a bitmore each year seems as natural andessential as breathing.

Since 1900 gross global product has risenby about 20 times - an average annualgrowth rate over the period of 3%. Bythe end of the century the annual growthrate was around 4%. In the unlikelyevent that the economy succeeds ingrowing by 4% pa for the next 100 years,the economy in the year 2100 will be 50times its present size. In the year 2082the economy will be so large that 4%growth in that year will be the entireoutput of the existing global economy inthe year 2000. The planet is not bigenough to accommodate the unwantedby-products of the future growtheconomy – increased pollution, resourcedepletion and environmental destruction.Even at present levels the world is understress. Alternative economic systemswould provide a better quality life formost of the community. But changing theeconomic culture into something moresensible and more sustainable will not beeasy. Vested interests have a big stakein the growth economy.

In his 384 page book Growing for Broke,Tom Morrow develops the case that theeconomic growth/economic rationalist

model is failing to deliver benefits to mostof the community. Some of the issuesand consequences of economic growthexamined in the book are:

* Population policy * Globalisation * The logging industry * Land clearing * Corporate excess and executivesalaries * Emasculation of agriculture * Pollution * Global warming * Resource depletion

A book that both informs and entertains,Growing for Broke criticises Australia’spower brokers - economists, politicians,corporate leaders and the media for theirrefusal to tackle the longer-termproblems of the growth economy.

The price of Growing for Broke is avery reasonable $24.95 plus $5handling and postage.(for a total of$29.95 – including GST). Paymentcan be made by cheque or postalorder made out to “Tomorrow Press”.To obtain a copy send request andpayment to Tomorrow Press, PO Box31, Holmesglen, Victoria, 3148. Email:alpha.au@bigpond.com. The bookwill then be mailed to you by return.If these delivery arrangements areinconvenient ring (03) 9813 8114.

Page 9

‘Kim and I have argued previously for amoderate increase in our population,including through higher immigration,over the next 50 years. On the basis ofthe evidence that we have seen, and theviews of the experts in the debate, thatis both environmentally sustainable andto our economic benefit.

To those who argue for a lowerpopulation, I suggest that you examinethat approach in the context of a fewglobal realities. First, the size of ourpopulation does affect our economicopportunities in a global economy, hencethe interests of the business communityin arguing for a higher population.

That is why Labor will establish, as amatter of priority, a new Office ofPopulation to research and advise on therange of population options and ways ofgetting there. The first step will be toundertake a wide-ranging inquiry toascertain the levels of population that canbe sustained into the long-term in orderto pursue more favourable economic,social, and environmental outcomes.’

Martin Ferguson,Shadow Minister for

ImmigrationSydney Population FutureConference, 3/3/2001

The chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MrMark Patterson, said the Federal Government should conduct aggressive

international marketing to attract skilled people to Australia. “I think we should beactively promoting Australia offshore and be a consistently welcoming nation,”Mr Patterson said. “And we would still like to see an increase in annual numbers.”

He said ACCI had suggested annual skilled migrant numbers be locked in at 0.67per cent of the population, which would amount to about 130,000 people a year.Australia presently takes in between 35,000 and 40,000 skilled migrants annually.

The chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, Mr David Buckingham,said the benefits of skilled migration programs to Silicon Valley had boosted the ITsector’s economic benefits for the United States. “We as a country need to addressthe question of population policy as a matter of urgent national priority,” MrBuckingham said.

The source of Labor’s Population/Immigration Policy?

The Bureau of ImmigrationResearch revisited? Ed

Going for Brokeby Tom Morrow

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Born in Melbourne, Australia, inMarch 1940, Paul Collins is an

historian, broadcaster, and writer. InMarch 2001 he resigned from the activepriestly ministry of the Catholic Churchdue to a dispute with the Vatican overhis book Papal Power.

