True CJ and Fractelle, the issue of sustainability can easily be sidetracked by racist elements which detracts from the really serious issues we face.

Naturally we have to consider advances in technology and address issues of consumption in conjunction with some of these population initiatives.

We can sustain more people up to a point and as referred to in the CT article it would make sense to avoid the inevitable trap of Sydney and Melbourne becoming "mega-metropolises" leading to the inevitable infrastructure problems that come with size.

Clever governments would share the wealth and economic activity around to smaller regional centres which would benefit from the snowball effect of increased services.

Reyes,
I believe it is well past time we had a rethink about immigration.

There are two distinct aspects that need to be looked at seperately.

Firstly, there is the annual overall intake which should only be determined by what is deemed to be our ultimate population and aiming at that. For far too long we have allowed our political parties to get away with not advocating population policies. Only then can electors decide if they agree with a particular party.
Population policies would need to consider such things as, sustainability, enviromental factors, economics, infastructure required and living standards.

The second aspects is to do with the make up of the immigrants required. How many in various catagories, like refugees, unskilled, skilled and family reunion.

I think there also should be some we do not allow. I would catorgorize these as 'culturally incompatable' and would be those groups that have clearly shown that they cannot or will not accept or respect our laws or social standards. The object of excluding these groups is to keep our community standards cohesive and acceptable. For example, we should not continue to receive those groups that hold long standing hatreds for other groups and engage in riotus behaviour or those that flout our laws by holding dog fights, cockfights, carry out forced arranged marriages or FGM. Other groups have shown utter contempt for our laws and courts, etc. What these groups have in common is that they think some aspects of their culture are more important than our standards.

We must also ensure that all potential migrants are aware of our society and laws before they commit to come here.

If you want to consider the economic benefits of high immigration, then look at the massive debt that has been accrued by the states since Howard's odyssey began. And the massive debts were incurred during a period of great prosperity.

The truth is that population growth entails substantial infrastructure costs. The net economic benefit per Australian is negligible, perhaps even negative, which means that anyone profiting from immigration can only do so at the expense of another.

Banjo, instead of applying your 'cultural' screen which will inevitably block decent people along with your allegedly toxic cultures, how about we just uphold our laws, and those flaunting them get punished properly, regardless of what culture they come from?

Seems far more logical than taking massive demographic groups and discriminating against them. In fact, this idea sounds pretty bloody nasty.

TRTL: << Seems far more logical than taking massive demographic groups and discriminating against them. In fact, this idea sounds pretty bloody nasty. >>

Quite so. I believe the term that describes such ideas is "racist".

TurnRightThenLeft,
Rather than term what I advocate as 'nasty' I term it decisive. Would you really prefer to allow these groups to continue to arrive and then force them to change their cultural ways. All people have a right to their cultures. It is simply that some aspects of their culture is unacceptable in our society. Do you really think that those that bring old hatreds of other groups should be allowed to bring those hatreds here and express them in violent acts. Take note of some the aftermath of some soccer matches and more recently the tennis. Cultural aspects are very hard to change as seen when the perpetraitors of the violence are 2nd and 3rd generation and born here.

Good luck in trying to get our authorities to 'uphold the law' One infamous, non citizen, thief and burgular was convicted 158 times before he was deported and then we returned him to Aus. He should have been deported on the second conviction. A convicted, non citizen, drug dealer was allowed to remain here because he had fathered a child while living here. There has never been any charges laid for forced marriages and never any charges laid for FGM although the insidence of FGM is apparently on the increase. Australian girls should not have to suffer in these ways. It is far better to identify the groups that have incompatable cultural practices and prevent them from comming than try to change their views and habits later. Likewise it apparently is the same groups that are raided and charged for continueing cockfighting offences. Our community should not have to bear these costs.

We should strive to have a well ordered and cohesive society and have a duty to our decendants to ensure a safe and secure community. This will not happen if we continue to allow disruptive cultures entry.

We discriminate now in relation to various aspects of criteria and we are under no obligation to accept anyone who desires to come here.