Griffith by-election

New Year’s Resolve from our political leaders. Are they out of touch with reality?…………See comments in Bold

Australians should enter 2014 full of optimism and willing to have a go to better their country, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says. He says the strength of the country is in its people's willingness to better their lives. 'This is the year I hope more of us than ever will have a go', he says in a new year's message.

No problem there. 1.8% more every year is what Liberal, Labor and Greens are ensuring using a policy "by stealth; without consensus". Does the additional cost of supporting those additional people exceed the ability of economic growth to pay for it? Will we "have an indebted go" while our economy tanks according to Tony Abbott? Where's the due diligence to back up the strategy of extreme population growth?

'We'll start new businesses, we'll build new houses, we'll undertake further study, make investments and plan a future.
'May we all be nearer to our best selves in 2014, government included.'

Using debt, debt, debt and more debt?

In 2014 the country will start commemorating the centenary of Anzac - which falls in 2015 - and begin a conversation about a referendum to recognise indigenous people in the constitution.

Why recognise indigenous people if we don't also recognise, and show respect for, their sustainable population management policy which lasted over 50,000 years before we dispossessed them using extreme population growth? Isn't that dispossession still evolving at maximum speed?

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he and Labor would spend the next year fighting for Australians' jobs and making sure the government sticks to its election promises.

I note from the Vote Compass data that Bill wants population growth to exceed 2012’s 1.8% per annum. Yet the ABS reports that unemployment has been increasing by an average of 2.3% per annum for the last decade. Great idea Bill; but how does this work? To be fair, looking at the changes from one year to the next can be misleading. People reach retirement age, economic activity rises and falls, etc.... So looking at a decade gives a longer term average. In the last decade, two of the largest two-year leaps in unemployment occurred in December 2009 (165,500) and December 2013 (92,100). Over those two year periods migration was about 585,000 and 387,000 respectively. The ratios of leap in unemployment to migrant arrivals were roughly 28% and 24% respectively. They look similar don't they? This is roughly one in four, which is an average family of four with one wage earner becoming unemployed for every family of four arriving. The trend in the total number of unemployed fluctuates, but is always upwards. Stating unemployment as a percentage is political manipulation, because it doesn't quantify the magnitude of the humanitarian problem. Has the government ever evaluated the relationship between migrant arrivals prior to economic slowdowns and the step changes in unemployment that follows? Is this a new Key Performance Indicator relevant to population growth management? Don't ask me; ask Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten !!

Australia will be rewarded by its resilience, hard work and the creativity of its people in the new year, opposition leader Bill Shorten says.

Does resilience mean pumping up the economy with rapid population growth so it booms forever and never busts? Is that why we had high interest rates driven by a surge in demand while the rest of the world dropped interest rates during the GFC? Did that contribute to making our dollar high and our manufacturing industry uncompetitive? Great idea Bill; but how does this work?

He says keeping people in work will be among the biggest challenges the country faces in 2014.

OK; got that.

'For all of us, the new year presents a renewed opportunity to focus on the things that really matter - our families, our community and our nation's future,' he said in a statement.

'The kind of job losses that occurred towards the end of 2013 can't be allowed to happen again this year.'

They’ve been happening for a decade, Bill. Isn’t 2.3% the averaged increase in unemployment per annum, compounding from 2003 to 2013, a decade? We have 26% more seasonally adjusted unemployed than a decade ago. The trend is up; and the yearly fluctuations will continue.

To confront these challenges the nation's resolve must be durable and unwavering, he said.

What does that mean? Unwavering denial of the unsustainability of extreme population growth regardless of consequences? A durable, unwavering policy "by stealth; without consensus"?

'We must continue to fight for the fair go and ensure every Australian has the opportunity to reach their full potential - through education, proper health care or a hand when they need it most,' he said.

A fair go for who, exactly? How? By refusing to perform a comparative analysis of the social, environmental, economic and humanitarian consequences (both domestic and international) of a range of Australian long term population growth rates; using zero population growth as the Base Case benchmark?

'No matter what is ahead of us, I know our nation will continue to be rewarded by the resilience, hard work and creativity of its people.

