Media Releases
Population should have been on summit agenda (SEPT)
Sep 6, 2002 Efforts made at the Johannesburg Summit would have a better chance of success had human population been recognised as being at the core of sustainable development, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). The World Summit on Sustainable Development finished this week with a series of commitments on priority areas including water and …
Population Should Have Been On Summit Agenda (Sept) Read More »
What benefit from one million extra residents? (AUG)
Aug 18, 2002 The onus of proof is on the Bracks’ Government to explain what benefit there will be to squeezing a million more residents into already overcrowded Melbourne, according to the Victorian branch of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). In the Metropolitan Strategy, to be released next month, Melbourne’s 31 local councils will be grouped …
What Benefit From One Million Extra Residents? (Aug) Read More »
End australia’s population growth for global sustainability (FEB)
Feb 21, 2002 Australia must cut both population growth and consumption in accordance with the principles of sustainability, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). Recently, the United Nations and World Business Council on Sustainable Development have estimated that industrialised countries like Australia need to achieve a ten-fold reduction in consumption of resources and a 20-fold …
End Australia’s Population Growth For Global Sustainability (Feb) Read More »
What benefit from one million extra residents? (AUG)
Aug 18, 2002 The onus of proof is on the Bracks’ Government to explain what benefit there will be to squeezing a million more residents into already overcrowded Melbourne, according to the Victorian branch of Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). In the Metropolitan Strategy, to be released next month, Melbourne’s 31 local councils will be grouped …
What Benefit From One Million Extra Residents? (Aug) Read More »
Property developers main drivers of immigration (FEB)
Feb 22, 2002 Property developers and the housing industry have most to gain from immigration-driven population growth, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). While polls taken over the last three decades have shown that the majority of people feel immigration levels to be “too much” or “about right”, businesses and individuals associated with property development …
Property Developers Main Drivers Of Immigration (Feb) Read More »
Population growth threatens indigenous culture (AUG)
Aug 8, 2001 for International Day of the World’s Indigenous People – August 9 Continued high population growth threatens the survival of Aboriginal culture, according to Sustainable Population Australia (SPA). Speaking on the eve of International Day for of the World’s Indigenous People, National Vice-President of SPA Dr John Coulter says that, since Aboriginal culture is …
Population Growth Threatens Indigenous Culture (Aug) Read More »
Rural development up, population down, to end poverty (JUL)
Jul 11, 2001 for World Population Day – July 11 Helping the world’s poorest people to escape from poverty lies in rural development programs and slowing population growth, according to Sustainable Population Australia inc (SPA). While more people are being fed adequately today, the numbers of the poor and malnourished has risen, with over 800 million …
Rural Development Up, Population Down, To End Poverty (Jul) Read More »
Ecological ethics versus entry for asylum seekers: australia’s moral dilemma (JUL)
Australians must weigh the obligation to care for fellow humans in need against the good of the environment and the rights of future generations, according to Dr Paul Collins, author and broadcaster. Dr Collins says the debate about accepting refugees and asylum-seekers has been conducted in a trite and naïve manner. “One side argues we …
Ecological Ethics Versus Entry For Asylum Seekers: Australia’s Moral Dilemma (Jul) Read More »
Population growth threatens sustainable development (OCT)
Oct 22, 2000 Continued population growth in the developing world is a threat to sustainable development, according to Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population (AESP). Referring to World Development Information Day (October 24), AESP National President Dr Harry Cohen said 97 per cent of the world’s annual population growth of around 78 million occurs in …
Population Growth Threatens Sustainable Development (Oct) Read More »
Education: not cultural assimilation rebadged, Culturally united education with new symbols
Speaking in Adelaide today, Dr John Coulter, National President of Sustainable Population Australia congratulated Kevin Rudd on the first big step toward reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. ‘But’ he said, ‘it is only the first step along the road to creating a single united nation which incorporates and respects the cultures of both. ‘You have identified education as a critical element but whose education and containing what cultural assumptions? Education must not be merely another route to assimilation. Non-indigenous Australians must acknowledge that Aboriginal culture contains elements that a new reconciled and integrated culture must contain. ‘Over 60,000 years Aboriginal people came to respect the land, to treat it with reverence and to identify with it. Today the mainstream culture sees a land to be exploited. Every resource must be discovered, dug up and shipped out, faster and ever faster til nothing is left for future generations but a vast empty hole in the ground. The mainstream must learn a reverence for the land and where better than from our own indigenous brothers and sisters?’ Dr Coulter continued, ‘Not only would explicit acknowledgment of the superior ethical attitude to land of indigenous people reinforce pride in their own culture, it is an ethical attitude we all need to learn for our own survival. There are very important Aboriginal cultural values that need to be adopted by the mainstream and especially in our educational curricula for both black and white.’ He then suggested one symbolic change may help to move us toward a more reverent and caring attitude toward our country, its unique environment, its plants and its animals. ‘Rather than continue with the irrelevant European star signs, we could all be born under an Australian totemic plant and animal with different totems for each day in the year – 366 of them. Thus among our 20 million population there would be 55,000 people with special knowledge of and a dedication to care for and respect each of these 366 plants and 366 animals. ‘This is not in any way to replace Aboriginal totemic associations or to be disrespectful. Rather it is to illustrate that their tradition and cultural practice is so valuable that it has been adopted in principle into the mainstream. ‘Every class of non-indigenous children would be associated with 20 -30 different animal and plant totems and every class would learn about those living Australian symbols, their environments and their associations with the country we all call home; and hopefully, to develop a reverence for land that is woefully deficient in the mainstream culture’ Dr Coulter concluded. Further information: Dr John Coulter, National President, Sustainable Population Australia 08 83882153 president@population.org.au