William Bourke

"Today, with little warning and a lot of malice, the Liberal and Labor parties teamed up to pass legislation requiring minor parties to prove they have over 1500 members within the next three months - up from 500 - before the 2022 federal election." (William Bourke, President Sustainable Australia Party, 27 August 2021)

See the article in the Canberra Times. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7403602/electoral-laws-pass-federal-parliament/Make no mistake, this is an attack on democracy, to destroy competition.

The Sustainable Australia Party (SAP) began as the Stable Population Party of Australia some time ago, but gradually, without losing this orientation, it has developed a more complex democratic and economic platform around this, and a new name.

William Bourke writes:

"SAP had already passed the Australian Electoral Commission's test of 500 members last year and therefore (seemingly) had clearance to contest the upcoming federal election.

Now, we have a massive administrative project dumped on us just when we were selecting candidates and getting on with campaigning.

This is how the major parties make it very difficult for minor parties - through endless compliance and administration requirements.

Join today for $22/$11
While we technically have over 1500 members, it will be a big challenge to get everyone to respond to an upcoming audit.

Put simply, we need more members.

Sustainable Australia Party is an independent community movement with a positive plan for an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia. We support a science and evidence-based approach to policy.

We campaign to protect our environment, stop overdevelopment and stop corruption.

We increasingly understand that systemic political corruption is at the heart of our growing problems including environmental crises, overdevelopment, rapid population growth, the privatisation of our publicly-owned natural monopolies and the de-industrialisation of our previously robust and self-sufficient economy.

Now they are coming for minor parties.

We are Australia's only true sustainability-first political party and we originally formed because no other party included a sensible plan to stabilise Australia's population within an environmental platform.

You may have considered joining us in the past.

Now is the time. It's only $22/$11.

We welcome both active and passive members. You will be under no pressure to do anything other than pay a small joining fee."

You may have been wondering when and who would point out the silver lining in the current situation, where the interruption of decades of mass immigration has seen employment prospects and living standards for many ordinary people looking good in Australia for the first time in decades. If so, you will be very pleased to catch the following interview between 2GB's Michael McLaren and the Sustainable Australia Party's William Bourke, on this very issue. We are living through fascinating times.

On 10 May 2021, Michael Mclaren (2GB radio) was joined by William Bourke, President of the Sustainable Australia Party, to comment on the RBA’s report that suggests that the pause in immigration due to the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to higher living standards in Australia and could spark wage rises in some regions and industries - even though the economy will be smaller than previously expected. In its quarterly statement on monetary policy the preceding week, the RBA noted, “The Australian economy is transitioning from recovery to ­expansion phase earlier and with more momentum than anticipated.”

Transcript

[Candobetter editor: Note that this was done via automatic transcript then corrected by a human editor. Please let us know if you find any mistakes.]

MICHAEL : Well, there has been a lot of side-effects from the Cornona Virus … we’re probably all sick to death of talking about it but, one that probably hasn’t been mentioned is that it has done a couple of people probably out of a job – at the very least, it has proved them right – I’m talking about the team behind the Sustainable Australia Party – because, if nothing else, COVID has closed the borders. There are now no real prospects of masses of migrants coming in to work or to fill job vacancies, or whatever the story was, prior to the pandemic.

However, as I said, I think it has proved the point, because, for many years, William Bourke and the whole team behind him at Sustainable Australia and people like Dick Smith, who’ve supported them, have been banging the drum of logic, saying that Australia does not need unsustainable levels of growth in the population to remain wealthy, to remain prosperous, indeed to grow.

And, sure enough, they have now got an ally, I don’t know if they meant to or not, in the form of the Reserve Bank. In their quarterly statement, on monetary policy – it was released on Friday - most people don’t read it of course – but they made the point that the level of GDP – Gross Domestic Product – is expected to remain a little below forecast before the pandemic – mostly due to the lower population growth – however, in per capita terms, GDP is expected to be on a higher trajectory, supported by higher per capita household income and a strong contribution from public demand. In other words, the pause to Big Australia will lead to higher living standards and could spark wage-rises in some regions and some industries according to the Reserve Bank.

Now, the Big Australia advocates said this was impossible. Many of us said they were wrong all along and motivated by greed.

Well, William Bourke is the President of the Sustainable Australia Party and on the line. William, nice to talk with you again.

WILLIAM BOURKE: Good to be with you, Michael.

MICHAEL: Sadly, I suppose, COVID has done you out of a gig. The borders are closed. The population will flatline for a while, and the experiment that you’ve called for will happen, for no other reason than medical science has demanded it happens. I suppose, if you are proved right, you will go out a happy man, won’t you?

WILLIAM BOURKE: Well Michael, obviously population growth is something we’ve been concerned about, since we’ve been going – probably a decade or so. We’ve got some other issues we do stand for, overdevelopment and environmental issues, but yes, absolutely, it’s amazing that COVID has revealed, once and for all, that high immigration is notnecessary to either keep the economy growing, or to create jobs.

So, it’s great to see the RBA coming to their senses. And many other mainstream economists are also saying things like, ‘Lower immigration is equalling higher wages.’ So there’s a great lot of things that are coming out of this unfortunate COVID pandemic.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: And it’s logical, is it not, because, when you flood the economy with workers, obviously the whiphand is that of the bosses. They can say to Bob, well, if you don’t want to work for that amount of money, I’ll go over there to Frank. He’ll do it. But when the number of people available for jobs is smaller, Bob and Frank both start, all of a sudden, to have a bit of bargaining power, don’t they!

