Remember when in June 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised she would not pursue Kevin Rudd’s ”Big Australia” population target of 36 million by 2050?
I do, and so do many others I imagine.
Why did Gillard back away from Rudd’s grandiose idea in the first place?
In my opinion Gillard mainly stated her opposition Rudd’s unpopular idea because it quickly became a flashpoint on talkback radio and reflected poorly for Labor in the polls.
Additionally, Gillard wanted to appear more moderate than Rudd, which is exactly what Rudd did to convince voters to dump John Howard as PM. Hmmm.. seems we don’t learn very much do we.
As usual Gillard sensed the political expediency of backing away from one of Rudd’s more unpopular ideas and used her first major announcement as Prime Minister to reassure disenchanted voters she did not believe in a big Australia. Gillard unequivocally stated that
Australia should not hurtle down the track towards a big population.
William Bourke, president of the federally registered Stable Population Party outlines today in the Sydney Morning Herald the cold hard facts on how Gillard has broken yet another promise to the Australian people by pursuing policies that seemed to be diametrically opposed to the actual promise that she made to us all.
We are now on target for not 36 million but 40 million by 2050.
Under Gillard, the permanent immigration program stands at more than 200,000 a year – the highest level in Australian history.
On top of this we have more than 50,000 New Zealanders now freely crossing the ditch annually, without proper immigration management such as skills testing.
To add to the population explosion, a recent Gillard government decision grants foreign students automatic working rights for up to four years, irrespective of their field.
In short, Gillard has spectacularly broken her first promise as PM. She even recently admitted that Australia would continue to run ”a sizeable immigration program”.
Gillard? Broken promise?
Never.
Dacka's Razor 