Bob Birrell wins inaugural Mary E White Unsung Hero award
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No. 135, May 2019
Sustainable Population Australia -- Newsletter
Patrons: The Hon Bob Carr • Professor Ian Lowe • Professor Tim Flannery • Katharine Betts • Dr Paul Collins • Youth Ambassador Bindi Irwin
Bob Birrell wins inaugural Mary E White
Unsung Hero award
At the SPA AGM in Brisbane on 27 April, hostility from his fellow academics. For instance, in the front-
Prof Bob Birrell was announced as the page story in The Australian, Bob said that Australian universities
inaugural winner of the Mary E. White have had to create enclaves in which “the standards for English-
Unsung Hero award. Dr Mary White language skills, academic preparation and learning outcomes
was a SPA Patron until her death last have all had to be adjusted downwards in order to attract and
year aged 92. Her family welcomed cope with overseas students.” In response, the chief executive
the announcement. Son-in-law Richard of the International Education Association of Australia, said the
Eckersley wrote: “Good choice! I’ve long university community was “fed up” with Dr Birrell using migra-
sensed that Bob seemed to be a lone tion figures to attack universities and overseas student numbers.
expert voice on population/immigra- A case of playing the man and not the ball, typical of the kind of
tion issues.” attacks Bob has endured for a very long time.
Bob is head of The Australian Popula- This award is richly deserved.
Bob Birrell tion Research Institute, or TAPRI.
The TAPRI study ‘Overseas students are driving Australia’s Net Over-
It was somewhat ironic that in the very week SPA announces seas Migration tide’ can be found at
the ‘Unsung Hero’ award, Bob and TAPRI’s latest paper got front https://tapri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/final-report-
page billing in The Australian. Perhaps he’s not so ‘unsung’ after all, overseas-student-industryV2.pdf
though still a hero.
Jenny Goldie
But such attention is relatively recent. For literally decades, some
of it as director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research
at Monash University in Melbourne, Bob fought almost a lone
Life membership for John Weaver
fight – not quite alone as he had the enduring support of such At the SPA AGM on 27 April, it was re-
splendid fellow researchers as Dr Ernest Healy at Monash and solved to award John Weaver of the WA
Dr Katharine Betts from Swinburne University. (Katharine is, of branch life membership. John, with his
course, our newest Patron.) Bob published the facts and figures now late wife Paddy, were stalwarts
about immigration and population but the response from fellow of the branch for many years. As well,
academics was often hostile. I sometimes witnessed that hostility John was national treasurer through
in the early 1990s and I really don’t know how Bob coped. Lesser some difficult times in the 2000s and
men would have buckled and gone off to study something else. was instrumental in moving our book-
The fact that he didn’t makes him a ‘hero’. The fact that he failed keeping services to Successful Alliances
to get the accolades he deserved from his peers makes his hero- who maintained our books until last
ism ‘unsung’. year. Prior to the successful Fenner
Conference in Canberra in 2013, John John Weaver
For 18 years, while Bob director of the Centre for Population and organised for the branch to send two Photo Jill Quirk
Urban Research, he co-edited with Katharine Betts, the quarterly students to the conference. He helped modernise our data-
journal People and Place. He wrote, or co-wrote, many of the pa- base systems to bring them into the 21st century. John has now
pers contained in it. This small, green magazine and its unassum- stepped back from branch work and is heading to the UK for
ing publisher, according to Geoff Maslen writing in 2011 in World three months in search of long-lost relatives. SPA wishes him
University News, “have probably generated more heated discus- well and thanks him for his service. JG
sions about immigration, population and a host of other topical
issues than any other such venture in the country.” Maslen went
on: “Although this small journal has a tiny circulation, it has been Stop worrying!
highly influential and widely read, notably by the nation’s most After more than six years in the job as national treasurer, Rob
powerful politicians and their senior bureaucrats.” Taylor, did not renominate for the position. Fortunately, Queen-
In late 2014, Bob retired from the University but his work contin- sland’s treasurer Tony Matta has stepped into the breach. We
ued with TAPRI, which was incorporated in 2015. His work now say thanks to Rob for a magnificent job and we look forward to
receives much wider recognition though there is still residual working with Tony. JG
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 1
Opinion
We’re the big losers in this immigration numbers game
by Judith Sloan
Neither major party seems to be listening to public opin- Let me also just touch on a recent Newspoll survey in
ion about new arrivals This week the Morrison govern- which the respondents from NSW were asked: “When
ment announced its intention to reduce the annual cap thinking about the population of NSW, would you like
on new permanent migrants from 190,000 to 160,000. to see the population of NSW increase, stay about the
This lower figure will apply for the next four years. same or decrease?” Note that the question was not
about population growth but about the level of popula-
The trouble with the announcement is that an effective
tion.
cap of about 160,000 has been in place for the past two
years. It’s a Clayton’s change — the cap change you have A mere 16 per cent stated that they wanted the popu-
when you’re not having a cap change. lation to increase. About 55 per cent wanted it to stay
the same and a quarter wanted it to decrease. Bear this
In combination with other announcements, which will
in mind, there is no way that the population of NSW is
mean even more temporary migrants, the government
about to stay the same given natural increase and the
has decided that the population will continue to grow at
migrant intake.
a rapid pace, mainly as a result of immigration.
To tease out the reasons for this shift in attitudes to-
Rather than act on a very clear message from the public
wards immigration, the key is to look at the figures. To
that the migrant intake should be cut, the government
be sure, the lift in the permanent migrant intake that
has preferred to appease various sectional interests
has occurred across time was always likely to cause
while pretending otherwise. We should expect better,
some members of the public to query the change. But
even of a government in its last throes.
another factor is the explosion in the number of tem-
The bigger picture is that there has been a significant porary entrants during the past 15 years. Traditionally,
disintegration of the broad consensus on immigration temporary migration was insignificant in the scheme of
— you could call it a settlement — that was achieved by things. Migrants came to the country to settle or not at
prime minister John Howard. This consensus involved all, with the exception of visitors.
strong border protection preventing the entry of illegal
In more recent times, the number of international stu-
migrants while expanding the pathways for legal mi-
dents, working holidaymakers and temporary workers
grants to enter and stay in the country.
has exploded. About 700,000 international students are
For a while this worked well. Let us not forget that in the country and it is estimated there are more than
the number of permanent migrants went from about two million temporary migrants with work rights.
