Australian Stable Population Party
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#Sustainable Australia
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| Leader | William Bourke |
| President | William Bourke |
| Founder | William Bourke |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Sydney |
| Website | |
| www |
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Sustainable Australia is an Australian political party formed in 2010, that describes itself as being "from the political centre" and aiming "to secure an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia". It has a focus on reducing levels of immigration.
The Party has been registered federally since 2010. In 2016 it also registered in the Australian Capital Territory, and contested the 2016 Australian Capital Election. It has expressed the intention to be registered in NSW and Victoria for the 2018 and 2019 state elections.
Sustainable Australia is a centrist party with strong focus on environment, resource levels, infrastructure, and population. It criticises excessive urban densification and sprawl. It strongly supports public transport; but in the 2016 Australian Capital Territory election it opposed the proposed light rail, calling it “a Trojan horse for over-development”.
The Party’s website lists over 20 policies, including: Animals and Biodiversity, Economy and Jobs, Education, Environment, Foreign Investment, Housing Affordability, Sustainable Population and Immigration, and Transport.
Sustainable Australia is not a one issue party, but its policies clearly call for a significant slowing of Australia’s rapid population growth, which is a point of distinction from the current policies of the Australian Greens. In this it more closely resembles the Australian Democrats, among centrist Australian political parties, which traditionally sought to keep immigration numbers per year close to emigration per year.
Sustainable Australia currently supports a non-discriminatory permanent immigration intake of around 70,000 persons per year, down from the 2015 level of over 200,000 per year. Its website states that 70,000 is closer to Australia’s long-term traditional average intake.
In 2010 the Party opposed Kevin Rudd's belief in a big Australia, saying that a "big Australia" population would be "disastrous", is "way beyond [Australia's] long-term carrying capacity" and that "population growth is not inevitable". Queensland coordinator Aaron Webber "became alarmed when hearing of Kevin Rudd's push for a 'Big Australia'". The party claims that "'stable population' policies would mean a more sustainable 26 million at 2050, not the Labor/Liberal 'big Australia' plan for 36 million and rising." The party ran a candidate in the Griffith by-election, for Kevin Rudd's old seat.
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Wikipedia