WILLIAM BOURKE: Indeed, and obviously, when you bring in highly exploitable people, who really don’t have a lot of bargaining power, who aren’t part of … I guess, unions and so forth, then you can beat down wages. And we’ve seen a lot of – you know – probably the lowest growth in wages over the last decade in the last century.

These things are now starting to see a pick-up in wages, and that’s a good thing for the average Australian.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: They are. I saw that Tom Dusevic of the Australian said, and I quote,

”During recent years, when population growth averaged a rich, world-leading, one and a half per cent a year [...]"

- which is just madness -

“with two thirds of it due to net-overseas migration, per capita incomes fell, even though national output was expanding at a fast clip, compared to our peers.”

In other words, the nation was getting wealthier – that’s National GDP, the individuals that make up the nation, that do the work, were actually going backwards.

WILLIAM BOURKE: Exactly, and the point there being that GDP per capita is really the proxy for living standards. So, the aggregate growth in GDP really doesn’t matter, if all of us are going backwards on average. And we know that there has been a lot of discussion about, you know, this 20 plus year run of ‘no recessions’ and so forth, but if you look at it on a GDP per capita basis, there were three recessions over the last 25 or so years, where GDP per capita went backwards, two quarters in a row. So, there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and we really need to look at the per capita of GDP, not the aggregate level.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: Yep. Now, none of this is to gloat. There are some sections of the economy which are doing it particularly difficult. The business model was heavily reliant on the migrant labour workforce. Hospitality, for example, their business model has been disrupted. A lot of people are doing it tough, but on a per capita basis, the average Australian looks like they may come out in front. And, of course, again, to be completely up-front, a huge amount of stimulus from the Federal Government also helps in that respect, and to remove that might have created a different story, but it just goes to prove the point, does it not, William, that you don’t need record levels of migration to continue economic growth?

WILLIAM BOURKE: That’s exactly the point. There’s a lot of studies out there about the impact of immigration on the economy, but a lot of it is based on, you know, assumptions. This is empirical evidence. This is very very very clear now, that where there is no immigration, we are still growing our economy and we are still creating jobs, and we have actually reduced the unemployment rate. So we’ve gone from seven odd per cent down to about five and a half per cent, and we look like going down to around four and a half per cent. That’s because a lot of people who have been long-term unemployed are now getting an opportunity to get a job. And isn't that a great thing?

MICHAEL MCLAREN: Well, it is and the tighter labor market Also pushes an important extra emphasis on behalf of government, and even business, on the issue of skills or re-skilling the Australian population, including those that are unemployed.

Most unemployed people want to work. They take they take no pride in not having a job but they may not have the skills to do it, so, you know, it's great. We've got the budget, of course tomorrow night. There may be something in there about this too, but there is a greater emphasis on business and government to say, well, look, you're not going to get the fresh blood in anytime soon. There is a bit floating around here though that needs a gig. Train them up, get them in a job.

WILLIAM BOURKE: There's a much greater focus on training and education as you say Michael and I'm sure that Treasurer Josh will be mentioning much more investment in training and education in the budget, and I've seen, you know, some media reports to that extent. So that's it. That's a really encouraging thing, because at the end of the day, we do have the labour here in Australia. We do need to continue to evolve our economy and evolve our skills. And that's what's happening right now, and it's a good thing.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: And, Will, to add to all of this, the re-emphasis, or the newly emerged emphasis, on needing to be more self resilient, more independent, instead of relying on international supply chains and there. And, there again, all of a sudden, you are incentivising people to re-establish, or freshly establish, sovereign industries in this country, particularly manufacturing-oriented industries, which – again - will help mop up a percentage of the unemployed.

WILLIAM BOURKE: Exactly right. And, at the moment, you're probably aware, the Upper Hunter by-election is on in New South Wales. We've got a candidate running there and he works on the railways. 

He's an engineer working on railway maintenance and, you know, we built the Tangara trains in Newcastle, you know, the Hunter area and now we're importing them from South Korea. So we need to turn back to making our own trains. And manufacturing, you know, our medical supplies. All of those issues that we thought we can just outsource overseas. I think we're now realizing finally that that's not a sustainable way to run an economy.

WILLIAM MCLAREN: Why then for so many years, we mention those record levels of immigration, despite the average Australian not wanting it. People are in favor of some immigration, sure, a bit of fresh blood doesn't hurt, but there's sort of nonsense of one-and-a-half percent growth per year. It was just a disaster on the property , on traffic – everything. Services. Why did it persist for so long? I mean, I'm a bit ignorant, I suppose, but I thought that democracy was basically the elected officials representing the will of the people, but on that issue, it couldn't have been more opposite. So, why did it persist for so long? 

WILLIAM BOURKE: So, I think Michael there are some groups in our society, in our economy, in our political environment, they have a little bit more power than the average person. And obviously, you know, the property industry, you know, big business and so forth. You know, they have a fair bit of sway. They've been complaining, even very lately about skills shortages and, Immigration Minister Alex Hawk, has just allowed a doubling of the hours of foreign students from 20 to 40 hours a week. So they're having a lot of influence, you know, because of political donations and other aspects of the body politic. And I guess that it would be nice if we did have a plebiscite or a referendum. Do we want to grow our population at this extreme rate of 1.5 plus percent when the developed world really should grow at, you know 0.2 per cent at the most.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: I was a little facetious early when I said that covid had probably done you out of a gig. Sustainable Australia, as you quite rightly said, stands for more than just a population issue. Just talk us through a little of what else it is that interests your party.