90,000 per year when Howard was first elected to close
The best summary measure of the movements of mi-
to 160,000 when he left office. Nonetheless, the public’s
grants, both permanent and temporary, is net overseas
generally favourable view of immigration and high mi-
migration, which is published quarterly by the Austra-
grant intakes persisted for some time.
lian Bureau of Statistics. The figure includes arrivals and
In more recent times, however, there has been a marked departures of those migrants who have lived in Austra-
shift in the public’s view on immigration and the related lia for at least 12 months out of 16 months.
issue of population growth. I won’t go through all the re-
In the 10 years ending in 2005, the annual NOM aver-
sults of these surveys — it would take too long — but let
aged 105,000. Since then, the NOM has averaged more
me mention some of the sources: Newspoll, Essential
than 220,000. In other words, the NOM has more than
Research, Lowy Institute Poll, Scanlon Survey and the
doubled, which undoubtedly is behind the public’s grow-
Australian Population Research Institute.
ing opposition to immigration. The latest figure for the
To give you a flavour, last year’s Lowy poll found there NOM (for the year ending in the September quarter of
had been a 14 percentage point jump from the previous last year) was 242,000.
year in the proportion of respondents who agreed that
Note that net overseas migra-
“the total number of migrants coming to Australia each
tion accounts for more than
year is too high”. A majority (54 per cent) now agrees
60 per cent of the growth in
with this statement.
the population. Australia has
A poll conducted by Essential Research last year also one of the highest rates of
found that 54 per cent of respondents thought Austra- population growth among de-
lia’s population was growing too fast (only 4 per cent veloped economies, with the
thought it was too slow) and 64 per cent expressed the population growing at close
view that the level of immigration had been too high to an extra 400,000 people a
during the previous 10 years. The poll found 37 per cent year. This is more than Can-
thought the level of immigration was “much too high”. berra’s entire population. Judith Sloan
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 2
Opinion
Moreover, the pattern of growth is not even across the There is a faux appeal made to the supposed economic
country. In Victoria, the population grew by 2.2 per cent and fiscal benefits of immigration. The economics of im-
in the year ending in the September quarter last year migration are quite clear: the overall economic benefits
compared with a figure of 1.6 per cent for the country are relatively small; they take many years to emerge; and
as a whole. in the meantime, productivity is lower as more workers
enter the market before the capital stock adjusts.
Given that all the evidence indicates the consensus
position on immigration — endorsement of high rates Moreover, the benefits of immigration are largely cap-
of immigration in the context of strong border protec- tured by the immigrants themselves as well as by the
tion — has crumbled, how have politicians reacted? The owners of capital and employers.
main response has been denial, leading to a continu-
The truth is that immigration is not really about eco-
ation of current policy settings, which encourage high
nomics; it’s about the kind of society we want. Do we
rates of migrant intake.
want a big Australia with very large groaning cities or do
This has been particularly noticeable in relation to the we want a medium-sized country with an enviable life-
Morrison government’s refusal to countenance any sub- style? Do we want our politicians to act in line with the
stantive cut to the migrant intake or to place any restric- preferences of voters or to cave in to the pleas of vested
tions on the entry of temporary migrants. interests (big business, property developers, universi-
ties, employer associations, some ethnic groups) when
While conceding that high rates of population growth
it comes to formulating immigration policy? It’s clear
impose significant costs on residents — think conges-
what we’ve got from the Morrison government; it’s less
tion, overcrowded schools and hospitals, loss of urban
clear what a Shorten government would deliver.
amenity and the like — the government has not been
prepared to make any noteworthy adjustments to the This article was first published on 23 March 2019 in The Aus-
core features of its immigration policy. tralian and is republished with permission.
Big Australia - a concrete desert run by corporations?
by Sue Arnold, president of Australians for Animals
In 2019, Australia suffers from a plague of massive igno- lian Greens in this indictment because their leader and
rance and greed. the current Green parties are strongly supportive of in-
creased immigration.
The most obvious symptom of this plague is the plan for
a Big Australia with a population of 50 million or more. Unlike most conservation organisations in this country,
Endless growth like a cancer upon the earth. Australians for Animals Inc is 100 per cent opposed to
Big Australia and our current unsustainable immigra-
No matter that this ancient continent has limited arable
tion rate. This ancient land has a carrying capacity;
soil. Or that our river systems are in a parlous state, the
one that is well exceeded.
Murray Darling Basin is slowly dying, our mammal ex-
tinction rate the worst in the world, our forests clear- What are the real costs of this insanity? Neither the state
felled for woodchips, soon to be burned for bio-ener- or federal governments have balance sheets which val-
gy...No problem mate…She’ll be right. ue forests, rivers, rainfall, wildlife, fresh air and healthy
soils. No value is given to ecosystems with no estimates
But she won’t.
of the costs of the catastrophic economic losses as the
The collective dedication to ignoring the fact that civili- ecosystems on which we depend for life are destroyed.
sation is doomed because of human-induced climate
Our democracy is taking a massive hit. Legal challenges
change, from the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and
to government decisions are well-nigh impossible. Laws
the obscene dedication to growth at any cost, just
which provided for public interest challenges have been
doesn’t register with our governments.
repealed, Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) be-
A recent report by the UN indicates up to one million tween the Commonwealth & the states replacing legisla-
species face extinction due to human influence. The re- tion. Bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth
port says the accelerating loss of clean air, drinkable wa- and states ensuring even less public accountability.
ter, CO2-absorbing forests, pollinating insects, protein-
What about the cost to wildlife? How much suffering, dis-
rich fish and storm-blocking mangroves – to name but a
ease, and homelessness must our non-human refugees
few of the dwindling services rendered by nature, pose
endure? Why do we humans imagine that animals suffer
no less a threat than climate change.
less than humans? How many people have seen koalas
The major and minor political parties are wilfully igno- cry when their homes are chopped down?
rant of the environmental crises facing not only Austra-
lia but the entire world. Yes, I’m including the Austra- continued page 4
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 3
Opinion
from page 3 Essentially, what this political vacuum in environmental
Allow me to detail some of the driving forces of dark- reality means is that there is no major, middle of the
ness behind our political and legal systems. road party focused on the conflict between mass immi-
gration and the impacts on biodiversity and the environ-
In 2015, Greg Hunt as Minister for the Environment, ment. The Greens have sold out. The wildlife refugees in
launched an MOU known as the Common Assessment our own country have no currency. The major Austra-
Method. In simple terms, the MOU allowed for one only lian conservation groups hide behind political correct-
national listing of species and plants identified under ness rather than focusing on the destruction this mas-
the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation sive immigration is creating. Thankfully, the Sustainable
(EPBC) Act designations. Local, and regional species are Australia Party, and Animal Justice are making inroads
no longer eligible to be upgraded. This Agreement ef- but these gains are very small steps at a time when we
fectively ensures the weakest possible protection for need an eight-lane highway.
species and the environment.
