2010 Federal election

As anticipated Julia Gillard has called on the Governor General and we will be going to the polls on August the 21^st

The pity is that neither Stable Population Party of Australia nor Stop Population Growth Now has been registered in time to be able to contest the election as a political party - the less attractive option of running independents will be decided in the coming weeks.

One of the reasons that I joined Stop Population Growth Now is because the name conveyed the sense of urgency with which we need to address the problem of population growth

Social policies have a momentum of their own - even were we to commit to stopping fuelling population growth now it would still be some years before population will be stabilized. The name Stop Population Growth Now conveys an appropriate sense of urgency.

The problem that we face is that Julia Gillard in adopting the language of moderation – of sounding as if she is concerned about population will have taken much of the urgency out of the debate. The tragedy is that changing the language will make no difference - this government, the opposition and the Greens are all committed to policies that in various ways help fuel population growth.

Part of the problem is that population issues, particularly calls to abandon our migration policy, have largely been captured by the extreme right. Once population debate degenerates into a racist slanging match it becomes difficult to shine the cold light of reason on the question of population growth.

In coming weeks as the election unfolds and indeed even after this election I will use this blog as a forum to develop a coherent argument in favour of stopping population growth; an argument that, I would hope, reasonable people can embrace.