For many years he has worked in varyingcapacities in TV and radio with theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation. Healso writes regularly for many ofAustralia’s leading newspapers andmagazines, as well as for the LondonTablet, the National Catholic Reporterin the US and for several Catholicmagazines in Germany. At present hepresents the ABC TV program, SundaySpectrum. It examines ethical, spiritualand philosophical/theological issues in thecontemporary world.

He has a Master’s degree in theology(Th.M.) from Harvard University and aPh.D. in history from the AustralianNational University. He has taughtchurch history and theology in Australia,the US and Pacific countries and workedas a parish priest in Sydney and Hobart.In 1998 he was a Visiting Fellow at theCentre for Resource and EnvironmentalStudies at the ANU, and Ethel HaytonVisiting Fellow in Religion and Societyat the University of Wollongong. He alsohas wide experience in tertiary and adulteducation.

Between 1988 and 1996 he was aproducer-presenter in the ABC in radioand TV, and for three years he wasSpecialist Editor-Religion for the ABC.

He is the author of Mixed Blessings[Penguin, 1986], No Set Agenda:Australia’s Catholic Church Faces anUncertain Future [David Lovell, 1991],God’s Earth: Religion as if matterreally mattered [Harper Collins 1995],Papal Power [Harper Collins, 1997],Upon This Rock: The development ofthe papal office from Saint Peter toJohn Paul II [Melbourne UniversityPress, 2000], and From Inquisition toFreedom [Simon and Schuster, 2001].He is at present working on a book onthe ethics of population.

While he is well known as acommentator on the papacy, he also hasa strong interest in environmental andpopulation issues, and the ABC has madehis book God’s Earth into a major TVdocumentary. He is a member of theAustralian National Committee for theEarth Charter and he was also one of athousand world religious leaders invitedto attend the United Nations MillenniumPeace Summit in August 2000.

Nowadays he works as a freelancewriter, speaker and broadcaster onenvironmental issues, social ethics,theology, history and communication.

Paul Collins:SPA Patron

The SPA Executive, some time ago de-cided that up to five persons from vari-ous backgrounds and experienceshould be invited to become patrons.We are delighted that Dr Paul Collinshas agreed to join our other four emi-nent patrons. He returned fromoverseass just as this Newsletter wasgoing to press. I hope to publish hisphotograph in the next issue.

A looming shortfall of land onSydney’s urban fringes will push

house prices even higher and help createthe first generation of “lifelong renters”,according to a report in the SydneyMorning Herald (April 9, 2001).Sydney’s population is expected to growby 900,000 in the next 25 years. Withthe trend towards smaller households,about half a million new homes will beneeded for the city’s new residents.

Lifelong Renters

Population pressure is rapidly changingthe character of Sydney’s suburbs,

but not its richest waterfront suburbs,according to a report in the SydneyMorning Herald (17 April). Almost96,000 homes will be crammed intoexisting suburbs over the next five yearsand 29,000 on the city’s fringes. Eighty

four per cent of the new homes will be“multi-units” and all but a fraction willcost more than $150,000. The march ofapartments has already spread totraditional working class suburbs ofParramatta and Bankstown.

Dr Peter Whetton, head of theCSIRO’s Climate Impact Group,

referring to the Kyoto Protocol, says:

“...factors such as the rates of populationand economic growth would besignificant determinants of the rate ofgrowth in emissions. This accounts forat least half of the range of temperatureprojections.”

In a study on the 100 largest urbanisedareas in the United states, Roy Beck

and Leon Kalankiewicz concluded thathalf the sprawl was related to land usedecisions and the other half to populationgrowth. Charlie Reese, writing in theOrlando Sentinel, said: “..if we do notstabilise growth, our country willeventually be ruined by sheer numbers.It should give folks a clue that most ofthe immigrants, legal or illegal, are tryingto get away from countries that areoverpopulated. Over population is notonly destructive of the environment, itguarantees the great majority will live inpoverty.”

The Australian Water ResourcesAssessment Audit released in April

has found that water needs to be usedmore efficiently if Australia is to developsustainably. Australians use 65 per centmore water than they did in the 1980s.They now use enough water to fillSydney harbour 48 times. 26 per cent ofsurface water and 34 per cent ofgroundwater management areas areapproaching or beyond sustainableextraction limits.