But the real blame needs to be shafted where it belongs.
If the MOU doesn’t do the job, then the Bilateral agree- When governments allowed Rupert Murdoch to take
ments will as they provide for wholesale wipe-outs of over the bulk of Australia’s mainstream media outlets,
environmental resources with no legal recourse. NSW is a propaganda outlet was established. There’s no pos-
particularly fond of State Significant Infrastructures and sibility of counter-acting this propaganda. His media is
State Significant Developments which preclude legal stridently anti-environment, anti-democracy, pro-coal,
challenges allowing a big green light to developers. big Australia, big business, political corruption, foreign
One of the first acts on winning the NSW election by ownership and censorship.
Gladys Berejiklian was to axe the Office of Environment The ABC isn’t much better. Occasionally the Sydney
& Heritage. NSW is now the only state without an envi- Morning Herald bites a baby bullet. Yet in spite of all the
ronment department. Protests face up to seven years censorship, the polls show there is no majority support
imprisonment. for increased migration, and the environment is rising
In Queensland, the planning laws are the equivalent of on the list of electoral concerns to fourth place.
obfuscatory gibberish. There are so many strategies, Meanwhile, the devastation to coastal forest ecosys-
regulations, guidelines, etc. that allow any developer tems is happening in Queensland and NSW at an expo-
and government to hide in a deep dark impenetrable nential rate.
hole. Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act is incapa-
ble of protecting a field mouse let alone vulnerable and The basic question in response to this outrageous de-
threatened wildlife. struction is this. Are there any solutions? Yes.
There’s no provision for compliance, monitoring, en- The sustainability of Australia can no longer be the re-
forcement, no hot lines to report or stop illegal clearing. sponsibility of environmental organisations. The legal
Any action is post-clearing. and scientific professions have major responsibilities,
so too do academics, teachers, business leaders and the
Just before Federal Parliament closed down, the Chair mainstream media. If there is to be a healthy future, it is
of the Senate Inquiry into Faunal Extinction delivered an now the responsibility of every thinking Australian.
interim report.
Ecosystems must be legally protected. Legislation must
Greens’ Senator Janet Rice’s summary of Common- protect the public interest rights to challenge develop-
wealth environmental protections is damning. ments, the Murdoch monopoly on mainstream media
“The most important issue to arise from the Inquiry thus far must end, the Common Assessment Method, Bilateral
is how totally inadequate our current Federal legislation is in Agreements must be re-
terms of protecting the environment. We’re dealing with the pealed. And politicians
drivers of extinction. The EPBC Act is totally inadequate to deal need to be compulsorily
with the situation — the problem is there’s no framework for educated on environ-
protection.” mental matters.
I interviewed Senator Rice for Independent Australia. I This is an extract of the
asked her why the Inquiry and the Greens do not con- address delivered to the
sider the Big Australia plan a disaster for the environ- SPA Forum, Population,
ment and why they continue to promote major immi- sustainability and quality
gration. of life: what future do we
want for Australia? 27 April
Janet Rice ducked the question. As did Greens Leader 2019, Griffith University.
Richard di Natale when I met with him in Melbourne late
last year. The Greens standard answer is that the level
is sustainable, it’s just not being catered for in the right
Sue Arnold
way.
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 4
Opinion
Pollies, media misunderstand population mood
by Crispin Hull
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he understood voter And the increasing number of voters fed up with both
concern over congestion. But very little has changed. of them should be wary of voting for the Greens. The
Rather, Morrison and the major parties, including the Greens have not dared to put up an environmentally
Greens, do not understand population pressure as poll- responsible population policy for Australia, fearing they
ing this week revealed. might be accused of racism or being anti-refugee. But
sensible immigration and population policy can be, and
A Newspoll revealed that 80 per cent of NSW voters want
should be, colour-blind. If Australia cuts the overall in-
the population to either fall or remain as it is. Only 16
take it would be cutting the intake from Britain and New
per cent want it to increase.
Zealand as well as India and China.
Not only do politicians refuse to get the message that
Many countries with small or no immigration programs
people do not want the population to grow. The Mur-
are not racist. The Greens should put the environment
doch press also refuses to get the message. The Aus-
first. And also consider whether it is fair to developing
tralian newspaper, which commissions Newspoll, ran a
countries to skim off their best trained as our points-
headline opposite to what the poll showed. It read “Most
based system does.
happy to keep population growth rates at current level”.
No they are not. They do not want any population growth The head of the Department of Immigration and Border
at all, let alone at the astonishingly high rate it is now. Security, Mike Pezzullo, told Senate Estimates that 90
per cent of the new wave of asylum applicants have no
Even the article confused “population growth” and “pop-
legitimate claim.
ulation”. It said a majority wanted the growth rate to stay
the same when the question asked by the pollster was He said there was a backlog of about 200,000 visa appli-
not about the growth rate of the population at all, but cants whose status is yet to be determined. The determi-
about the population itself. nation process can stretch to up to eight years.
No more people, the voters told the pollster. For that to The arrivals pose an obvious security threat, given that
happen immigration would have to be slashed. people applying for visitor visas get only perfunctory
checking.
But that has not happened. Some minor fudging of the
figures still leaves us with at least 160,000 a year, and a They are also subjected to unscrupulous employment
lot more if you include the illegals. exploitation, working for miserable cash wages in the il-
legitimate economy.
On that score, at the very time Morrison boasted that
he has stopped the boats, he has opened the airports We have used the Navy and an agreement with Indone-
to illegal immigration. People are arriving by air on visi- sia to stop the highly visible boats to great effect. But
tor visas with the intention of over-staying and seeking now even more people are quietly flying in with the in-
bridging or protection visas. tention of overstaying against the law.