……..and the short term, unsustainable policies of our pro-growth dictatorship in collaboration with the Liberals and the Greens?

Please sign and forward this petition if you think these guys have lost the plot:

http://www.communityrun.org/petitions/australia-requires-a-public-inquiry-to-determine-a-basis-for-the-optimum-rate-of-population-growth-2

If you're in the electorate of Griffith, consider voting for the Sustainable Population Party so they can "have a go" representing over 50% of the population who reckon this issue needs to be addressed.

"..70% of Australians prefer a smaller population. They don't want a 'Big Australia' by 2050, and, none of the major parties are listening. So we're here to give the majority of Australians the choice that they want. [...] We're about the people, the citizens of Australia, who deserve a choice." Timothy Diamond Lawence, Griffith candidate.

Timothy Diamond Lawrence, Sustainable Population Party candidate for Griffith by-election on Saturday 8 February 2014. The seat of Griffith is in Brisbane, Kevin Rudd's old electorate. Now Rudd has resigned, there is a by-election. Brisbane and Queensland are the focus of unsustainable population growth; Education, roads, housing cannot keep up and the beautiful environment is being destroyed. Land and housing prices, energy and vital resources prices are all inflating due to population pressure. Homelessness, debt, despair increasing, along with unemployment. Labor and the LibNationals are equally guilty in this, having actively orchestrated overpopulation to please big business. The Greens won't touch the issue. Only the Sustainable Population Party (previously Stable Population Party) is showing courage to represent peoples' democratic wishes here. For this reason I am publicising Tim Diamond Lawrence.

For a recent earlier article on Mr Lawrence and the Sustainable Population Party, click here.

Timothy Laurence is the only relevant and fresh candidate in this by-election in retiring (but not shy) Kevin Rudd's old seat. Relevant because he is the only one talking about the problems of population growth here, whereas the media and Tweedledum and Tweedledummer constantly promote the problems as if they were some kind of boon. Anyone half-awake knows that self-government, rights and freedoms, as well and the environmental beauty and health of Queensland are being buried in the ongoing tsunami of high immigration and growth-lobby activities to cater for it.

Young, plugged-in, family oriented

Timothy has strong interests in solving environmental and societal problems through systems thinking and stewardship of nature. He is keen to assist in raising public awareness of the sustainability equation, of which population is a crucial component. Recently married and looking to the future, Timothy is concerned about overdevelopment, housing affordability and cost of living for all citizens. He is 23 and encourages everyone to think "out of the box" to see the deeper solutions to global problems caused by unsustainable, exponential growth. Timothy, a software developer, is currently working as a games programmer and web designer in Taringa, Brisbane. He enjoys gardening and is an aspiring permaculturalist and cultivator-mycologist, while also being interested in philosophy, ethics, art and reading.

Would you like to help Timothy's campaign? contact the Stable Population Party

A weary uncritical mob of narrow focus

The other candidates in this election seem to be scraping to find anything to talk about, as they ignore the population elephant in the room. Indeed, they appear to be universally blinkered to the real problems of environment and population. This is bizarre since it was only recently that Queenslanders perished in massive floods due to persistent building on flood planes, mandated and encouraged by planners and politician, including Campbell Newman and Anna Bligh, who should have been tried for their responsibility in this. Brisbane itself was underwater for several hours.

6 reasons to stabilise Australia's population:

• Relieve overstretched infrastructure including hospitals, schools, roads and public transport
• Ease cost of living pressures including housing, energy, water and transport
• Protect our environment including food, water & energy resources, native bushland and animal habitats
• Promote education and training to increase job opportunities for all Australians
• Minimise overdevelopment including high-rise and sprawl
• Create a more resilient economy to sustain and enhance prosperity

Population is not a single issue, it is the everything issue.

National research confirms that over 70 percent of Australians reject the Liberal / National / Labor / Greens 'big Australia' policy outcome of around 40m (and rapidly rising) by 2050 . Yet until now we've had no choice. Powerful business lobby groups are pushing for this rapid population growth, in order to secure both cheap (including pre-trained) labour and more customers.