New Population group says, "Slow down - lets aim for balance rather than endless growth"

Tue, 2014-03-11 09:27 by admin

“Population Growth Slow Down” (PGSD) is a new independent Pty Ltd company run on a ‘not for profit’ basis. Its purpose is to raise both the public profile of the population issue in Australia and to lobby politicians for change.

Not another anti-population growth group, you say? Why not? The air waves and print media teem with pro-growth lobby groups and their messages. Australian federal and state governments are continually browbeaten and seduced by pro-population growth lobbyists. We already have the environmental NGOs, Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) and Victoria First; the political parties, Stop Population Growth Now (SPGN) and the Sustainable Population Party, and Candobetter.net (alternative counter-growth media) exist, so why do we need another one?

The answer is simple; after standing in the last election as a candidate for the seat of Eden-Monaro (representing the Sustainable Population Party), PGSD founder, Martin Tye saw firsthand that there was a huge gap between the public perception of the issue and the stance being taken by these other organizations. He realized a bridge needed to be made to connect the average person to the issue by making the concepts more personal and by providing easily digestible bits of information which relate directly to peoples everyday lives.

So this organization is essentially a re-branding of the issue with the objective of attracting a new market, getting them involved, and to effectively sign a petition for change.

Martin has now resigned from the “Sustainable Population Party” as he wants to attract interest from people regardless of their political persuasion. He is working full-time on this project, he stresses that PGSD is designed to complement the existing organizations, not to compete (we are fighting for the same thing and must work together). He sees PGSD as ‘opening another front’ in the war against the perpetual growthists who would ruin our country in their quest for profits. There is no reason why everyone who is already committed to this cause shouldn’t add their support to PGSD. “Every voice adds to the power of our message”.

Very strong support in Queensland

‘PGSD’ commenced operation in late February and the support has already been over-whelming. We have members from every State and Territory, with especially strong support in south-east Queensland where rapid population growth has already had serious impact on ‘quality of life’ and the environment. There have also been requests for speaking engagements and a number of media requests. ‘PGSD’ is gathering momentum fast!

Slowing vs stopping

But why ‘Slow Down’ and not ‘Stop’ population growth? ‘PGSD’ believes the economic reality is that to come to a sudden stop would be disastrous. The public would not accept this, and the movement would fail. The best course of action is to ‘slow down’ while we restructure our economy and work out just how many people this new economy can support with a reasonable quality of life for the long term, while at the same time placing proper recognition on the importance of our environment. ‘PGSD’ believes we will need a transition period not a sudden shift.

At present, our politicians are refusing to accept that we can have anything but endless ‘growth’ (do they know we live in a harsh and finite country facing the challenges of peak oil and climate change?). All the pressure on them comes from big corporations who want to drive population growth and profits.

PGSD founder, Martin Tye says;

“It is time we, the people, created some pressure of our own. PGSD aims to: educate, organise and mobilise the people, to start a movement that will sweep this country. We will force the politicians to start acting in the best interests of the people and not the property developers! We will send a message that our environment is no longer expendable in their quest for never ending ‘growth’. … Rapid population growth is not sustainable and it does not discriminate; it impacts all people current and future. We are fighting back!”

“

To succeed PGSD needs numbers. The more people join the more power we have- so, no matter what your; religion, politics, race or social background. Get involved, everyone is welcome to join, just register your support through the website.

Add your voice today at www.populationgrowthslowdown.com.au

"THERE IS A POINT BEYOND WHICH POPULATION GROWTH MOVES FROM BEING CONSTRUCTIVE TO BEING DESTRUCTIVE … WE HAVE NOW PASSED THAT POINT"

Topic:

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2014-03-11 09:39

Permalink

We must stop active growth now

Even if NOM was stopped now, our population would still continue to grow as births outpace deaths, due to the momentum of growth and the number of young people. Our population would slow down and stabilise by mid century. With all the constraints and scarcities and threats of climate change, this should be the decision for now - slash the main sources of our population - net overseas migration except to wind down present visa applications, and continue with our humanitarian intake. Our economy collapse? There would still be enough growth for property developers, and for businesses to growth their customer base. There would be more opportunities for existing locals to obtain jobs and houses. There's no point in pretending we can continue as we are - the industries parasitically profiting from population control will eventually have to make a U turn to more productive industries and economic activities.

DennisK (not verified)

Tue, 2014-03-11 12:19

Permalink

Wouldn't it be better to modify the approach of existing parties

Maybe it's naivety, but I would have thought it better for those interested, to join an existing structure, rather than duplicate efforts. Unless current parties are not open to change and new ideas... I think 'economic collapse' due to a sudden drop in migration is a bit of a furphy. Thats what the growth lobby use to push their agenda. Has growth increased our standard of living? No. It's driving up prices, damaging our community and overall, results in a net loss. The benefits don't outweigh the costs. Who would suffer should NOM be reduced drastically? Developers and those who directly profit from it. Why should we continue to pay to give them a soft landing? What obligation do I have to the property industry or even the construction industry to keep them going? But more importantly, lets say we slowly reduced our intake, would that make much of a difference? No. Much of this speculative investment is based on current trends. It would be good for sustainable population parties to offer ideas on how a drop in net immigration could be managed.