How many? It was 28,000 in the most recent financial Unless we do something to tighten the system up, we
year. That is more than any year while Labor was in of- will become like the US, with a vast underclass of under-
fice, including people arriving by boat. In the six months paid, undocumented exploited labour.
to the end of January 14,231 air arrivals sought protec-
But maybe some employers prefer that, so Governments
tion visas, so the number is rising. And they are worse
turn a blind eye.
queue-jumpers than people who came by boat, most of
whom had genuine fears of persecution at home. Immigration is just one of the issues about which voters
feel ignored by the major parties in the face of the inter-
The ones who come by air are truly “economic refugees”.
ests of big donors. Unless cor-
Repressive governments simply do not allow people who
porate donations are banned
they are suppressing to leave the country, even on a visi-
and individual donations se-
tor’s visa.
verely capped and made public
The idea that Morrison has secured Australia’s borders immediately, the trend against
is as ludicrous as his suggestion that he understands the major parties will continue.
concerns about congestion.
This Opinion article first appeared
The Coalition and Labor are more concerned about their in the Canberra Times on 16
donors than the environment and well-being of Austra- March 2019. It has been short-
lians. ened slightly. It is reprinted with
the permission of the author.
Crispin Hull
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 5
Opinion
The ultimate invasive species
Bill Schlesinger
In the annals of invasive species, humans would surely 18,000 years ago. Today, our pursuit of food (bush
rank among the best. Rabbits, red deer, rats and feral meat), trophies, and aphrodisiacs threatens many of the
cats offer no match to the worldwide impact of the hu- large animals of Africa. If the past is any indication of
man species and its ability to colonise new habitat. Over the future, we can expect further extinctions very soon.
the past 60 years, as I have watched the North Ameri-
In the United States, 20 per cent of the land area is with-
can countryside get suburbanised, it seems likely that
in about 400 feet (127 m) of a road and only 3 per cent is
few natural areas will remain for the next generation.
more than 3 miles from a road. Among protected areas
Of course, that is a self-centered view; in reality little
in the US, 21 per cent of the land area experiences a
habitat may remain for the other species that share the
10-fold or greater elevation of background noise over
planet with us.
nature. Many areas experience elevated levels of night-
For humans, a field guide to the mammals should indi- time light with documented effects on multiple species.
cate: As an index of our impact on biodiversity, several migra-
tory birds in North America show more than 60 per cent
Survives and known to reproduce at all elevations from
decline in numbers during the past few decades. Will
below sea level (even submarine) to the highest moun-
the Wood Thrush survive to herald in the spring with its
tain peaks and at temperatures ranging from -100º to
song in 2100? I am not sure, but its absence would for-
+120º F (-73ºC to 49ºC). Highly flexible, but prefers level,
ever impoverish the natural history of our countryside.
fertile soils. Highly social, but dominance hierarchy is
determined by den size. Builds paths to connect to ad- All this is to say that unless we curb the growth of the
jacent habitat as needed. Can fly if motivated. Digs for human population, future generations will have no es-
resources to supplement what is locally available. Fre- cape from the pressure of their own numbers and the
quently contaminates habitat, especially waters, to the stresses of a full planet. Will life persist? Probably, but
detriment of itself and other species. Persistently noisy. at a low level of the rich diversity of experience that up
Often spends much time in den exercising thumbs on to now has been enjoyed by so many.
small hand-held devices. Reproduces abundantly.
William H. Schlesinger is one of the US’s leading ecologists
As our global numbers now approach eight billion, we and earth scientists and a passion-
have directly modified about 77 per cent of the land ate advocate for translating science
surface outside Antarctica, harvesting about 10 per cent for lay audiences. A member of the
of terrestrial plant production in crops and an equal US National Academy of Sciences,
amount for other purposes. Indeed, by adding carbon he has served as dean of the Nicho-
dioxide—a plant fertiliser—to the atmosphere, we have las School of the Environment at
modified plant growth in the most remote corners of Duke and president of the Cary Insti-
the Earth. The oceans are more acidic, and we harvest tute of Ecosystem Studies. He writes
fishes from 55 per cent of the ocean area. Pursuit of a regular blog called Translational
tourism to novel and pristine habitats now threatens to Ecology. You can view this article on-
trample and contaminate even the Antarctic continent. line at http://blogs.nicholas.duke.
edu/citizenscientist/the-ultimate-
Rapid changes in climate and human arrival led to the
invasive-species/ Bill Schlesinger
extermination of the large mammals of North America
Jane Goodall says we cannot push population growth under the carpet
Dame Jane Goodall, famous for her “I would encourage every single conservation organisa-
work with chimpanzees in Tanzania tion, every single government organisation to consider
in 1960 and since, is visiting Austra- the absurdity of unlimited economic development on a
lia this month. Last month, she de- planet of finite natural resources.
livered a video message to the Pop-
“We can’t go on like this. We can’t push human popula-
ulation Matters 2019 conference,
tion growth under the carpet.”
in London, in which she said: “The
fact that human populations are still Dame Jane said that empowering women and girls was
Jane Goodall growing on this precious planet of key to addressing unsustainable population growth.
ours is something everybody should
Read more:
be aware of.
http://www.earthtimes.org/politics/population%20
growth/3039
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 6
Book Review
“Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline” (Part 1)
John McKeown
Empty Planet moves confidently from an opti- A report for Deutsche Bank in 2013 by economist
mistic premise to unwarranted conclusions. It Sanjeev Sanyal, titled “Predictions of a Rogue
has been reviewed favourably by Steven Pink- Demographer” argued that: “Urbanisation is the
er, The Wall Street Journal and the New States- strongest contraceptive” and so “the world’s over-
man, among others. Its premise is that world all fertility rate will fall to replacement rate by
population will peak far lower and sooner than 2025” causing population to peak around 2055
the UN forecasts, and that because of a faster- just above 8.7 billion. His forecast for 2100, at 8
than-expected decline in fertility rates rather billion, is slightly higher than Empty Planet antici-
than any disastrous rise in mortality. Given pates. Sanyal’s methodology is not open, but in an
this, the authors claim that “gloom” about spe- earlier report he claims that global convergence
cies going extinct, crowded out by human im- to a TFR of 1.6 is “no less likely” than convergence
pact, is misguided (page 2). The second part of to replacement, and “the likeliest scenario is
this review will argue that even if the premise somewhere in between”. Tiny differences in the
were accurate that conclusion would still be pace of fertility change lead to widely varying out-
unjustified. But first I examine the credibility comes in long-range forecasts, as seen in Figure
of their premise. 1. Given that both Sanyal’s and Randers’ forecasts
are a few years old, we can check them in Figure
World population growth is slowing but de-
2. against estimates of actual population in recent
mographers are unsure what peak number
years (World Bank 2019 line), which shows that both are al-
will be reached, and when that will happen. The UN medium
ready diverging away from reality.
projection is 9.77 billion by 2050, rising to 11.18 billion by 2100.
