Smith backs PM on population

FORMER electronics tycoon turned anti-immigration campaigner Dick Smith is delighted with the new Prime Minister's opposition to rampant population growth.
Mr Smith also announced yesterday that he would award $1 million cash to a person aged under 25 in a competition to design a population "safety" plan for the nation.

Speaking exclusively to BusinessDaily, the millionaire declared he would dedicate the rest of his life to fighting policy that encouraged population growth.

Under former PM Kevin Rudd, the Federal Government was contemplating a population target of 36 million by 2050.

But yesterday, new PM Julia Gillard said she did not support the target on the grounds of sustainability.

"There are environmental issues about water and about soil. But there are also sustainability issues about planning, about services," Ms Gillard told the Nine Network yesterday, after naming Tony Burke the new Sustainable Population Minister.

Australia's population stands at 22 million and Mr Smith said if it grew past 26 million, the nation could struggle to feed its people.
Read article
Listen to the interview

New PM's shift on population at odds with data
JULIA Gillard's attempt to distance herself from predecessor Kevin Rudd on the question of population growth sits uneasily with the latest population statistics.

Released on Thursday as Ms Gillard took the prime ministership, the Bureau of Statistics figures show population growth slowing sharply during 2009, with the growth rate slipping from 2.16 to 1.99 per cent.

The December quarter increase of just 0.41 per cent is lower than at any time during the financial crisis.

The change reflects a lower birth rate as a mini baby boom eased and also lower immigration in the financial crisis. Recent changes to the rules on foreign students and working visas suggest the lower immigration rate might be here to stay.
Read article

Leaders at odds on growth
The ACT must populate or stagnate, according to Chief Minister Jon Stanhope who has signalled his opposition to any attempt to cut skilled migration to Australia.

Full steam ahead on SA population growth
More than 1.5 million people call South Australia home.

The SA Government says, like it or not, that figure will grow to well over two million in the next 30 years.