Runner says that there is "plenty of water". There are places in Tasmania and the tropical North where this is true, but it is a joke to most of the rest of us, especially when we read endless newspaper reports of conflict over water. According to this fact sheet from the Murray Darling Basin Commission, only 21% of the run-off now reaches the ocean, as opposed to 54% under natural conditions, i.e., we are already using most of the available water.

http://www2.mdbc.gov.au/__data/page/20/MDB-WaterResources-FactSheet-July2006.pdf

Note that 39% of our food (by value) is grown in the Murray Darling Basin.

There are also permanent water restrictions in most of our cities, with people encouraged to spy on their neighbours. Water bills are due to go up sharply, by 30% in the Sydney Basin according to a Sydney Morning Herald report, even though less is being used per capita, to pay for desalination plants. In Sydney's case, the plant will only be able to supply 15% of the requirements of the existing population. By the way, although some people may prefer the city, most have no choice. The city is where the jobs are, and unemployed people can have their dole cut off if they move to the country.

The argument to not be selfish can easily be extended into more and more areas. Private cars and air conditioners are selfish. Air travel is selfish. Having a pet or garden is selfish. Eating meat is selfish. Wanting clean clothes and a shower every day is selfish. Wanting privacy is selfish... The net result is for everyone to live like a battery chicken so that we can cram in more and more of us, but perhaps Runner doesn't care because he is expecting Brownie points in heaven for it.

The immigration tsunami unleashed upon this country by the Rudd Government is not only having a negative impact on our quality of life through a combination of higher housing costs, lower wages, increased job competition, growing urban congestion, worsening water shortages, strained public services and infrastructure etc., it also threatens the very survival of our country's historic population and culture. There is a strong feeling out there that we - unhyphenated Australians - are losing our country. The cultural and ethnic makeup of our society is rapidly changing, with many long-standing Australians increasingly feeling like strangers in their own land. At the current rapid rate at which immigration is transforming our nation, traditional Anglo-Celtic Australia will soon be little more than a fading memory.

Australians were never asked whether they wanted their country so radically and permanently transmogrified through massive immigration from the Third World. They were never asked whether they were comfortable with the prospect of becoming a minority in the country their forebears founded and built. And yet it is happening, highlighting the undemocratic manner in which immigration policy continues to be formulated in this country.

Sorry Efranke, I'm going to have to disagree with it all.

First of all, Kevin Rudd never unleashed ANY so-called 'immigration tsunami'. It was your own past governments collectively contributing to the current multiculturalist nature of Australian society, simply by leaving them be. Gough Whitlam first supported migrants and equality in the Australian attitude toward such people. Governments following showed support showing no objection to this policy and new-found attitude. Ergo, we cannot put such blame (if any) on Rudd. I'd like to highlight that if we are indeed discussing the matter of population increase via legal methods, we are not talking of immigrants, but simply migrants (ie. how can a prime minister allow for ILLEGAL migrants in Australia.. which he hasn't).

Moreover, you stated
"The cultural and ethnic makeup of our society is rapidly changing".
Allow me to bring you to the 21st Century buddy, this makup never rapidly changed, it slowly transformed from the Whitlam years (early 70's) to what it currently is. How can long-standing Australians feel neglected when they recieve EXACTLY the same treatment as migrants? If these long-standing Australians feel outcasted by a now diverse Australian society, then welcome to the world of a migrant. If my history study for Year 10 School Certificate has done me any good, it's shown me why we shouldn't keep people out of Australia.

Immigration policy was collectively formed through 30 years of politics, and should the government even think about changing its perspective on immigration it'll take 30 years of undoing such policy. Don't hold your breath mate.