WILLIAM BOURKE: Well, we're a fairly centrist party Michael. So, you know, we talk about the big picture issues that matter. Obviously sustainable is about protecting our environment, and we really do want to make sure that, you know, we're not sprawling our suburbs, over our agricultural farm land. For example, we really want to stop overdevelopment and return planning powers to local communities.

I'm running in the North Sydney council elections in a couple of months. So, you know, making sure that local people have a say on the character of and the heritage values of their neighborhood. So those are some of the issues.

Corruption is an increasingly big issue that we're focusing on and I think there's a bit of corruption in this Big Australia, where vested interests are influencing our politicians rather than the public interest being put first. So that's just a couple of things that we stand for.
MICHAEL MCLAREN: A lot of common sense. Always good to talk to you. We’ll speak again, soon, William. Thank you so much for all that time.

WILLIAM BOURKE: Thanks for having me. Michael.

MICHAEL MCLAREN: That's my pleasure William Burke. As I said the President of the Sustainable Australia Party 

Are you sick of politicians stuffing up our country? We are - and we’re doing something. We're serious about:
- Secure #jobs
- Affordable #housing
- Better #planning
- Sustainable #environment and population

Watch our new NSW membership video:

If we all work together, we can reach the 750 NSW members needed to register our State party - and a seat in Parliament will be ours for the taking.
If you're already a party member, sign up family and friends in NSW.
If you're not a member, join today. It's FREE!
We’re trying to raise $5,000 to advertise this on Facebook to over 100,000 people in NSW. Can you help with a small or large donation?
Let's do this, together!

If you’re sick of politicians stuffing up our country, support Sustainable Australia today - we campaign for secure jobs, affordable housing, better planning, and a sustainable environment and population.

There's never been a more important time to get involved.
See facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/VoteSustainable/?hc_ref=ARS0fMp2yrAbzHM5FAtel4tT4v89pIKNUg4Kdgyhny8q6kAbDVk2taDTHjt5IS4SNNA&fref=nf

“The big issues we feel are job security, housing affordability, planning in our suburbs and our environment. And all of those major indicators are going backwards with this onslaught of rapid population growth. So, it’s changing our daily lives. It’s gone beyond some big number into the future. It’s actually hitting us in the face when we drive out of our driveway in the morning and we try and get to work. Or when we try to look up a job when we try to get our next opportunity. Or when we look at our green space in our suburb that’s disappearing. Or looking at our urban heritage… that’s just being bulldozed for this highrise development”. (William Bourke, Sustainable Australia Party, speaking on 3AW to Neil Mitchell)

Census data

William Bourke writes:

The release of the Census data this week shows that Australia’s population expanded by 372,805 people over the year to December 2016 to 24,385,625 people. There is no political mandate for this extreme and unsustainable growth. In the fight for an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia, our party publicly questions this growth. It's a tough job...

Day after day the unholy alliance of big business and the globalist new left send out their propaganda merchants to try to stigmatise anyone questioning Australia's extreme level of immigration-fuelled population growth. But we won't be bullied. We won't cower.

We need a sensible level of immigration. We also know that the silent majority, that lacks the media voice of the abovementioned minority groups, rejects the ideological and greed-driven 'big Australia' agenda.

By the way, what ever happened to the old, real left - that cared about workers' rights and the environment?

Jobs, Housing, Planning, Environment

As a centrist party, Sustainable Australia will continue to fight this extreme growth agenda. We know that unless we do, we can't achieve a sustainable Australia with secure jobs, affordable housing, better planning and a sustainable environment. As part of a broader policy mix, we must return annual permanent immigration - from a record of over 200,000 - back to the long term average of 70,000.

This week I took this message to the media including 3AW's Neil Mitchell.

Macrobusiness published the text of the interview on 3AW and candobetter.net is republishing it here:

Mitchell: “When you look at these [Census] figures, how do you argue it’s changing Australia?”

Bourke: “It’s changing Australian in every way possible. We need to talk about the numbers rather than having racial rants. This is about an Australia being better rather than being ever-bigger. There’s no mandate for this rapid population growth. No party has taken this to an election, so that’s the starting point”.

Mitchell: “How is it changing the country…”?

Bourke: “The big issues we feel are job security, housing affordability, planning in our suburbs and our environment. And all of those major indicators are going backwards with this onslaught of rapid population growth. So, it’s changing our daily lives. It’s gone beyond some big number into the future. It’s actually hitting us in the face when we drive out of our driveway in the morning and we try and get to work. Or when we try to look up a job when we try to get our next opportunity. Or when we look at our green space in our suburb that’s disappearing. Or looking at our urban heritage… that’s just being bulldozed for this highrise development”.

Mitchell: “Do you believe that immigration should be based on race?”

Bourke: “Absolutely not. It’s an issue of numbers. The real issue is that the permanent immigration program to Australia – which is the key driver of our population growth… The key driver of our rapid population growth is our record immigration program of around 200,000 per year. That is triple the long-term average of 70,000 per year. And that’s why places like Victoria are growing by 150,000 people a year rather than its traditional 50,000 per year”

“All we need to do is wind that [immigration] back to what it was 20-years ago to that long-term average – no discrimination based on race or religion or any of those things – just dial it back to the long-term average”…

We won't give up. Join the fight today.

Monthly coffee meet up

We're starting monthly coffee meet ups across Australia, on the first Sunday of the month. Initially this will be in Brisbane and Canberra.

You'll be able to meet like-minded people, join the party (via your mobile phone!) and pick up stickers and flyers. Stay tuned for more locations in coming weeks and months.

Speaking of stickers, we can post you one (or two) for free, with 20 letterbox flyers for your street and/or family and friends. Please simply ask us via the contact us link below. Include your postal address if you're not a member.

