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 Estlake's article, "Populate and Stagnate." in the Fairfax Press (The Age)

Environmentalists might expect Green MLA 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 MLA 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?

A new political party is being formed to help stabilise Australia’s population at around 23 million through until 2050. This is in contrast to current projections of at least 36 million. Australia’s high population growth rate leads to a doubling of our population every 30-35 years, and causes or exacerbates many of our major economic, environmental and social problems. Download membership application form (PDF, 418K).

To contact SPPA: www.populationparty.com, stablepopulation[AT]live.com.au,

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."

"Save our Bush" Rally
Wednesday 24 February from 12-2pm
on Parliament House steps

In this article: Kelvin Thomson talks about Global Population Speak-out, full employment and asks why the economists are not concerned about rising prices for food and power due to Australia's overpopulation, whilst expressing great concern about the cost of supporting an 'aging population'. Amazing to find that there is a sane and compassionate voice in Federal Parliament, Australia. Kelvin's You-tube channel is at http://www.youtube.com/KelvinThomsonMP

Michael Danby, chairman of Federal Parliament's joint committee on migration, in recent newspaper articles, expresses support for Australia having a population of 35 million by 2050.

See also: "It's better for us to sustain skilled migration" by Michael Danby in The Australian of 8 Feb 10, "Refugee lobby's 10 commandments" by Paul Sheehan in The Age of 16 Oct 09, "More people does not equal trashing our environment" by Michael Danby in The Age of 14 Jan 10, "Rudd's policies make us a soft target" by Paul Sheehan in The Age of 14 Oct 09, "Greens want immigration cut" by Cathy Alexander in The Age of 1 Feb 10.

World-famous physics professor, Al Bartlett, takes Australia's Climate Change Minister Penny Wong's figures apart on climate change emissions and population numbers, showing that Ms Wong is wrong. "To accommodate the projected population growth AND to reduce overall annual emissions by 60% would require an annual rate of decrease of per capita emissions of polluting greenhouse gases of 3.543 percent per year over the next forty years. The per capita annual emissions would have to be cut in half every 19.6 years!" Bartlett also says that at its present rate of growth, Australia’s population will double by 2050."

Wednesday 24 February from 12-2pm
on Parliament House steps, Melbourne

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.

The Australian has run yet another beat-up by KPMG corporate partner, Bernard Salt, trying desperately to justify continued high immigration. Mark O'Connor, author of Overloading Australia comments.

(Ed. The subject of this article may seem hackneyed, but it is well worth reading.) The word "sustainable" or "sustainability" has been rendered meaningless and oxymoronic by its attachment to the most invasive development proposals and economic activity. But authentic sustainability does not lend itself to semantic pluralism. It can only mean the viablility of the whole, not its constituent parts. There is really only one kind of sustainability.

A retired Australian farmer writes, "Three of the bigger questions in my life have been: Is there a god ? Will the oil run out ? Are humans smarter than lemmings ?"

On ABC TV Jan 28th 7.30 report the Australian PM appears to have backtracked on the idea of a "Big Australia" for which he said previously that he would make "no apology"

Are stages of governmental and media spin and treatment of forced population growth akin to the stages of grief-predictable and identifiable?

See also: "Rudd facing a Queensland backlash" by Bill Hoffman in the Sunshine Coast Daily of 30 Jan 10, "Rudd cools on a 'big Australia'" in the Age of 29 Jan 10, "Rudd on a 'big Australia'" on the 7.30 Report of 28 Jan 10, "Future Australians could face starvation: Dick Smith" on ABC online of 25 Jan 10, "Population debate needed: opposition" in the Mackay Daily Mercury of 25 Jan 10 (also published in the Shepparton News), "Poll shows Australians do not share rudd's vision for 'Big Australia'" of 10 Nov 09 by Bruce Billson MP, (former) Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities, "Population to now hit 35 million by 2049" in the Australian of 18 Sep 09.

Tweed Valley Community levied for unwanted and disastrous development in region's main koala habitat.
Koalas are in danger of extinction within two years in Queensland and NSW cannot be far behind. No state is keeping proper wildlife statistics and development is ruining their habitat and ours. See where to send objections inside article.

Wake up Australia...Be Fair !
Camels are our models here
They drink but once a week

Many population- environment organizations concerned about human population impact on the planet believe they cannot talk about ‘coercive’ population policies, only education and good access to family planning. But are they falling into the same trap as environmental organizations that refuse to acknowledge the overriding evidence that our ever growing numbers are a key part of the problems we face?

