Grandiose fantasies about filling up a continent to create a great and powerful nation are not exclusive to Australia. Demographic hubris is alive and well in Canada too, and even now, after the loss of 20% of our best farmland to development, with more than a thousand species at risk and an immigrant population that has, over the last two decades, generated four times as much GHG emissions as the Albert Tar Sands megaproject, there are people who believe in a Big Canada concept. Irving Studin of the University of Toronto is one of them.

For those who follow the stock exchange, building materials share values are the key to the boom and bust cycle of Australian (and similar systems) property, infrastructure and construction booms. When building materials values go down we know that overall market demand decline has settled in. It means that the developers and engineers have reduced their forward orders for bricks and mortar. At the same time the States have been told to reduce their own little-known immigrant-sponsorship programs.

Today, in a press release titled, 'Change of direction on 'Big Australia', Kelvin Thomson wrote: "I am really pleased by the announcement by the Prime Minister that she intends to take a new direction in population policy, and to chart a course away from growth towards sustainability." At candobetter.org we are delighted to be gob-smacked. Here's a pod-cast of the recent Insiders (ABC) program on the change of P.M. for those who are keen to hear more.

To win election to local office requires a fluency in vacuous growthist idiocy, a combination of greenwash and bimbo boosterism. Here is toolkit of ten cliches that are generic to successful political campaigns across the anglophone world. If liberally sprinkled throughout your speeches, you will be guaranteed favourable treatment from the business community and the lap-dog media, dependent as it is on the advertising revenue of the real estate industry.

Every state government in Australia is trying to impose unreasonable and undemocratic population growth and development on Australians. On the heels of the Victorian protests, here is another urgent notice from Geoff Brown in New South Wales about the Sydney Growth Centres.
One of Candobetter.org 's main reasons for existence is to help Australians stop fighting local environmental brush-fires and start targeting the nationally organised arsonists - the Growth Lobby - where it dwells in political parties, government, business and organisations.

A common line of argument from those who favor population growth in Australia is that it's all a matter of optimism versus pessimism, and that environmentalists are much too negative. But there are situations where optimism would be better named meglomania.

"Ever wondered why you are increasingly being trapped in traffic jams and gridlock on Melbourne's roads? Ever wondered whether construction of monster freeways/tunnels will alleviate the problems ? Then come to hear our speakers and ask questions. We really need your support in holding a public meeting on this important topic. Protectors of Public Lands.

"You may join the discussion and debate around the world on overpopulation! Australia heats up by the day as it overpopulates itself into demographic consequences that grow irreversible and unsolvable. No rational country wants to follow in the footsteps of China, India, Bangladesh or Mexico. But the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Australia follow in the same tracks!" - Frosty Wooldridge.

Michael Lardelli, who is on the governance committee of the new Australian party, Stop Population Growth Now, says why he agreed to help form the new party, which is based in South Australia. The party seeks "to reduce Australia’s population growth to zero as a matter of urgency." Other Australian anti-overpopulation parties.

A graph from "Australian Population Scenarios in the context of oil decline and global warming" at shows that the bulge in the Australian population pyramid which growth economists say will cause a larger number of aging people than the economy can cope with, was obviously caused by high levels of post-war immigration. Dr Jane O'Sullivan has quantified the enormous cost in new infrastructure and maintenance of population growth.

Click on the image for some nice, soothing, restorative, reaffirming, validating propaganda for a change.

Report on the Federation Square (Victoria, Australia) Population Forum on 23 April 2010, where Mark O'Connor debated Marcus Spiller.

Republished here to give background to Sheila Newman's remarks in her debate with Steve Bracks on the Jon Faine show 19-4-2010. You can comment on Jon Faine's "Population Forum" about the debate here and you can listen to the podcast here. The sector in Australia that has the most costly dependency ratio must be the property sector, since it costs all Australians an enormous and unreasonable amount just to cover the cost of land for housing, business and agriculture. Most of the very high costs involved are completely unnecessary, except in the eyes of greedy developers and their hangers-on. The only reason that the costs are so high is that the industry wants it that way and our state and federal governments are in cahoots with it. See also on Labor Resources and Labor Holdings etc. Early identification of the Growth Lobby is to be found on my thesis by that name, notably in Chapter 6. The latest article on candobetter on dependency ration is "Discussing Australia's Dependency ratio 2009 with graph by Dr Katharine Betts"

The Animal Justice Party of Australia (AJPA) is close to the target number of members to be able to register with the Australian Electoral Commission. This is an indication of the importance the community gives to animal welfare. The party is now calling for more members so that it can begin to make an impact. See also "Political diversity" Gloria O'Possum says, "Please join! Since possums cannot vote, we rely on kind humans to represent us, until we acheive voting rights."

An independent analysis by the Australian Medical Association has concluded that Australian public hospitals are dysfunctional, operating at full or above-full capacity, and urgently in need of increased capital funding. An important finding was that major metropolitan teaching hospitals operate on a bed occupancy rate of 95% or above. The report noted that hospital overcrowding was the most serious cause of reduced patient safety."

May 5th 2010 - St Kilda and South Melbourne ALP Branches present POPULATE AND/OR PERISH: Are our migration numbers right or wrong?
A debate and discussion with Michael Danby MP, Federal Member for Melbourne Ports VERSUS Kelvin Thomson MP, Federal Member for Wills, Chair of the joint Standing Committee on Treaties (Non-ALP members may sign in as guests and attend.)