New website address

This week we changed our main website address from VoteSustainable.org.au to SustainableAustralia.org.au. There may be a few short-term disruptions, including to website links in recent eNewsletters. [Candobetter.net Editor: Just use a search engine like https://duckduckgo.com to go to these addresses. Candobetter.net has not linked directly to these sites because they do not have SSL certificates - which is really no big deal - except that it makes Chrome and Firefox browsers remove the 'green triangle' from our site if we link directly and some readers then think there is something wrong. Sorry for the boring technicality.]

: Newsletter from William Bourke of Sustainable Australia

Sustainable Australia says the Turnbull Government has no chance of making good on the Prime Minister’s announcement that he wants to build so called “30 minute cities”, where everything people need is within a 30 minute commute. Sustainable Australia’s Senate candidate in NSW, William Bourke, says that the Prime Minister’s vision of a congestion free future is delusional, while immigration continues to run at record levels.

Mr Bourke says, “The Prime Mister’s plan has three parts, each as preposterous as the next.

“First, he wants to pay a group of bankers $50 million to tell him what to build, and where.

“Then, he wants to borrow another $5 billion for new road and rail projects. That’s on top of the almost $500 billion of government debt racked up over the last 8 years.

“And thirdly, he wants to make the grandchildren pay off that additional debt, by raising the $5 billion by selling 30 year bonds, which will be honoured by a future generation of taxpayers, long after the PM is gone.

Mr Bourke says it is absurd for the Prime Minister to suggest that the government could build its way out of a congestion trap, and borrow its way out of a debt crisis.

“Sustainable Australia says there is only one way to fix congestion. It is decent public transport and a lower immigration intake of 70,000 per year, back from the current high of 200,000 per year.

“The truth is our high population growth is the real reason for our daily traffic jams, and overcrowded trains, buses and trams.

“If we want an Australia that is better, not bigger, then we need to lower immigration”.

View Sustainable Australia’s “30 minute cities” Video Here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VoteSustainable

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VoteSustainable

Andrew McNamara is former Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation in Queensland. He argues here that the Sustainable Population Party (soon to become the Sustainable Party) was the real winner of the North Sydney by-election; that all other participants showed diminishing or one-off results.

The Liberals have claimed victory in the North Sydney by-election, but at a cost of around $1 million and with a 13% swing against them, there is not much to celebrate. Too many wins like this will send the Liberals bankrupt.

The independent Dr Stephen Ruff finished second with over 18%. It is a commendable result that will turn into a 60:40 two party preferred vote, but given there is no second prize and the good doctor will now return to doing hip replacements, his result will only be referred to ever again under the heading “Dr Who?” at future political trivia nights. Article first published at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=17888 on Friday, 11 December 2015.

The Greens scored under16%, a minute increase of .35% on their 2013 result. With no Labor candidate in the field this time, a third place finish is a serious failure. The 20% of punters who voted Labor at the last general election went everywhere but to the Greens.

The other independent in the field, two term North Sydney Councillor Maryann Beregi finished a creditable fourth, with 3.45%. But now what? The personable Councillor needs to run again, in order to avoid the perception that voting for an independent is a WOFTAM.

The biggest loser is easy to pick. The by-election marks the death knell of the Palmer United Party, who finished dead, motherless last, with a derisory .45% of the vote. They were trounced by all the micro parties: the Arts Party, Voluntary Euthanasia Party, Australian Cyclists Party and Bullet Train for Australia, all of whom received more than double the PUP’s vote. Even the Future Party beat Palmer’s candidate home. RIP, PUP.

The Liberal Democrats scored 2.%, which given the high profile and big spend of their candidate, local storage company owner Sam Kennard, would be well below expectations. Seventh place and just a handful of votes in front of the Arts Party is a decidedly sub-prime result.

The Christian Democrats threw everything at it including the kitchen sink, and did pick up a swing of 1.5% from 2013. But sixth place on 2.5% would be a bitter disappointment for a party that has been around for so long and promoted themselves in the by-election as “the only true conservative party”. It suggests that their appeal in too narrow and they will struggle ever to break out of the minor party band of 2 to 3%.

Which leaves the big mover in the field as William Bourke, from the Sustainable Population Party. A 3% result is more than triple the Sustainables’ previous best ever result, at the Griffith by-election in 2013. They finish fifth on primaries, not only as “King of the Kids” by moving out of the micro parties grouping, but also beat home the far more established minor parties of PUP, LDP and CDP. They may even sneak into outright fourth, when preferences are distributed after all postal votes are received by the cut-off on 18 December.

With the endorsement of Australian icon Dick Smith and the financial support of rich-listers Graham Turner and Geoff Harris, the soon to be re-named Sustainable Australia has a bright future. Positioned in the centre of the Australian political spectrum, with a leftish social agenda and a rightish economic outlook, they will be well placed to draw support from across the political field.

The Liberals won the North Sydney by-election, but the only candidate still smiling after the cameras went off on election night was William Bourke of Sustainable Australia.

The Sustainables are pleased to endorse a truly local candidate for the 2015 North Sydney by-election - our party president William Bourke. William has a background in small business, finance and marketing, as well as a passion for nature and sustainable living.
His platform in this election includes:
Saving Royal North Shore Hospital from public land sell-offs
Education and childcare places for all
Stopping our rampant overdevelopment
Housing affordability for renters and first home buyers
Reducing the rapid population growth that's part of our growing local problems

Follow William on Twitter: CLICK HERE

From William:

As a long term local resident and small business owner in North Sydney, I'm privileged to represent our community movement in our party's heartland. Our national party HQ is based in North Sydney (Crows Nest).