The book claims that an “increasing number of demographers
from around the world believe the UN estimates are far too
high. More likely, they say, the planet’s population will peak at
around nine billion sometime between 2040 and 2060 … By
the end of this century we could be back to where we are right
now” (p. 2), which would be 7.6 or 7.7 billion. The first claim,
that some demographers think the UN forecast is too high, is
true and the authors interviewed a leading critic, Wolfgang Lutz
of the IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analy-
sis). However, Empty Planet misrepresents the IIASA. The other
alternative forecasts cited on pages 45-47 are outliers: Jørgen
Randers, and a Deutsche Bank report by Sanjeev Sanyal. The
book contains no graphs, so I compared its claims about peak
timing, and population by 2100, with its cited sources. Figure 1
shows that the number for 2100 in Empty Planet is far below the
Lutz/IIASA Medium forecast, but close to Sanyal’s forecast.
Figure 2. An early test of the Sanyal 2013 and Randers 2012 forecasts
up to 2020. Sources: (1) https://data.worldbank.org/
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/wbstats/
Other sources as previously listed under Figure 1
Jørgen Randers is Professor of Climate Strategy, and co-author
of The Limits to Growth which offered scenarios, dependent on
variables including policy choices, and in some scenarios glob-
al population peaked before 2050 but the cause was a sharp
rise in death rates. However in the 2014 TED talk which Empty
Planet cites, Randers is optimistic that birth rates will decline
much faster than the UN expects, leading to a peak at 8 billion
around 2040. That is based on Randers’ book 2052 – a global
forecast for the next forty years. It cites as a baseline the UN WPP
2010 Low variant, which is a sensitivity analysis (at minus 0.5
children per woman), and for World aggregates these typically
run far below the lower bound of the UN probabilistic projec-
Figure 1. Comparing the cited projections of world population to
tion’s 95% prediction interval. Randers’ book deals with many
2100. Sources: (1) https://population.un.org/wpp/
systems (including ecology, energy, climate, and economy):
(2) http://dataexplorer.wittgensteincentre.org/
only a small part of his book considers population. Empty Planet
(3) h
ttp://www.aei.org/publication/the-end-of-global-population-
fails to mention that Jørgen Randers in 2016 revised his fore-
growth-may-be-almost-here-and-a-lot-sooner-than-the-un-
thinks/ cast upward, to peak at 8.3 billion.
(4) http://www.2052.info/ continued page 8
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 7
Book Review
from page 7
The third source from whom Bricker and Ibbitson claim sup-
port is an eminent demographer: Wolfgang Lutz directs the
IIASA World Population program at the Wittgenstein Centre
and co-leads the Centre of Expertise on Population and Migra-
tion (CEPAM). The IIASA uses a different methodology from the
UN, and its 2014 Medium forecast peaked at 9.4 billion around
2070, then declined to 9 billion by 2100. When this was up-
dated in 2018 the peak moved slightly higher so the IIASA 2018
Medium forecast now peaks around 9.7 billion in 2070-75, then
declines to 9.3 billion by 2100. This does not support the Empty
Planet claim that peak population “will occur in three decades,
give or take” (p.2). Also, the population size for 2100 is higher
than Empty Planet suggests.
So how can Bricker and Ibbitson claim Lutz and the IIASA as
supporters of their view? The reason is that the IIASA devel-
oped a number of scenarios based on “shared socioeconomic
pathways” (SSP): five in 2014, and three of those were kept in Figure 3. IIASA 2018 scenarios for world population to 2100.
2018. There is a “Medium” pathway (SSP2); a worse future is Source: http://dataexplorer.wittgensteincentre.org/
“Inequality” SSP4; a better future is SSP5; the worst is “Stalled
Development” SSP3; and the best is SSP1 “Rapid Development”. Beyond numbers and dates, the most striking contrast between
Lutz and his colleagues advised in 2018 that SSP2 is “a medium IIASA’s work and Empty Planet is that IIASA’s hopeful scenarios
pathway that can be seen as most likely”; whereas SSP1 is “the are presented as possibilities if policy choices are implemented.
most optimistic scenario … Since these goals of universal sec- Lutz and colleagues warn that which SSP happens “will depend
ondary education by 2030 are extremely ambitious for some of largely on policy choices made over the coming years” and so
the least developed countries, the results may not necessarily “we as humanity are at the crossroads, yet to choose between
be considered likely”. Under SSP1 global population peaks at very different futures.” By contrast Empty Planet, though it oc-
8.7 billion around 2055 and then declines to 7.2 billion by 2100; casionally admits uncertainty, portrays a future near SSP1 as
at the other extreme under SSP3 it rises to 13.6 billion by 2100. likely since countries “continue their march toward urbanisa-
tion, modernisation, and the inevitable 2.1 [TFR] and below”
The authors do not make clear that they chose among paths,
(p.238).
and chose a future regarded by the IIASA as less likely (p.46).
The authors’ confidence arises from two sources: personal con-
The third source from whom Bricker and Ibbitson claim sup-
versations, and a simplistic theory. They travelled “to Brussels
port is an eminent demographer: Wolfgang Lutz directs the and Seoul, Nairobi and São Paulo, Mumbai and Beijing, Palm
IIASA World Population program at the Wittgenstein Centre Springs and Canberra and Vienna” and they “talked to young
and co-leads the Centre of Expertise on Population and Migra- people: on university campuses and at research institutes and
tion (CEPAM). The IIASA uses a different methodology from in favelas and slums” (p.3). This gives them, they think, better
the UN, and its 2014 Medium forecast peaked at 9.4 billion insight than UN demographers because: “Some of the indi-
around 2070, then declined to 9 billion by 2100. When this was cations of an accelerating decline in fertility can be found in
updated in 2018 the peak moved slightly higher so the IIASA scholarly research and government reports; others can only
2018 Medium forecast now peaks around 9.7 billion in 2070- be found by talking to people on the street” (p.3). I find this
75, then declines to 9.3 billion by 2100. This does not support unconvincing: demographers use large and carefully sampled
the Empty Planet claim that peak population “will occur in three surveys. For example, since 1984 USAID’s Demographic and
decades, give or take” (p.2). Also, the population size for 2100 Health Survey (DHS) in 90+ developing countries has assist-
is higher than Empty Planet suggests. ed 400+ surveys each with a sample size between 5,000 and
30,000 households.
