Greens launch Senate inquiry against endless population growth, Liberals back it (3 Viewers)

[Slidey]

The Greens have launched a federal Senate inquiry into population growth, urban planning and sustainability, and Australia's holding capacity in light of the Labour government's advocacy for rampant population growth.

The Liberals have backed the inquiry, for similar reasons, so it will be set up in May.

I think the most poignant line which sums up my feelings is:

The opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said the opposition would work with the Greens on the proposed inquiry.

''Australians want to be heard on this issue,'' he said. ''I think Australians are very frustrated by a prime minister who just signs us up to a 36 million population and they don't have any say about it.''

Libs back Greens call for inquiry into 'big Australia'

 

[jennyfromdabloc]

Fuck the average Australian. They don't own this country, or have any more right to access it than any other human being on this planet.

Open the borders, abolish welfare, and let the free market ration resources.

No one actually knows Australia's carrying capacity, as shown by the array of esteemed scientists with widely different guesses from 10 million to 100 million.

The only way to find out is through the market. If water starts to become scarce, it will send very clear price signals and make immigration seem much less attractive.

However, with modern desalination technology and the ability to cheaply import food, I'd imagine Australia's "carrying capacity" is well above most of these estimates.

 

[Garygaz]

Fuck the average Australian. They don't own this country, or have any more right to access it than any other human being on this planet.

Open the borders, abolish welfare, and let the free market ration resources.

Nice to know you care about national identity, pride and a sense of belonging.

 

[jennyfromdabloc]

Nice to know you care about national identity, pride and a sense of belonging.

I laugh at all of those things.

I do not consider it significant in any way that my parents decided to fuck in this particular arbitrarily defined geographic area.

Edit: Actually, sense of belonging is important. Connection to my friends, family, local community and even work collegues. I do feel a sense of belonging to people who I have chosen to work with and interact with.

However, I do not feel a sense of belonging to some stranger in Perth because they happen to be considered Australian, and I do not feel any more compassion for them or connection to them than someone in Indonesia or Nigeria. A stranger is a stranger.

 

[SylviaB]

Nice to know you care about national identity, pride and a sense of belonging.

fuck you and your collectivist nonsense


and fuck the liberals also

 

[Riet]

Nice to know you care about national identity, pride and a sense of belonging.

Pride cometh before a fall.

National identity? What the fuck does Australia have to be proud of? That 11 of our white men can hit a leather ball better than 11 British or South African white men?

 

[Garygaz]

Pride cometh before a fall.

National identity? What the fuck does Australia have to be proud of? That 11 of our white men can hit a leather ball better than 11 British or South African white men?

To be honest if you can't think of a reason that you're proud to be an Australian then I'm pretty shocked. And yes, there are many other reasons apart from sport.

 

[Riet]

I can't think of any that are exclusive to Australia rather than western society in general. Infact in most areas we are lacking.

 

[zombie omie jay]

yes but i think their point is, why are you proud when you have not contributed to any of it

 

[Riet]

like even the best things about Australia: freedom, guns and beer, aren't exclusive to Australia and then there are heaps of problems with the country and our history too?

 

[Garygaz]

yes but i think their point is, why are you proud when you have not contributed to any of it

If I trace my personal family tree back up I can find a lot of people in my family who have contributed to this nation and building it up to what it is today, and that's something to be proud of. Sure, maybe I haven't done anything yet, I'm still young, though hopefully one day I might be able to contribute in some way.

 

[Phoenix Fury]

To be honest if you can't think of a reason that you're proud to be an Australian then I'm pretty shocked. And yes, there are many other reasons apart from sport.

Personally I'm just 'pleased' to be an Australian rather than having had to grow up in some total shithole, backwards country and that kinda stuff.

As for being 'proud', I don't really understand the point of it.

 

[Teclis]

Fuck the average Australian. They don't own this country, or have any more right to access it than any other human being on this planet.

Open the borders, abolish welfare, and let the free market ration resources.

Because letting the free market reign in the past has worked so well for us...:uhhuh:

No one actually knows Australia's carrying capacity, as shown by the array of esteemed scientists with widely different guesses from 10 million to 100 million.

Well I would say that Australia's carrying capacity is limited to the liveable areas and within those areas the availability of land that can be developed and lived on viably.

The only way to find out is through the market. If water starts to become scarce, it will send very clear price signals and make immigration seem much less attractive.

I'm pretty sure that won't make a difference... with expensive water Australia will STILL be a more attractive option than living in war ravaged, oppressive, economically unstable countries.

However, with modern desalination technology and the ability to cheaply import food, I'd imagine Australia's "carrying capacity" is well above most of these estimates.

Desalination is possibly the dumbest idea the Australian government has EVER had.... INCLUDING removing a generation of Aboriginal Children from their parents. It's a waste of electricity, particularly when recyling the giga-litres of rain water and waste water that Sydney Outputs every month would likely make the damns overflow...

And relying on imported food is an interesting concept. Australia has enough Farm land to produce enough food for itself... but Australian farming numbers have decreased. We produce the same amount of crops with less people producing the crops because of higher efficiency... except we have more people...

 

[Riet]

Desalination is possibly the dumbest idea the Australian government has EVER had.... INCLUDING removing a generation of Aboriginal Children from their parents. It's a waste of electricity, particularly when recyling the giga-litres of rain water and waste water that Sydney Outputs every month would likely make the damns overflow...

And relying on imported food is an interesting concept. Australia has enough Farm land to produce enough food for itself... but Australian farming numbers have decreased. We produce the same amount of crops with less people producing the crops because of higher efficiency... except we have more people...

Concentrating solar power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Water isn't a problem with Sydney, we have quite reliable rainfall, the issue is that there is a limited amount of water inland where the food is grown.

 

[Slidey]

Energy is not a concern. Water is not a concern because energy is not a concern (desalination is energy expensive, though recycling is not). Food is a concern. Environmental sustainability is a concern.

I would support a larger Australia if it were guided such that significant investment went into: renewable energy production (I'm thinking mainly solar and wind here), desalination and recycling of water, and increased urbanisation.

Increased urbanisation is essential. Highly urbanised cities are the most sustainable and least environmentally harmful ones possible. Urban sprawl is not desirable.

The problem is that it would be cheaper to expand outwards and to use dirty fuel sources and finite water resources. So leaving this to the market is a ridiculous notion.

 

[zombie omie jay]

The food production potential of australia is nowhere near close to being met lol, so many areas with high, reliable rainfall are not untilised. Australia does not utilise land that other countries would die for. We dont need to. In the future we will, but right now we dont.

Also, goats are already the most consumed red meat in the world, and australia can support a fucking lot of goats.

 

[Riet]

the fact of the matter is for the free market to adopt renewable energy we need a carbon tax. Most people are too selfish/apathetic to want to switch and so while coal is the cheapest form of electricity, will keep using it.

 

[zombie omie jay]

m8 seriously have you seen how many cows they grow in prime vegie growing areas like the north coast and central tablelands and se qld and stuff m8

 

[Riet]

yeah I know m8 but there isnt unlimited and not just australia's population depends on that agriculture. Like sure if we all just eat beans and corn we can have like a billion people in Australia but would we want to?

 

[Slidey]

yeah I know m8 but there isnt unlimited and not just australia's population depends on that agriculture. Like sure if we all just eat beans and corn we can have like a billion people in Australia but would we want to?

I'd be fine with it, but I doubt meat-eaters would.