National President of SPA, Sandra Kanck, says “If we pause on Australia Day to reflect on our identity, our thoughts should turn to reforming the anthem. It is an absolute nonsense to say that this continent has boundless plains to share, as is claimed in the second verse of the anthem."

"Hi mum and dad - I won't be around when they announce my award on January 26th. I am with Sean Penn, Diana jenkins, Oscar and 15 doctors embedded in the 82 Airborne ( USA) Dante would describe it as hell here. There is no food and water and hundreds dying daily. The aid is all bottlenecked and not reaching here . The other day i assisted with amputation (holding them down) while they used a saw to cut a young boys leg off with no pain killers. " Written by Australia Day Honours List member, Alison Thompson, to her parents in Sutherland Shire (Sydney, on 24 January 2010.

A blogsite called "Catholic Dialogue" sounds so extreme in its condemnation of feminism, contraception and women's choice that you wonder if it's actually a joke. The blogsite warns people not to donate to Caritas Haiti because they support condoms, the celebration of Women's International Day and present a 'negative image of the Catholic Church'!

Please DO therefore consider donating to Caritas Haiti. And thanks, Catholic Dialogue, for telling us about them. They have survived the earthquake. Personally I think they are improving the image of Catholicism.

How the tragic situation of Haiti's overpopulation and poverty came about? There were not always 9m hungry people there. When this once rich and beautiful island was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, it was inhabited by a population of about 100,000 Amerindians, living in a steady state economy. The Amerindians refused to mine gold for the Spanish, so the Spanish imported many thousands of slaves from Africa. The French took the whole island over in 1697 and it remained their most lucrative possession until 1825, despite the inhabitants claiming independence and freedom from slavery under the French Revolution of 1789. At that time there were few Amerindians but about 400,000 African slaves and 100,000 colonists. Added on 17 Jan 2010. Slavery is ongoing in Haiti.

Angela Shanahan - The Growth Lobby's last resort. This article looks at Ms Shanahan's extreme pronatalist case for the "Demographic reality tells us it's never too late to populate" in the Australian, 9 January 2010, p.7. We thought that the growth lobby had retired this weapon but Kelvin Thomson obviously has them in a panic. (Additional material added on 10 January.)Email for letters to the Australian is: letters[AT]theaustralian.com.au

Avatar is a remarkable movie, about a fabulous world and an old story with some great new twists and perspectives. This is an exciting and skilled 3D graphics state of the art creation which puts the viewer on a new planet in the skin of an alien tribe. We discuss this experience and the political message of the movie.

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.

The Growth Lobby seemed to have gone to some trouble to justify encouraging more immigration to Australia by making a detailed case on Wikipedia under the search heading: "Immigration_to_Australia"

Typically the arguments are the same old tired justifications that rely on historic success and links to economic growth, but they are shallow, unsupported and rely on claims by the biased Productivity Commission.

See also: "How the Growth Lobby threatens Australia's future" of 24 Jan 09.

Easter Islanders blocked their airport for 24 hours recently to demonstrate their right to say how big a population the island could have, and to save their natural environment. Amazingly the Chilean Government listened.

The growth lobby appears in new guises every day, constantly trying to make itself out to be the good guy. Now a new alliance of religious groups pretends we can go on growing indefinitely, the same way that the Citizens Electoral Lobby, the Australian Property Council, and the Prime Minister of Australia do. But Tim Murray asks, "If each one of God’s 214,000 miracles born each day is precious, what of the tens or hundreds of thousands of non human life forms that are murdered that day by our expansion? Yes, 100 species are lost each day. But many more life forms are killed than that each day. How many? Who knows? Each and every day we are breeding our life support system into the ground."

Penny Wong has started a trend in dieting in Canada, of all places. They call it, "Smart Gluttony". Using Penny Wong's approach to growing population and production whilst simultaneously reducing carbon gas emissions, Tim Murray expects to lose weight by eating more ice-cream, even though his doctor has predicted that his weight will increase by 65% just if he continues with his current one tub a day.

Are Australians being patriotic or simply bigoted, for wanting to contain immigration numbers?What is the definition of racist? What is the definition of patriotic? Do Australians have a right to be patriotic.. and concerned & protective of their dwindling assets, namely land and water?

Queensland: Beautiful one day; bulldozed the next. Bligh government's gung-ho populate and develop policy is ill-informed and will destroy the golden goose, not to mention all the other creatures and plants. The development lobby is impossible to satisfy. Its demands are unreasonable and unsustainable.