National environment group, Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) says that comments made by the Prime Minister in announcing the creation of a Population Ministry all but guarantee a skewed outcome for the government’s population policy inquiry. See also The Stable Population Party of Australia (SPPA)- now open for membership and Kelvin Thomson and The New Australia PartyVote 'yes' on skynews on population minister need

The mainstream press is full of growth lobbyists trying to hose down arguments against population growth, but they don't really have any arguments - except narrow self-interest, which is costly for the rest of us, which they can't really afford to admit. Meanwhile ordinary Australians are reporting their many soundly based objections to population growth on the internet, since the mainstream press would rather not print or report these in depth or much at all.

In 1946, US President Truman said, of Australia's contribution to the Allied war effort, "On balance, the contribution made by Australia, a country having 7 millions, approximately equalled that of United States." Yet, in 2010, Bernard Salt, a supporter of the record high immigration rate being imposed undemocratically by the Rudd Government has, in an article written for Rupert Murdoch's "Australian" newspaper, misrepresented history in an apparent attempt to belittle and diminish this country's proud achievements. Why?

See also: "Bernard Salt and Murdoch press cook up recipe for invasion" of 2 May 09, "Madang landowners fight ecologically devastating Chinese mining invasion" of 1 Apr 10.

A world propped up on plastic, delivered in a rigid and untenable manner, devoid of joy and equity. Welcome to Australia, folks; this is the world we appear to be striving for.

Hysteria in Victorian Parliament disrupts Hearing on Finance and Administration. Witness fails to appear, perhaps advised not to by Attorney General. Scandal surrounds the Victorian Department of Planning and the ability of Victorian Law to pursue the truth in Parliament. Report from several sources present at the events. Please submit your views to Parliament - see inside

And the new message from the growth lobby is ..... "Yes, we hear your pain and we understand absolutely. No we don't intend to take any notice of your protests." Analysis of ex-ANZ bank economist, Saul Eslake's article, "Populate and Stagnate." in the Fairfax Press (The Age)

Environmentalists might expect Green MLC Greg Barber, to back another environmentalist, Kelvin Thomson, rather than supply quotes that could make him out unfairly to be racist. Wedge Politics we don't need from Mr Barber MLC who represents the Northern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne in the Legislative Council at State level, which Kelvin Thomson represents in the Lower House at the Federal level. What's going on? Are the Greens for real?

See also "Tasmanian Greens and the terror of coalitions" of 24 Mar 10 on Online Opinion and related discussion forum.

Has the nature of politics changed over the last few decades into a struggle of the people against the government? How much of our leisure time is now related to environmental struggles, signified by volunteer-manned stalls displaying educational material? Why do local and state government logos now figure in our community events? How much of our leisure-time and our attention has been taken over by ubiquitous commercialised, organised activities for children and adults? No answers in this article , just observations and questions... on a community event, somewhere, which could almost have been anywhere in Australia.

The TRUTH comes out of Maddens office. Consultation is faked. This is what we have all know for a long time as we spend hours of our time working away putting in submissions.
Well it is official; they just tick the boxes, as in: "Consulted with the community - tick."
And this is Madden who wants to be Premier?

Originally published on 25 Feb 10. Updated on 28 Feb 10 with embedded videos (thanks to Marvellous Melbourne) showing Madden being grilled by the newsmedia.
See also: "Government email reveals plans to deceive" of 25 Feb 10 by Ryan Sheales on ABC Online, "Consultation with community a sham" of 27 Feb 10 on Marvellous Melbourne.

At the Sustainable Living Festival, Greg Hunt says he will work 'in a bipartisan way' with Kelvin Thomson on population numbers. Kelvin Thomson advises, "Say 'no' to new suburbs and 'no' to new high rise and infill."

Both the NSW and Australian Government have upgraded Cumberland Plain Woodland from Endangered to Critically Endangered. You would assume any development that proposed to clear over 200 ha of critically endangered bushland would be struggling to get approval. We can assume nothing these days in Australia. Here is another focus where Australians need to unite to help each other get back democracy and protect fauna and flora from the growth lobby. The community has fought to save this area for nearly 20 years.See also related articles.

Labor Holdings, Labor Resources, Labor Inc, Rudd, Swann and the States: Is the Australian government and are the Australian state governments acting in our best interests or someone else's? Indeed, can they still be called 'governments' or are they becoming something else, to which citizens owe no allegiance?

See also: other articles about Labor Holdings

Queensland Infrastructure and planning minister, and former Property Council advisor, Stirling Hinchliffe has been given unprecedented power under Queensland’s new and deceptively named Sustainable Planning Act to ride roughshod over local government planning. (Hoffman, Opinion, Courier Mail, 6-1-2010) Hoffman also says, "There is little, the electorate can do about this having voted Labor back in..." Not true. People can do something. They can sign this petition calling for the government to resign

Film[Click on picture]: Writer and environmentalist, Mark O'Connor says that this is the first time since the mid 1990s that the ABC has interviewed someone from Sustainable Population Australia for the environmental view on population problems in Australia. I can't wait for them to interview someone from Candobetter.org. In the mean time: See also poll in The Age: "Suburban sprawl: Is a pause in extending Melbourne's boundary a good thing?" (Obviously the answer is "Yes"). See also "Madden Backflip on outer urban expansion" link inside.