Uh oh, a new head on the Growth Lobby Monster

(Updated 10 July 2012 at end of article.)Housing prices are going down and the small coterie of people who profit from unaffordable housing and land costs and the other forms of resource inflation and associated human misery have found it necessary to invent yet another force to massage unwanted population growth and high immigration in Australia. This one, the New Migration Council to advocate for a bigger Australia" calls itself an NGO rather than a think-tank or an association or a foundation, but it has multi-million dollar backing and is way out of the league of traditional advocates of community causes most people associate with NGOs. See also the latest members of the Multicultural Foundation - Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

New Migration Council to advocate for a bigger Australia

"The imminent announcement of the formation of a Migration Council of Australia marks a critical juncture in population and immigration policy. The Council will operate as a Non-Government Organization (NGO), with its own board, and look more like the Settlement Council of Australia (SCoA), the Refugee Council (RCA) or the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF), than the government’s own and somewhat tame Australian Multicultural Council (AMC). Hopefully it will not be confused with the migration agents’ lobby, the Migration Institute of Australia. The MCA wants to find a new space, and has brought together some heavy hitters to allow it to make that space happen.

Headed by Peter Scanlon (ex Patricks Chair) and bringing together Business Council of Australia chair Tony Shepherd, Australia Post head Ahmed Fahour, Ethnic Communities Federation chair Pino Migliorino, Adult Migrant Education Victoria head Catherine Scarth and a number of others (including from the AMC), the organization seeks to build a bridge between those with an economic interest in a big Australia, and those with a social interest in a fair Australia. " Source: http://andrewjakubowicz.com/ (You can leave a comment.)

Andrew Jakubowicz invites comments on his blog about the above announcement.

The Multi-headed growth lobby has two new scalps: Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott

Jakubowicz refers to a number of major growth pushing organisations outside government, including the Multicultural Foundation of Australia. The membership of the Multicultural Foundation of Australia actually reads like a kind of den of past and present prime-ministers and opposition leaders, with its newest additions Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. Jakubowicz says that the board overseeing the New Migration Council has appointed Multicultural Minister Lundy’s former Advisor, Carla Wilshire, as its CEO. It is interesting that Jakubowicz admits there is a risk the new organisation might be confused with the migration agents’ lobby, the Migration Institute of Australia. I do not know whether this is because of cross fertilisation or because of the vested interests in high immigration or for some other reason.

Power and Money are scary at this level

A few years ago I heard about the Australian Multicultural Foundation in the context of donations by the Scanlon Foundation (formerly the Brencorp Foundation) to the Australian Academy of Technical Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) for the production of the "Scanlon Report on "The technological implications of Australia at 30 million in 2030". The AMF was also the recipient of Scanlon Foundation funding together with the Institute of Global Movements, at Monash University, run by Professor Nieuwenhuysen, who used to be with the Bureau of Immigration. What initially got my attention was the enormous amount of money and publicity the AMF and the IGF attracted. Then what absolutely arrested my attention was the membership of the Australian Multicultural Foundation - made up largely of prime ministers and almost-prime ministers of every political complexion. I then became interested in the history of the AMF and decided to try to track down its origins and early associations. To me the amount of money that immigration spruiking attracts and the levels at which its advocates are organised is a warning in itself of the presence of a commercial force in Australia and most ex-and current British colonies, including the US and Canada that undermines democracy and economic and scientific reason. You can read more background here "Background on the Australian Multicultural Foundation" and generally about this Growth Lobby and its widespread impact here: "Growth Lobby". Economically this lucrative movement for massively increasing Australia's population is associated with crippling inflation of land, water and other vital resource costs, making the cost of manufacturing and most other business uncompetitive. Socially the pressure on the cost of living and wages is shameful. Ecologically, the same inflationary forces are devastating soil, water and biodiversity, reducing green spaces, fragmenting habitat, and fragilising natural ammenity. Big population advocates have no answer to any of these things. Currently in Victoria we are looking at six new suburbs. The people have no say in this. It is just more colonialism and a source of great distress to many who love this land. To be frank I would be ashamed to be a part of the growth lobby. It seems to profit from destruction. I am glad that some government forces appear to want to dissociate from it, according to "New-migration-council-to-advocate-for-a-bigger-australia" but then again, it really just looks as if they are happy to hide behind a commercial propaganda front like this NGO, the New Migration Council to Advocate for a Bigger Australia.

(The above paragraph contains the substance of my comment submitted on 5 July 2012 to Andrew Jakubowitz's blog on the New Migration Council to advocate for a bigger Australia.)

The hydra of the growth lobby

In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, (as its name evinces) that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even her tracks were deadly.[1]

The many headed monster of the growth lobby seems to be a product of out of control capitalism, whereby power follows any force that can attract money, even if it takes us all onto the rocks, like the Sirens.

The New Migration Council purports to be for a fair Australia but with so much money devoted to profiting from growth, it is hard for me to see how it could avoid being much more than another promoter of forces that deprive Australians of their rights to self-government and determining their own population size. Perhaps, like banks and other organisations that profit from housing unaffordability, it will direct a pittance towards some homelessness foundation.

At Andrew Jakubowicz's blog, where the news about the New Migration Council was published, the reader is invited to leave a comment. I left the paragraph headed "Power and Money are Scary at this level" as a comment, but it has not been published. I know of at least one other critical comment which was also not published. At the moment, on July 7, 2012, at 12.45 am, despite probably numerous visits by now, Jakubowicz's article about the New Migration Council remains mysteriously free of comments.

Addition, July 10,2012: At Andrew Jakubowicz's blog, where the news about the New Migration Council was published, comments were finally published on today. Jakubowicz has republished his pieces at http://theconversation.edu.au/new-migration-council-to-fight-for-a-bigger-australia-7895. Comments may also be left there. Consider leaving one there and a copy here.

[1] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra#cite_note-0

This article first published on 2012-07-05 07:13:15 +1000
Republished on July 9, 2012, 16:33hrs