VisitSPA Website at

http://www.population.org.auand join other members

in email discussion

Page 11

Population Stabilisation

There is no place on planet Earth which would benefit by having more humans.

At any given level of production, consumption and waste generation, the more people there are, thegreater is the impact on the environment.Australia's population, now 18.3 million, is growing by 1.2 per annum. If this rate of growth continues ourpopulation will double within 58 years.

Australia's population would stabilise at about 21 million, by 2030 except for Government intervention.Australia's fertility rate, 1.87, is high by European standards. Spain has achieved a fertility rate of 1.23 andItaly 1.27. Australia could reasonably be expected to have a fertility rate of 1.6.

It would not be either reasonable or logical to ask our people to exercise restraint in their family size,while at the same time pursuing a policy of artificially increasing our numbers via a pro-growth immigra-tion program.

It would not be either reasonable or logical to ask our people to exercise restraint in their purchase ofconsumer goods, while at the same time pursuing a policy of artificially increasing the numbers of con-sumers in Australia via a pro-growth immigration program.

There is a strong humanitarian argument for preserving the environment for the many millions of futuregenerations rather than risking damage to it through over-exploitation by a swollen present-day popula-tion.

Biological diversity cannot be preserved in any ecosystem where any species continually increases itsnumbers.

Australia's population is not living sustainably within its environment - as demonstrated by forest deple-tion, soil degradation/erosion/salinisation, plant and animal extinctions, excessive greenhouse emissions,and declining fresh and marine water quality.

The report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia's Population 'Carrying Capacity' urges the Austral-ian Government to develop and implement an integrated population policy, and is critical of the 'existingsituation where a de facto population policy emerges as a consequence of year by year decisions onimmigration taken in an ad hoc fashion.

Members

Please take this page which has a membership form on the reverse and give it to a po-tential new member. We do need to double our membership if we are to become inde-

pendent of donations and to work more effectively to stabilise Australia’s population andbring it into balance with our resource base. Nothing is more important to achieving an

ecologically sustainable future.

Let’s work to make Australia a global model of sustainability!

Sustainable Population Australia Inc

Membership Application and Donation

Membership of SPA, formerly Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population is $25 per year, Concession $10,Organisation $25. Couples who share a Newsletter need only pay one subscription.

The Sustainable Population Fund is separately administered by Trustees whose names appear on page two of thisNewsletter. Donations to the Fund are tax deductible.

Membership of SPA currently stands at approximately 1000. The organisation relies heavily on donations. We areseeking to double our membership as then we will be entirely supported from subscriptions and able to expand consid-

erably the range and effectiveness of our activities.

Population Growth: the most important driver of environmental deterioration

Sustainable Population Australia was formed in 1988 as Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Popula-tion. The aims and objectives of SPA are:

1. To contribute to public awareness of the limits of Aus-tralia’s growth from ecological and social viewpoints.2. To promote awareness that the survival of an ecologi-cally sustainable population depends in the long run on itsrenewable resource base.3. To promote policies that will eventually lead to stabilisationof Australia’s population by encouraging near replacementfertility rates and low immigration rates.

4. To promote urban and rural lifestyles and practices thatare in harmony with the realities of the Australian environ-ment and its resource base.5.To advocate low immigration rates while rejecting anyselection of migrants based on race.6. To promote policies that will lead to stabilisation of glo-bal population.

Membership Application

Title(Mr/Mrs/Ms/Prof etc).......................Given Name...................................Surname.................................................

Address.......................................................................................................................................................................

State......................Postcode......................Email.........................................................................................................

Phone(H).........................................(W)...........................................Fax.....................................................................

You may pay and/or donate by cheque, money order or credit card. If paying by credit card please provide the followingdetails:

Name of card..............................................Number

Expiry Date..................................Signature.............................................................Date.............................................Page 12