Web links and documents
On March 15, 2002, On Line Opinion published an opinion piece by Dr Paul Norton of the Department of Politics and Public Policy and the Australian School of Environmental Studies at Griffith University. The piece is titled, 'The nature of Australia's population debate'.The full text of this item can be found at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1905&page=0
On October 22, 2009, Dr Ken Henry, the Secretary to the Treasury, adressed the Queensland University of Technology Business Leaders' Forum on the topic, 'The Shape of Things to Come: Long Run Forces Affecting the Australian Economy in Coming Decades'. The address included estimates that at current rates of growth Australia's population would reach approximately 35 million by 2050.
The full text of this address can be found at http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1643/HTML/docshell.asp?URL=QUT_Address.htm
On October 22, 2009, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd was interviewed on the ABC's 7.30 report about both border control and asylum seekers and Ken Henry's comments on Australia's population growth. It was during this interview that the Prime Minister remarked that he favoured 'a big Australia'.
The full text of this interview can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2721817.htm
On January 28, 2010, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was again interviewed on The 7.30 Report about growth in the Australian population and how we might best respond to it. In this interview the Prime Minister gave some detail of what he believed the challenges were and how he thought they might be met. He also indicated that the 35 million figure was a Treasury estimate based on current trends, not a target which the Government was determined to pursue.
A full transcript of this interview can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2804229.htm
On April 8, 2010, the BBC's Sydney correspondent Nick Bryant reported on the Australian government's decision to appoint a minister for population at the same time as a Sydney think-tank survey indicated that many Australians had reservations about population growth.
The full text of this report can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2010/04/rethinking_big_australia.html
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) favours a big Australia. On April 8, 2010, it issued a statement outlining some of its reasons for supporting this development. The full text of this document (including an interview the ABC's Fran Kelly conducted with the president of the BCA) can be found at http://www.bca.com.au/Content/101670.aspx
On April 10, 2010, an opinion piece by Peter Hartcher was published in The Sydney Morning Herald which suggested that the government was avoiding having a full and informed debate on the Australian population question.
The full text of the article can be found at http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/growing-pains-trouble-rudd-in-big-australia-20100409-rynu.html
On April 29, 2010, the federal Opposition announced its opposition to what it termed the 'Prime Minister's 36 million population target'. The full text of this media release can be found at http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2010/04/29/Coalition-rejects-PMs-population-target.aspx