So how can Bricker and Ibbitson claim Lutz and the IIASA as
Empty Planet follows a simplistic theory of the origin of fertility
supporters of their view? The reason is that the IIASA devel-
decline: “Indisputably, the most important factor is urbanisa-
oped a number of scenarios based on “shared socioeconomic
tion” (p.18). They also emphasise women’s empowerment and
pathways” (SSP): five in 2014, and three of those were kept in education but in a chain of causation these are made secondary
2018. There is a “Medium” pathway (SSP2); a worse future is because “urbanisation leads to the empowerment of women,
“Inequality” SSP4; a better future is SSP5; the worst is “Stalled which leads to a decline in fertility rate” (p.88). Elsewhere other
Development” SSP3; and the best is SSP1 “Rapid Develop- factors are mentioned but urbanisation is the primary driver:
ment”. Lutz and his colleagues advised in 2018 that SSP2 is “As a society urbanises, and women gain more power, the ties
“a medium pathway that can be seen as most likely”; whereas of kin, the power of organized religion, and the dominance of
SSP1 is “the most optimistic scenario … Since these goals of men declines” (p.59). Since the UN forecasts global urbanisa-
universal secondary education by 2030 are extremely ambi- tion rising to 68% by 2050, they think fertility decline will be
tious for some of the least developed countries, the results faster than expected. The theory is flawed. One clue is where
may not necessaa they chose among paths, and chose a fu- fertility decline began, in France not in Britain which lagged by
ture regarded by the IIASA as less likely (p.46). 80 years despite being more urban. To their credit, Bricker and
Ibbitson admit: “In France, oddly, fertility declines were already
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 8
Book Review
underway by the late 1700s” due to changing ideas (p.61). Tim possible, but the pace of change needed is unlikely to result
Dyson observes “when the French began to employ birth con- from urbanisation alone. It would also require accelerated ac-
trol in the 1790s, only about a quarter of France’s population tion to increase the proportion completing secondary educa-
lived in towns” but “when the English turned to birth control tion, spreading the small family ideal and wider access to fam-
in the 1870s around three-quarters of the population lived in ily planning technologies enabling women to achieve a smaller
towns”. family size. Part 2 of this review will consider Empty Planet’s fore-
cast of long-term population decline, the consequences they
There is no universally applicable formula. The factors men- expect, and their prescriptions for how governments should
tioned by the authors are all important, but from one coun- respond.
try to another they have interacted in varying sequences and
patterns. One factor Empty Planet neglects is initiatives to dis- John McKeown (PhD Liverpool, M.Sc. UWE Bristol) formerly
seminate new ideas favouring small family size (for example worked at an environmental non-profit, and as a university
Population Media Center have produced radio and TV shows lecturer. He now lives in Cornwall.
spreading this message successfully). In some countries, for
example in Algeria, Egypt, and Indonesia, a period of active This review appeared on the website of The Overpopulation
promotion of smaller family size coincided with a faster rate of Project https://overpopulation-project.com/2019/04/11/
fertility decline, and a subsequent weakening of those family
review-of-empty-planet-the-shock-of-global-population-
planning initiatives in the mid-1990s began a period in which
fertility decline slowed or stalled temporarily, despite a simul-
decline-by-darrell-bricker-and-john-ibbitson-part-1/ and is
taneous increase in urbanisation and education. reprinted with their permission.
Most of the numerical differences between forecasts from the
UN, IIASA and others, depends on what happens in mid-Africa
SPA News
(the north and south of Africa have already reduced fertility
rates substantially). The IIASA cautions that “the future of world
population growth will largely be decided in Africa with the fu-
ture education of women as a main determinant … There has
been recent moderate progress in education expansion but SPA national executive meets in Brisbane
continued progress is not guaranteed”. Bricker and Ibbitson
visited Nairobi and found trends accelerating fertility decline, The national executive had its annual face-to-face meet-
but as they admit Kenya is doing better than many African ing in Graceville, Brisbane, the day after the AGM and
countries (p.118). In the 1980s Kenya was one of the few Afri- seminar. There was much goodwill and it was a produc-
can countries with a family planning outreach policy personally tive meeting. It was great to have all six branches repre-
backed by then President Daniel arap Moi. The countries with sented, including WA for the first time. Tony Matta was
the highest and slowest changing birth rates are elsewhere,
co-opted as treasurer. Thanks to Jane O’Sullivan for her
and it only takes a few persistently high outlier countries to
excellent organisation of both days.
perpetuate growth in global population. John Bongaarts in an
illuminating 2017 article showed that the difference in fertility
between mid-Africa and developing countries elsewhere is due
not only to a later start, but also often a higher TFR than would
be expected at a given level of development.
Front row (L to R): Sandra Kanck (president), Jane O’Sullivan (com-
Figure 4. Relationship between TFR and percent urban in Africa and mittee and Qld rep.), Kay Dunne (NSW rep).
other LDCs, 2010. Source: John Bongaarts (2016), Back row (L to R): Greg Dunstone (committee), Nola Stewart (meet-
https://wol-prod-cdn.literatumonline.com/cms/attachment/ ings secretary), Jenny Goldie (vice-president), Peter Cook (commit-
ae9f00f7-1669-4634-9a10-1a54e06bb913/padr164-fig-0015-m.png tee), Judith Odgaard (WA rep.), John Coulter (committee and SA/NT
rep), Tony Matta (treasurer).
The UN 2017 forecast accurately reflects recent trends. I hope Not in photo: Alan Jones (overseas), Mick Thompson (ACT rep.) who
that above-replacement birth rates do decline faster than ex- had to catch a plane, and Michael Bayliss (Vic/Tas rep.) who took
pected, so forecasts can be revised lower. An earlier peak is the photo.
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 9
SPA News Politics
Communications Manager’s Report
Michael Bayliss
I have been coordinating several publicity and outreach proj- • I strongly encourage members to share these videos with
ects for SPA since last newsletter. These include: your relatives, friends and networks. For a small organisa-
tion, word of mouth and people power are still the best way
• The public screening
to get the message out there!
of the Tough Crowd
launch. 60 people • I co-facilitated a seminar in February with Richie Allen, In-
attended two public digenous educator from ACT, as part of the Sustainable
screenings of three Living Festival. Entitled ‘Population: Environmental and In-
Tough Crowd series digenous perspectives’, this was an opportunity to present
as part of the Mel- a much needed First Nations perspective on the issues of
bourne Sustainable overpopulation and overdevelopment in Australia.