Unlike the professional politicians I will be up against, I have over twenty years of work/life experience. I have completed two business degrees and have real world experience in finance, federal government corporate communications and importantly, small business.

I regularly enjoy the outdoors including running and bushwalking in Sydney's national parks where it is possible to see our magnificent native wildlife including goannas, wallabies and kookaburras. We are very blessed on the North Shore, and need to conserve it for future generations.

You'll find my full bio here: CLICK HERE

There are a number of key issues I will be campaigning on for the people of North Sydney, including:

• Saving Royal North Shore Hospital from public land sell-offs
• Education and childcare places for all
• Stopping our rampant overdevelopment
• Housing affordability for renters and first home buyers
• Reducing the rapid population growth that's part of our growing local problems

All of these key issues and many more are addressed in our policies page.

I also believe that the major parties are too closely aligned to vested interests, including the big end of town and big unions. We need transparent governments that get back to focusing on the public and national interest.

I am very proud of our community movement that I founded in 2010. We reject the old left–right political spectrum, along with its fixed political positions and ideologies. Instead we pursue centrist, evidence-base policies, for all Australians.

I'd like to communicate with as many residents of North Sydney as possible. So, please contact me with your questions and any feedback.

You'll find my campaign media release here: CLICK HERE

We need to redefine 'growth' to secure a better, not bigger North Sydney and Australia.

Please give me your support and your #1 vote.

That's the only way to protest the rapid population growth policies of the Liberals and Greens (Labor didn't have the courage to run).

Vote 1 SUSTAINABLE!

At 2pm at the Glebe Town Hall, listen to guest speakers Jack Mundey, Jill Green of STEP, Tony Recsei of Save Our Suburbs & William Bourke of the Sustainable Population Party. They will ask: What are the risks associated with adding another 3.5 million people to Sydney? Why are sprawl and high density presented as the only options? Are extreme levels of housing unaffordability placing an unfair burden on the City's young? What will be the impacts upon our surrounding native flora and fauna? ...

Come along and ask your own questions.

The Sustainable Population Party invites members and supporters to meet in Hawthorn for an informal meeting to discuss a number of key issues. 12pm for 12:15pm (lunch at 1:30pm); Glenferrie Hotel, 324 Burwood Road, Hawthorn (Glenferrie Room at rear).Please RSVP: CLICK HERE

The issues include:

- Party update from national President

- Distribution of new SPP flyers for letterboxing, etc

- Proposed formation of Victorian committee/branch

When: 12pm for 12:15pm (lunch at 1:30pm)

Where: Glenferrie Hotel, 324 Burwood Road, Hawthorn (Glenferrie Room at rear).

We look forward to seeing you.

Please RSVP: CLICK HERE

Saturday June 14th at 2.00pm
Hawthorn Arts Centre,
360 Burwood Rd Hawthorn,
Chandelier Room (Melways 45 D10)

Public forum with Kelvin Thomson, William Burke, Sheila Newman, Clifford Hayes and numerous community groups. Sustainable Population Australia & Victoria First are hosting a panel discussion and open mike on Melbourne's population future. The event will be filmed to use as a document to show how Melbourne people feel about overpopulation. "Melbourne's population growth is treated by the media, by governments and by planners as though it is inevitable, giving the impression that the fate of Melbourne is to be a city of 7 to 8 million by mid-century. What the public seldom hears is that Melbourne's huge growth rate is not inevitable, nor that growth of the population does not magically stop at mid-century unless changes to existing trends are made. If present growth rates continued, Melbourne would be a city of about 20 million by the end of the century. The truth is that Melbourne's future could be largely in our own hands. This meeting is a chance for the people of Melbourne to question the ideology that "Melbourne must keep growing"" (Jill Quirk, President SPA Vic & Tas). "Melbourne has been growing by 200 people a day, 1,500 a week and 75,000 each year for some time now. The latest projections are that this rapid growth will escalate still further. But Melbournians are not asked whether this is what we really want for our city." (Kelvin Thomson, President, Victoria First)

Panel

Federal MP and President of Victoria First, Hon. Kelvin Thomson;
Clifford Hayes, former Bayside Mayor
Planning activist, Sheila Newman, population author and editor of candobetter.net
William Bourke, President of Sustainable Population Party.

Please come and have your say!

Contact: Jill Quirk, President, Sustainable Population Australia,VicTas branch
vic [ AT ] population.org.au ph. 0409742927 or Julianne Bell, Secretary, Victoria
First jbell5 [ AT ] bigpond.com ph. 0408022408

Limiting baby bonus payments to each woman’s first two children would mean that the majority of people with two or fewer children would not be subsidising those who choose to have larger families. It would also conservatively save over $2 billion in direct costs to taxpayers every year, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure for each new person. William Bourke speaks up about the changes to the Australian baby bonus. The Stable Population Party has been formally registered with the Australian Electoral Commission since 2010 and its website is www.populationparty.org.au

Way back in the Howard Government dark ages, Treasurer Peter Costello got all the population figures wrong, famously claiming that immigration was the only thing keeping Australia's population growing, although at the time it was growing all by itself, as it continues to do. Only Mr Bracks, the then premier of Victoria, got it even more wrong, claiming that deaths outnumbered births in Victoria. (The opposite was true.) Then Kevin Rudd scared us all with his 'vision' of a much bigger Australia. Julia Gillard was elected in part by votes reflecting approval of her indicating that she did not think that a big Australia was such a great thing. In his ignorance, Peter Costello introduced the "Baby Bonus" an anachronistic device more usually associated with Hitler, Petain and CeauCescu. Since then we have continued to see higher and higher immigration and the continuance of the baby bonus. Now there are signs that Federal Labor may be taking its foot off the population growth accelerator.