Martin Tye (not verified)

Fri, 2014-03-14 07:02

Permalink

Wouldn't it be better to modify the existing parties' approach?

Dennis,

Reply to first paragraph: This is not a duplication of efforts it is complimentary! If you read the website you will see that it is a re-branding of the issue. There is currently no 'membership-fee free' non-political organisation which can be seen as a place where anyone can go to register their disapproval of current population growth policies- like a petition.

I ran in the last election for the seat of Eden-Monaro representing the SPP who are doing a great job but I realised the public mind is so far from the understanding people like us have of the issue, that we needed to build a bridge to connect the ordinary person to organisations like SPA and SPP. I have put my time and money into this new organisation to 'open a new front' and attempt to reach into a new market. If an organisation like SPA were to re-brand in this way it may trivialise their efforts. As I see it, they are the engine room and we are the window dressing.

As for your economic comments, you seem to assume that we support slowly reducing our intake. We don't, our views on limiting population growth are drawn very much from sources like SPA and SPP. We fully appreciate that the need to stabilise our population (maybe reduce?) is urgent, but the 'business as usual' approach to marketing this idea is failing miserably. Any policy will have a 'slow down' period before stabilizing, we just choose to market the 'slow down' period' to keep people reading rather than 'shutting off'. I hope this makes sense.

I believe we need to try new things in the quest to achieve mass appeal for this issue until we find the magic bullet as no one has really 'cracked it' yet. We need an organisation with tens of thousands of members (not just hundreds). This is a chance to build that organisation. I hope all those concerned with population growth will get behind this new initiative. It does no harm to, and can only benefit existing organisations.

Martin Tye, Director www.populationgrowthslowdown.com.au

George Gordon (not verified)

Fri, 2014-03-14 13:08

Permalink

Potential Representation in Parliament.

I read "Population Growth Slow Down" aims to raise both the public profile of the population issue in Australia and to lobby for change. I understand that tigers do not change their spots and politicians are reluctant to change their established policy position. To gain traction requires one person to be elected to one parliament in Australia . The maiden speech would be recorded in Hansard and would be available for widespread public edification and help to change voters attitude at subsequent elections.

harry cohen (not verified)

Mon, 2014-03-17 12:52

Permalink

There is a Federal Labor member who has spoken out

There is a Federal Labor member who has spoken out on population growth for some years — Kelvin Thomson. He has detailed a 14 Point Plan to Reduce our Population Growth (pdf, 92.6k) but it seems to have gained little traction even amongst his colleagues in the ALP. We need a new approach to grow to a critical mass of people able to counter the growth development mainstream media lobby which is all powerful.

Dennis.K (not verified)

Fri, 2014-03-14 22:29

Permalink

Best of luck

It's good people are trying a different approach, as the issue hasn't gained much traction, despite the potential support for it. Abbott is doing some of the work for you. His proposals to allow business to expand their intake of 457 visa workers has caused much ire, particularly since unemployment is rising here. My POV is that the media silence on the issue is the biggest factor. Refugees can be an issue, because refugees have no money. Legal immigrants do have money and can bid up property prices, so the media does not touch the issue because they cannot be 'an issue'. It is met with 'silence'. In fact the BIGGEST issues affecting us, the MSM ignore, deliberately. What makes it worse, is no one ever reads anti-growth arguments, so are unarmed with discussing the issue. The problem I see, is that groups like the SPP, don't have digestible, reproducible arguments that laypeople can use in conversation, or to respond to comments. Sure, there are nice articles, educated opinions, facts, etc, but educated opinions and facts don't mean success. Appealing to intellectuals doesn't result in success (if anything the opposite). People need to hear short talking points, repeatedly. Points they can remember and use.

Martin Tye (not verified)

Fri, 2014-03-14 06:31

Permalink

We must stop active growth now

You are absolutely correct. But we must be smart about how we sell this to the public. PGSD advocates zero NOM but chooses to highlight the 'slow down' period you have mentioned as a marketing strategy. We aim to win mass support for the population issue. We must read the public mind carefully and lead them to the 'end of growth' conclusion, trying to hit them over the head with it just alienates them. We need to show them a calm, measured response so as not to scare them off. I hope this clarifies our position. Martin Tye Director PGSD

New Population group says, "Slow down - lets aim for balance rather than endless growth"

Very strong support in Queensland

Slowing vs stopping

Topic:

Comments

We must stop active growth now

Wouldn't it be better to modify the approach of existing parties

Wouldn't it be better to modify the existing parties' approach?

Potential Representation in Parliament.

There is a Federal Labor member who has spoken out

Best of luck

We must stop active growth now

Add comment

Filtered HTML

Tags in Topic

Help save injured wildlife

Recent comments