Sustainable Population Australia is inviting all Australians who are concerned about our unsustainable population to growth to contact their Federal MPs before the next Federal election.
Now that population is a hotter topic than ever in the halls of parliament, the next few months are an ideal time to contact our MPs to give a loud and clear message that we, the voters, do NOT want a big Australia.
The more of us that write to our politicians, the louder the voice on this issue will be heard.
We have prepared a pro-forma letter to provide the style and content which we want to be communicating to our politicians. We invite you to personalise and to use as much of this letter as you wish when contacting your MP.
To find your local federal members, the search function can be found here
Good luck!
Pro Forma letter:
{MP name}
{date}
Dear (title and name of MP) ,
I am writing to draw to your attention the need for a mature and respectful debate about rapid population growth and to seek your views on this issue.
Globally population growth has risen dramatically in the last two centuries. In 1800, the global population was 1 billion people. By 2018, it had risen to 7.7 billion people. It is now rising by 80 million every year - an extra billion people every 12 years - and shows no sign of slowing down.
Population growth is the underlying cause of most wars - due to conflict over access to scarce resources, refugee movements, and a key factor in climate change – it’s hard to reduce your carbon footprint if you keep adding more feet! The global population of
7.7 billion has had a catastrophic effect on the world’s wildlife, many species have been pushed to the brink of extinction.
Australia’s population growth is even more pronounced. Whereas our population was
10 million in 1960, it has now risen to 25 million, and is on track to be 40 million by 2050 and 100 million by 2100.
The principal growth driver is a big jump in immigration levels. This was initially introduced by the Howard government in 2003, but this policy has continued by subsequent governments. Net migration levels have almost quadrupled from the twentieth century average of 52,000 per annum, to over 200,000 per annum.
The secondary growth driver is natural increase, more births than deaths - averaging 150,000 more each year (30% of births are to migrant mothers). The combined result of both migration and natural increase, is domestic population growth of one million every 3 years, with no signs of slowing down.
Our growth rate exceeds the global average, and is more than double the OECD average.
Our rapid population growth has led to adverse consequences for: housing affordability,
job opportunities for young people, traffic congestion, and carbon emissions. Furthermore, the impact on our cities, open space, and on our wildlife, has been devastating.
Against this background, I am keen to hear your thoughts on rapid population growth.
In particular, on four suggestions which I believe would make Australia and the world a better place both now and particularly in the future:
1. Increasing the proportion of our aid which goes to family planning. The international picture is dismal - family planning gets a mere 0.4% of international aid. Past evidence shows that spending money in this area works, and could stabilise global populations, whilst also raising living standards of recipient countries.
2. Returning Australia’s net migration to the numbers we had last century, rather than the rapid spike of the 21st. Australia will remain a multicultural, diverse country, even with more moderate immigration, and could maintain the current level of refugees intake. Indeed it is likely that public support for a compassionate refugee program would increase if the migrant worker programs, which are often exploited, were scaled back.
3. Australia’s rapid population growth happened without Australians being given a say in it. Can we get a plebiscite about our population levels? If this is not possible, Australians living in the major cities should at least have their say in planning matters returned to them. One of the many undesirable features of rapid growth in our cities has been the theft of a real say in planning decisions from local residents. Will you support measures to return a real say in planning decisions to the residents who are most affected by them?
4. Finally, are you prepared to support a mature and respectful debate around these issues? For far too long there has a been a deafening silence from Members of Parliament concerning population. The right has supported the greed of big business and the mantra of growth at any price. The left has become attached to the idea of open borders, an idea which is ecologically illiterate and hopelessly politically naive. The consequence has been the suppression of a debate our country needs to have.
We must stabilise our population to ensure a positive future, for both our children and the many other species on the planet. What do you think?
Yours sincerely,
{your name here}