SPP welcomes Labor's baby bonus reductions

The federally registered Stable Population Party (SPP)welcomes Labor’s reductions in the baby bonus from $5,000 to $3,000 for second and subsequent children, saving the nation $500 million per year, but believes the government should go further.

The community party is campaigning to stabilise Australia's population as soon as practicably possible, aiming for a population of around 23-26 million through to 2050, as well as providing leadership and support to other nations to help stabilise global population via a ‘domino effect’.

Continuous growth not a happy option

William Bourke, Founder and President of SPP explains:

“We live in a finite world and can’t grow forever. The sooner we adjust to a stable population, the easier it will be to manage growing scarcity of finite, non-renewable resources. Quality of life and intergenerational equity through the sustainable use of energy, food and water resources is our priority.”

The Stable Population Party agrees with a reduction in baby bonus payments, but proposes that governments should take this budget and finite resource-saving measure further. They advocate a broader strategy to encourage ‘replacement-size’ families. They urge government to limit both the baby bonus and paid parental leave to each woman's first two children. In addition, this law would apply only to births occurring more than nine months after it was passed.

“This policy would send out a much needed message that ‘replacement-size’ families are in the best interests of society as a whole in Australia, where continuing population growth is contributing to increasing housing shortages and planning pressures, traffic and transport congestion, energy and water security issues and unwanted carbon emissions. "

SPP say it is important that people understand that they, as a community party, do support families and freedom of choice on family size. They do not support, however, governments providing financial incentives to have large families.

They remind us that a stable population will ease cost of living pressures on families, including housing, water prices, energy prices and road tolls that are all driven up by population growth.

Save 2 billion a year and tons of infrastructure

“Limiting these payments to each woman’s first two children would also mean that the majority of people with two or fewer children would not be subsidising those who choose to have larger families. Finally, it would conservatively save over $2 billion in direct costs to taxpayers every year, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure for each new person."

“If we’re serious about sustainable living and fiscal responsibility, a sustainable Australia starts with a stable population,” said Mr. Bourke.

ENDS
Contact: William Bourke, President | E: [email protected] | P: 02 9906 6720 / 0448 620 525
Stable Population Party policies represent our core values in action, being: Sustainable Living, Egalitarian Democracy, Fiscal Responsibility, Global Citizenship and Productive Innovation.

12 March 2012, Sydney: New research released today by the Stable Population Party has found 73% of Australians would prefer a stable population of around 26 million by 2050; instead of Australia's current rate of growth which will see us exceed 36 million by 2050.

Australia's population will hit 23 million mid-July and we are currently adding the equivalent of another Canberra every year (1 million people every three years). The survey of over 1000 Australians, supported by focus groups, showed that most believe this rate of growth is too rapid.

William Bourke, National Convenor for the Stable Population Party, said,

"The evidence is clear; Australians are frustrated by their experiences of overstretched infrastructure, lack of affordable housing and congestion across our major cities. Australians want to stabilise the population and need greater choice politically to ensure their views are taken into account."

"The Stable Population Party is committed to ensuring a better quality of life. We can make positive steps not only to prevent overcrowding in our cities, but to protect our unique environment and make sure our food and water supplies are managed well for future generations," continued Mr Bourke.

32% of respondents believed Australia's humanitarian (including refugees) intake to be the biggest contributor to growth, even though the current humanitarian intake comprises less than 5% of annual growth. Australia's humanitarian intake is only 14,000 of the annual permanent immigration program of around 200,000 per year.

The research also found that many believe slowing population growth would positively impact upon some of the most pressing issues for the next election. 81% of Australians believed stabilising the population would help prevent urban sprawl and overdevelopment, 79% believed it would help relieve overstretched infrastructure (specifically roads, hospitals, schools and public transport) and 71% believed it would help to ease the high cost of living in regards to housing, water prices, energy prices and road tolls.

Cost of living continues to be the deciding issue for many voters, with 75% seeing this as very important to them. Despite negativity around a carbon price, over 2 in 3 Australians said cutting carbon emissions and combating climate change was important to them (23% said it was very important and 44% said it was somewhat important).

Australia's current population growth of 1.4 per cent is still faster than the world average of 1.1 per cent. The world's population hit 7 billion at the end of October 2011, and based on the current trends, the world will pass eight billion in 2025.

The Stable Population Party will be premiering the documentary 'GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth' across all Australian capital cities from March 14th. These evenings will include candidate announcements for the Party and Q&A with party officials, while the maker of 'GrowthBusters' Dave Gardner will also make special appearances at select sessions. 'GrowthBusters' aims to generate thoughtful community debate about population growth and quality of life. Further details can be found at www.PopulationParty.org.au.

The research supporting this report was conducted by McCrindle Research in February 2012 and included a nationally representative survey of 1,118 Australians, as well as focus groups across three generations.

* A conservative estimate based on the current growth rate of 1.4 per cent per annum, which will see us hit 39 million in 2050; this is below the ABS "Series A" forecast of 40 million in 2050.

For more information please contact William Bourke on 02 9906 6720 / 0448 620 525, or email [email protected].

SOURCE: Stable Population Party

Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd

Media Release: Stable Population Party

12 March 2012
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© 2012 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved

A corporate profiteering campaign has spread misinformation about a spurious need for increased skilled migration. Almost daily one hears big business representatives demand that Julia Gillard abandon her promise to dump Kevin Rudd’s “big Australia”. Instead they claim she must remove “red tape” and “increase the skilled migrant intake” to help clean up the disaster.

