At a media conference with the Greens candidate for Watson, Burwood Councillor Christine Donayre, Greens NSW Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon today rejected Labor and the Coalition’s election platforms on immigration and population, and called for additional investment in the public health, transport and education systems.
“Labor and the Coalition are all bells and whistles on population and immigration. These are sensitive issues - and the election tactics of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are disgraceful,” Ms Rhiannon said.
“The Prime Minister has sent a sales pitch to Western Sydney on population, but has not outlined ways to move forward on essential services.
“The population of Sydney has increased dramatically over the last ten years; almost as dramatic is the lack of adequate investment in public education, public transport and public health over a similar period.
“By ending the subsidisation of the richest private schools, more teachers can be trained and more schools built in disadvantaged areas. The $3.9 billion private health insurance rebate should be redirected into increasing the capacity of the public health system.
“We should be investing in comprehensive public transport systems for our cities, towns and suburbs, not building rail lines for coal giants,” Ms Rhiannon said.
Burwood Councillor Christine Donayre is the Greens candidate for Watson, and of Peruvian heritage. The Minister for Sustainable Population Tony Burke is the current local MP.
“Labor and the Coalition are pushing buttons on immigration during the election campaign to mask the gross inadequacies of the past two federal governments in failing to invest in public services, infrastructure and renewable energy,” Ms Donayre said.
“Australia is a country of immigrants, we always have been and we always will. Immigration is what has made Australia the great multicultural country that it is.
“Multicultural isn’t a tag for ethnic minorities, it’s representative of each and every person in Australia, and the fact we come from a diverse range of backgrounds.
“Targetting asylum seekers and immigrants as the solution for some abstract population problem ignores the humanity of those who have every right to pursue a better life for themselves and their families.
“The very idea of a ‘sustainable population’ is a complex issue. It doesn’t just involve the number of people in a certain place, it also refers to the geographical distribution of those people, and the way in which they live,” Ms Donayre said
Contact:
Lee Rhiannon 0427 861 568
Christine Donayre 0412 188 232
Background paper
THE GREENS NSW VISION FOR POPULATION, IMMIGRATION & MULTICULTURALISM
Labor and the Coalition are trading votes on the hint of the idea that people, namely immigrants and asylum seekers, are to blame for the deficit in public service and infrastructure funding which Labor inherited from the Howard Government and have themselves failed to address.
The Prime Minister has made many vague statements about a ‘Sustainable Australia’, appealing predominantly to Western Sydney: “Can we really ask Western Sydney to keep absorbing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people without regard for the key issue of quality of life?” ABC PM, 20 July.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has stated his intention to “slash” Australia’s immigration intake. He has been vague about how this would be achieved. The figures have been shown to be an inaccurate reflection of reality.
Both Labor and the Coalition are in a race to the bottom on the issue of asylum seekers. Both give disproportional significance to the number of asylum seekers who arrive by boat in comparison to other asylum seekers and neither party pays attention to the humanity of those involved.
THE GREENS’ POSITION
Senator Bob Brown brought a motion into the Senate calling for an independent national inquiry into population in March. Both Labor and the Coalition voted against the motion.
The Greens believe:
- The issue of sustainable population is about both numbers of people and the way in which those people live. For example, compared to most other countries Australia has an extremely low population density, even considering arable land. Our carbon footprint, however, is one of the highest.
- A lack of investment in infrastructure and renewable energy has meant that Australia’s growing population has been accompanied by deteriorating environmental outcomes and a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots.
- Refugees and asylum seekers should be treated with humanity and compassion.
The Greens will end offshore detention and the detention of children. Unlike Labor and the Coalition, the Greens see immigration as more than an economic tool.
The Greens recognise the humanity of all immigrants, and the rights of people to seek better lives for themselves and their family. This is why the Greens want an immigration system based on the needs and interests of the potential Australians, rather than the needs of the economy.
The Greens recognise Australia as a deeply multicultural country with a long history of immigration. The Greens advocate increased funding for the teaching of community languages and the funding of programs against racism.
THE GREENS’ KEY POPULATION SOLUTIONS FOR NSW
To relieve population stress in NSW, the Greens believe we need to:
- Redirect the $3.9 billion private health insurance rebate into the public health system.
- Redirect the funding of the wealthiest private schools into the public education system.
- Stop building rail lines for coal companies and start investing in public transport.