Living Festival. It was
• I have established re-
an opportunity to tri-
lations with a number
al public reaction to
of external community
these videos as well
Rod Quantock and Michael Bayliss groups, including a
as celebrate the con-
Podcast interview with
tributions and achievements of everyone who contributed
Animal Anonymous,
to the project. Public support was hugely positive. Comedy
an interview with the
performances from Rod Quantock and Jude Perl followed
New York Times and
the screenings.
strengthening rela-
Michael Bayliss and Richie Allen
• I have interviewed and filmed SPA patrons Dr. Paul Collins tionships with Popula-
and Prof. Ian Lowe for the ‘Meet the Patrons’ short video tion Matter, Growthbusters and World Population Balance.
series. I have also maintained an active social media presence that
has seen the online SPA community reaching 4000 follow-
• Promotion of the PopCulture series of short animation vid-
ers.
eos comes to a close. The four animation videos have been
very popular on social media, attracting nearly 50 000 on- My next project will involve an animation which addresses town
line views and hundreds of clicks to SPA’s PopCulture web- plan issues and how these all affected by population growth.
page. Watch this space!
• These videos, in addition to the Tough Crowd interviews
can be found on the SPA Youtube Channel here.
Federal Election, May 18
This table from SBS does not tell the whole story, not least by major cities and is promising 23,000 regional visa spots where
leaving out a host of minor parties. skilled workers would have to live and work in regional Austra-
lia for three years before applying for permanent residency.
Unlike Labor who wants to massively expand the parents’ fam-
ily reunion scheme, the Coalition wants no change to numbers
in the family visa stream.
As far as refugees are concerned, Labor will maintain asylum
boat turnbacks to try and ensure people smuggling ventures
don’t reach Australian territory. It wants the time limit for de-
tention of asylum seekers to be no longer than 90 days. Labor
has pledged to increase Australia’s government funded hu-
manitarian intake to 27,000 places per year, and increase the
community sponsored refugee program intake to 5,000 places
per year.
According to the Guardian, the Greens propose to end offshore
comparison of parties’ immigration policies detention on Manus Island and Nauru, and increase Austra-
lia’s humanitarian intake to 50,000 per year. The party wants
The Coalition’s promised cut of the permanent intake to a seven-day limit for onshore detention and more support for
160,000 is worthy but only 2000 or so less than last year’s ac- refugees living in the community. A broader population policy,
tual figure, so hardly significant. It has the agreement of Labor. however, could not be found on their website.
It fails to mention the blowout in temporary visas which are
swelling the numbers of Net Overseas Migration (NOM). Ac- According to its website, Sustainable Australia wants a cap of
cording to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the year end- 70,000 permanent migrants per year. This will help, it says,
ing 30 September 2018, NOM was 395,100, two and half times maintain social cohesion and long-term public support for im-
the permanent intake. Nevertheless, the Coalition has heard migration by addressing the public’s growing frustration with
the despairing cries of the electorate about congestion in the high immigration-driven rapid population growth. JG
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 10Branch News
Branch Reports this being the best way to maximise human well-being. Indeed, this
government is so far off the sustainability track it plans to bulldoze
Queensland new roads through national parks to create luxury accommoda-
tion in pristine areas for wealthy tourists, starting in Flinders Chase
The Queensland Branch has been busy preparing to host the na- National Park on Kangaroo Island!
tional AGM and public forum on 27 April. The event, held at Grif-
fith University’s lovely EcoCentre, was a great success. Our seven
speakers each provided a fascinating and impassioned angle on
the issue of Australia’s population growth. Almost 100 people at-
WA
tended and enthusiastically participated in the panel discussions. The following is a summary of a talk given by Prof. Peter Cook,
It was great to see many local SPA members, but also great to have University of Western Australia, Albany, at our AGM to about 17
many non-members. The only problem was that there was not people. Though disappointing in numbers, it was well received
much cheerful news – our biodiversity loss, our ineffective con- with some good questions coming from the floor afterwards.
servation laws, our disinterested politicians, our corrupt planning The topic was Aquaculture – a solution to the world’s food prob-
systems, our complicit media, the post-modernist anti-science in- lems, or an environmental disaster?
fecting both political Left and Right, and the baseless fear of demo-
graphic ageing leading to counterproductive policies. Take home Professor Cook outlined the importance of aquaculture and
messages included the need to reclaim our democracy from the showed examples of ecologically disastrous cases such as oyster
influence political donations and corporate lobbying, the need to farming taking up the whole of a bay in China. His not-for-profit
decouple the population discourse from multiculturalism, and to organisation, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, is one of a
assert our moral high ground, which is helped by putting our pop- number of organisations that administer environmental and social
ulation growth in a global context, and by improving ecological lit- accreditation of aquaculture operations that meet a set on inter-
eracy and concern for non-human species. Many thanks to all the national standards. Participating farms pay the costs of accredited
members who helped with organising, catering and promoting, auditors visiting them to conduct third-party audits. Those audi-
including Anne, Tony, Ari, Karin and Peter. And thanks to Michael tors are independently accredited by Accredited Services Interna-
Bayliss, who filmed the presentations for us. They’ll be up on the tional. The system operates under FAO guidelines.
SPA YouTube channel soon – you’ll find links on the web site under Companies have an incentive to be accredited to get government
‘past events’. In the lead-up to this event, I did a radio interview approval to access their markets – a growing trend in North Amer-
with Rebecca Levingston on ABC Radio Brisbane, along with one of ica and Europe. There is also a growing trend for companies to
our forum speakers, Steve McDonald of Redlands 2030. In March seek accreditation in order to help them achieve a “social license
I also gave talks to the Skeptics Society and ReNew. The branch is to operate”.
now preparing for our stalls at two big environment fairs around
World Environment Day: the Logan EcoAction Festival (LEAF) on 26 While seafood consumers do not necessarily pay premium prices
May, and the Sunshine Coast WED Festival at Maroochydore on 2 for certified fish, there is a trend of them being interested in their
June. food being sustainable. There is, for example, a very popular fish
shop in Albany that knows the provenance of its fish. This is done
Jane O’Sullivan via a “chain of custody” system where the product can be followed
all the way from the ‘farm’ to the restaurant. Actually, the whole
accreditation system only works because customers/consumers
SA/NT want it.
The Adelaide-based group has held three public meetings so far Further to the talk, the Australian Marine Conservation Society¬
this year. provided a guide on Australia’s sustainable seafood.