Community spirit undermined by corporate profit-seeking

Australia's community spirit has been on show during the floods crisis, yet some have used the floods to advance their own interests. And it's not just the odd looter.

A corporate profiteering campaign has spread misinformation about a spurious need for increased skilled migration. Almost daily one hears big business representatives demand that Julia Gillard abandon her promise to dump Kevin Rudd’s “big Australia”. Instead they claim she must remove “red tape” and “increase the skilled migrant intake” to help clean up the disaster.

Well-funded corporate campaign for more immigrants

Big bank 'chief economists' and business 'economic consultancies' form part of this well-funded campaign. The Australia Institute notes that bank profits are now running at $1,000 for every man, woman and child in Australia. The lazy way for big business to make more profit is therefore to increase its customer base, and to drive down wages by importing more pre-trained workers. It helps alleviate training and apprenticeship costs. But would a further rush of skilled migrants help us to clean up and re-house people after the floods – or just add to the problem?

Corporate campaign perpetuates problems it pretends to solve

“Australia’s migration program actually exacerbates skills shortages. A dog can never catch its tail,” says Stable Population Party convenor William Bourke. “The real objective is to feed big businesses’ insatiable desire for more consumers and cheaper labour, not to help flood victims. Of course if an immigration category is created for flood recovery skills, the next thing is that some employers will be demanding migrant doctors and hairdressers to service them. It’s a vicious circle. If genuinely required, the cost to our society of training an extra Australian is far less than that of accommodating a skilled migrant with dependents.”

He adds “Our already record high immigration has been a major cause not just of infrastructure shortages but also skills shortages and government budget deficits, and hence has eroded liveability in our major cities.[1]

Demographia’s latest report already classifies Brisbane’s housing (pre-floods) as “severely unaffordable”.[2]

The Department of Immigration's own research finds that if continued it will impose even greater adverse impacts on the quality of our natural and built environments.”[3]

NOTES

[1] http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10137&page=0; http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/39930.html

[2] http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-second-last-straw-in-affordable-housing-market-rankings-worldwide-20110123-1a18f.html

[3] Jonathan Sobels et al., “Research into the Long-Term Physical Implications of Net Overseas Migration” National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University report for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, January 2011 http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/physical-implications-migration-fullreport.pdf

John Roles, an experienced manager in Queensland’s energy construction industry said that importing skilled migrants to help the flood crisis “is simply wrong headed. It takes more than 20 years for the average new migrant to register a surplus in the construction of both public and private infrastructure. Increases in immigration therefore exacerbate the shortage of construction skills in the short and mid term. Yet reducing the immigration level by 50,000 people for a single year would immediately free up funds and workforce for rebuilding.”

Dr Jane O’Sullivan of University of Queensland agrees and notes “A typical dwelling takes 2-4 person-years of labour to build (including off-site manufacturing and materials supply).

Additional infrastructure per person is at least as great. Since in fact only a small fraction of the skilled migration intake are construction workers (60% of this intake are not even workers, but family members of skilled migrants), the labour and housing deficit created by their immigration would last many years.”

She adds that “In flood affected areas, rents are already climbing cruelly, due to demand from displaced families and from tradespeople who have moved in from other regions for the recovery period. The knock-on effect will see rents pushed up throughout Brisbane, putting disadvantaged families under even greater strain. The last thing wanted is an influx of more families into this region.”

As well, says Bourke, “With our $770b infrastructure deficit (according to Infrastructure Partnerships Australia), it is highly inappropriate to burden our already overloaded infrastructure with more people. At a time of inflationary pressures through increased food prices, we should try to minimise further upward pressure on land, rent, water and energy prices that population growth inevitably creates. Recent experience should teach us the folly of letting population pressures lead us to build on flood-prone areas; and also that more people means a far higher cost per natural disaster,” he concluded.

Contact: William Bourke Email: [email protected] Web: www.populationparty.com, ref: Media release: 12pm Tuesday, 1 February 2011

On Monday 17 May I interviewed William Bourke about himself and his party and his views on the politics of the current population debate. He described concerns about the impact of population numbers since the 1990s, but said that reading the book, Overloading Australia, had really galvanised him to do something about this.

William comes across as soft-spoken, pleasant and focused, with a careful and businesslike approach to the task in hand of building and running a political party, to help deal with a grave national problem which has been kept off the democratic agenda for too long. I came away from the interview with confidence in his ability to represent Australians and head a party.

SHEILA NEWMAN: How are the membership numbers going for Stable Population Party Australia?

WILLIAM BOURKE: We are on the cusp of achieving 500 members. We are hoping to lodge a formal application to register Stable Population Party of Australia in June.

SHEILA NEWMAN: How do you feel that your party’s readiness and ability compares with other parties also looking at population numbers?

WILLIAM BOURKE: We are ticking the boxes and we are well prepared.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Will you be fielding candidates in every state?

WILLIAM BOURKE: We hope to. We will be focusing on that issue after we lodge our registration. We have, of course, been approached by a number of people seeking candidature.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Which state is most strongly represented in your membership or seems to feel most strongly about stabilizing population?

WILLIAM BOURKE: We have a good spread around the country.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Have you found any likely candidates in Victoria?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I must emphasise that we haven’t fully reviewed every possible candidate. We have had contact from possible candidates in Vic – and elsewhere – including some with political backgrounds. In June we will follow up on this part of the process.

SHEILA NEWMAN: You’re not in a hurry?

WILLIAM BOURKE: We have to manage the candidate process properly, like everything else. The good thing is that we know who is genuine and who isn't. We have a good process for selection.

SHEILA NEWMAN: When did you first become aware that Australia's population numbers were getting too big?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I have newspaper clippings from the mid-nineties, when it really started to become a major issue. Those newspaper clippings outline the same problems that we are discussing today but they are now much worse.

SHEILA NEWMAN: How old are you?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I am 39.

SHEILA NEWMAN: What population impacts bother you the most?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I have a business background and the thing that initially struck me is that population growth is an economic disaster. The trade deficits, skyrocketing foreign debt, overloaded infrastructure, and impoverished government budgets – population growth is a false economy. Through my small business, I am in a position to experience the importance of how $12.9b per year is lost in economic activity due to infrastructure overload like congested traffic.

I also have a passion for the environment, especially our native wildlife. One of my favorite activities is bushwalking in Ku-Rin-Gai National Park. I like to think I have a strong environmental conscience, going back to the days where I used to drive my parents mad policing the kitchen recycling program.

SHEILA NEWMAN: What line of business are you in?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I have been in accounting and finance and currently run a small business in marketing and communications. Rising energy costs, water costs, rent costs, car-running costs, negatively impact on my business and these growing expenses are clearly related to population increase.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Where do you think the government is going with its policy on population at the moment?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I think they are trying to neutralise the issue, but we offer a real alternative without band-aids which will contrast well with the government’s patched-up alternatives.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Where do you think the opposition is going with the population issue?

WILLIAM BOURKE: It seems to me that they are trying to mimic the John Howard tactic of muscling up against refugees and hoping that will give the impression that they can manage population growth and immigration. In reality we know that John Howard was the leader of the party which actually opened the floodgates and that Tony Abbott would maintain this.

SHEILA NEWMAN: What do you think of Labor MP Kelvin Thomson's views and his role?

WILLIAM BOURKE: I think he is a true leader and that in time he will be appropriately judged.

SHEILA NEWMAN: What did you think of the Population Reform Forums run on the 7th of May in every state by Kelvin Thomson, Dick Smith and SPA?

WILLIAM BOURKE: Dick Smith was, of course, fantastic to listen to. I also thought that Rob Oakeshott, the Independent for Lyne, spoke very well and is the sort of person we need in Federal parliament.I think the media coverage of the actual event was a little disappointing, especially considering the great speakers – at least those I heard at the forum I attended in Sydney.

SHEILA NEWMAN: Could you name a book or a film or a public figure that has inspired you?

WILLIAM BOURKE: Overloading Australia by Mark O’Connor and Bill Lines made a big impression on me. Reading it was really the straw that broke the camel's back and led me to do something about the problem of Australia’s unsustainable population growth.

The article about SPPA in today's Australian (20 April 2010) is an indication of the profile public dissatisfaction is giving the population issue. The Australian is a self-admittedly big population advocate, and so it is interesting to see how the new party, Stable Population Party of Australia, has been reported.

Predictable but unacceptable slurring

The online version is quite acceptable, but a printed edition this morning uses the headline 'New party slams immigrants'. See, Stephen Lunn, "New Party slams immigrants," (April 20, 2010).

William Bourke says that this in no way represents either the article or his lengthy discussion with Stephen Lunn yesterday.

It looks like that Mr Murdoch's editors are trying to paint him in a certain way.

The Australian got the Party's name completely wrong

The Australian did not get the name of his party correct either. The name of the party is not the 'Sustainable Population Party', but the Stable Population Party of Australia. The newspaper apparently cleared this up later in the online edition, but all those people who only read print media will not be able to find the party which they may desperately wish to find. And a lot of people who otherwise might join may not because of the way the Australian has represented the party.

The article itself covers the basic facts about the party, notably the population stabilising policy of balancing emigration with immigration. It also quotes William's factual statement that "population growth might be a single issue, but it cuts across national policy agendas from health, housing and education to water, climate change..." but over-emphasises the fact that it also cuts across immigration.

Why can't the Australian be more positive about what the people want?

In fact the article could be saying so many positive things, such as how the Stable Population Party, by trying to stabilise our population at as low a level as possible, offers hope of an amnesty on starving out and breaking indigenous animal populations, of mortgage martyrdom, of anxiety about old age and rising costs, of a consolidation of community and democracy, and ultimately, as the baby boomers begin to die off in 20 or 30 years, of green space and freedom becoming available to Australia's growing population of cage-reared children, sedated and bloated with fast food.

The Australian is - unfortunately for Australians - interested in marketing Australian property to the world, through its property dot com, realestate.com.au, so positive reporting here would conflict with their business policy.

Dick Smith, FOKE, and Stable Population Party of Australia in Sydney last week

The Party leader encountered a very positive reception at a venue last week.

On the night of the 15th of April 2010, population campaigner Dick Smith spoke to the Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment (FOKE) group where they had gathered at an environmental event on Sydney's North Shore.

FOKE's main concern is inappropriate development in their suburbs (high rise etc).

The event was packed with 170 seated attendees and a similar number standing.
Dick spoke well and introduced William Bourke of Stable Population Party of Australia to the crowd near the end.

Mainstream media were in attendance including 60 Minutes (who had been with Dick Smith all day), SBS TV, and North Shore Times (News Ltd).

William Bourke was interviewed by SBS TV and around 50 people came up to him after the event for a chat. Most of them departed after getting a SPPA membership form.

Looks like Dick Smith is leading the democratic population policy campaign and helping Australia find political alternatives to the growth lobby.

Makes a good counterpoint to Murdoch's mammoth Australia campaign.