Dr Melissa Nursery-Bray, Associate Professor, Head of the Depart- Judith Odgaard
ment of Geography, Environment and Population, University of
Adelaide spoke in February on ‘Women, Sustainability and Popu-
lations: Some reflections from Australia’. This meeting was com- NSW
bined with an AGM which saw three new members join the branch
committee - Gary Goland, Michael Dwyer and Elinor Hurst – thanks On April 4, Kay Dunne and Alan Jones gave a presentation to about
to them for stepping up. Some new ideas for activities have been 35 members of the Empire Bay Probus Club on The Effects of Popu-
discussed, as well as keeping the monthly meetings going as a lation Growth and Immigration on Australia. Alan covered the eco-
baseline. SA-NT members are very welcome to suggest ideas for logical implications and Kay talked about immigration figures and
meetings and actions. urban impacts. Nola Stewart spoke briefly on her experience in
Papua New Guinea and the graphic booklet she developed titled:
In March Professor Ian Lowe presented ‘Solving the “trilemma”: af- Conservation Through Small Families. The booklet as well as the
fordable, reliable and clean electricity’. ‘Bindi’ brochure were made available. Feedback from the group
Assoc. Prof. Phil Lawn addressed the April meeting on the topic, was positive and further opportunities to speak at Probus Clubs
‘Our need to reconnect with Nature to achieve ecological sustain- will be explored. The presentation will also be fully documented
ability’. He has recently published a new book titled ‘Resolving the and made available to other SPA members.
Climate Change Crisis - the ecological economics of climate change’ Graham Wood has again met with the Centre for the Advancement
(Springer) – highly recommended! of a Steady State Economy (CASSE) to further develop a mutually
The group has been encouraged by the invitation from the Uni- support agreement. Since our first approach about partnering,
versity of the Third Age to represent the six-lecture series it devel- CASSE has included seeking partnerships with like-minded organi-
oped and gave last year. This will now happen in the second half sations in its strategic plan.
of 2019. Following our experience with lobbying with Citizens Climate Lobby
In the meantime, while the outgoing Labour government was just (CCL), the NSW Committee submitted a paper to the national AGM
starting to make noises about slower growth having a plus side, on 27 April, which recommended developing a lobbying method-
we now have a new government intent on the fastest population ology based on principles similar to CCL’s. Kay Dunne will consult
growth it can manage. Its reason is the standard (disastrously with other SPA members to develop a SPA lobbying methodology.
wrong) one about population growth generating higher GDP and Kay Dunne
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 11Branch News About SPA
VIC/TAS Website: www.population.org.au
In the last couple of weeks, I have had several opportunities to
discuss population issues on Sky News programs. In particular the
The SPA newsletter is now published every four
discussion has covered the Parenting Visa (which makes a farce
of the idea that high migration is used to counter population age- months: in February, May, August and November. Mem-
ing) and International Students (a program which has exploded in bers are welcome to submit material to the editor, to be
recent years and is driving record Net Overseas Migration - many published at the editor’s discretion.
of the international students end up as permanent residents, and
their desire to achieve permanent residence leaves them vulner-
Newsletter editor: Jenny Goldie
able to exploitation by unscrupulous employers).
editor@population.org.au.
The Federal Election is generating more attention to population
and migration issues in Victoria, but without any initiatives from
Letters to editor welcome!
the major parties which would make a difference. By contrast
Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand Prime Minister on a platform Membership applications and renewals should be done
of reducing net migration by 20-30,000 through a crackdown on via the SPA website or sent to the national office. Gen-
student visas and temporary worker programs, requiring employ- eral inquiries should also go to the national office.
ers to demonstrate that they had tried seriously to find New Zea-
land workers first. She is now implementing that policy, and net
migration in New Zealand has so far fallen by 20%, from 72,000 SPA national office
to 58,000. PO Box 85, Deakin West ACT 2600
Clifford Hayes MLC from the Sustainable Australia Party had a win phone: 0434 962 305
in the Victorian Legislative Council, successfully moving a Private email: info@population.org.au
Members Motion to reduce the power of the VCAT and restore lo-
cal democracy by increasing the say of local residents in planning
SPA national office bearers
matters.
President: Sandra Kanck | (08) 8336 4114
The Victorian Branch is delighted with Bob Birrell’s nomination for
the Unsung Hero award and will arrange a presentation for him.
president@population.org.au
Bob’s recent work on international students was criticised by in- Vice-president: Jenny Goldie | 0401 921 453
ternational student industry lobbyist Phil Honeywood, who said “I vp@population.org.au
don’t know where Bob gets his figures from”. In fact, it is the Aus- Meetings secretary: Nola Stewart | (02) 9686 3542
tralian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Home Affairs! meetingsecretary@population.org.au
Michael Bayliss has done great work with “Tough Crowd”, which no Treasurer: Tony Matta | treasurer@population.org.au
doubt is being reported on elsewhere.
Committee: John Coulter | Jane O’Sullivan | Alan Jones
Kelvin Thomson Greg Dunstone | Peter Cook
Webmaster: Alex Geppert
ACT webmaster@population.org.au
This year we exhibited at a stall for the four full days of the Na- Membership officer: Andrew Verlei
tional Folk Festival, held over the Easter break. We engaged with membership@population.org.au
the curious but failed to distribute much literature.
The Federal election has enabled us to display corflutes which Trustees of the Population Fund
seem to be still standing despite high winds and vandals. Ross Kingsland | Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe | Denis Saunders
Nick Ware
We extend our sympathies to branch president, Colin Lyons, on Regional branches
the death of his mother. This occurred not long after Colin had at- NSW President: Graham Wood
tended the national SPA AGM in Brisbane.
nsw@population.org.au
(See attached photo of our stall at the Folk Festival with Vince Pat- WA President: Judith Odgaard | 0477 002 821
ulny holding the fort.)
wa@population.org.au
Jenny Goldie
VIC/TAS President: Kelvin Thomson
vic@population.org.au
ACT President: Colin Lyons | 0434 531 449
act@population.org.au
QLD President: Jane O’Sullivan | (07) 3379 8090
qld@population.org.au
SA/NT President: Peter Martin
sa@population.org.au
Disclaimer
While every effort has been made to ensure the reliabil-
ity of the information contained in this newsletter, the
opinions expressed are those of the various authors and
do not necessarily reflect the opinion of either SPA or
the editor.
Newsletter - No. 135, May, 2019 Page 12You can also read
