Yabs, politicians don’t just reflect what the people want. Far from it. This is certainly true with the growth economy that is based on continuous rapid population growth.

The community wouldn’t have protested if Costello had knocked Keating’s baby bonus on the head instead of promoting and increasing it. They wouldn’t protest now if it was abolished.

Neither would there be significant protest if immigration was wound right back. And with the right sort of promotion (which basically just means getting out there and telling the community the truth about the absurdity of continuous expansionism), the community wouldn’t object to the stabilisation of our population, with economic growth being driven by technological innovation and improved resource-use efficiencies and not at all by population growth…which would translate into real average per-capita gains instead of struggling to maintain the same per-capita income and quality of life for ever-more people.

But of course this really basic philosophy has always been completely outside of the mindset of Costello….. and gravely also of Rudd.

The people ARE to blame for the growth economy. But not because they strongly support it. Because they are mostly apathetic and don’t protest about it and just leave it up to our mongrel politicians.

No wonder people are apathetic.
They are disgusted with the current form
of Government. No matter what good people,
with good intentions will want to do - in the
interest and benefit of the country - there
will always be groups of politicians who will
attempt to de-rail it.

It's unfortunate that under our current system -
Party loyalty - holds politicians to
ransom.

Things need to change.

The only way is to have a system where good
people of good conscience have an independent
right to seek benefits in the interest of all
the people, and the entire nation, and not
the interests of the few.

"Ask not what the country can do for you
But what you can do for the country..."
(JF Kennedy - words to that effect).

*The community wouldn’t have protested if Costello had knocked Keating’s baby bonus on the head*

Ah Ludwig, but there were loud screams that the birthrate was too
low, that Australia was doomed, or would become a Muslim country,
with more muslim migrants and less Australian babies. Those
unmarried moms pushing prams down our main street all seem pretty
happy, but I think that the baby bonus will eventually be converted
into paid maternal leave, which the women's movement is pushing
for.

*Neither would there be significant protest if immigration was wound right back.*

Except for asylum seekers, you've seen the comments on OLO, they want
more. Except for family reunion, as migrants lobby to bring in their
families. Except for specialised skills. We need doctors in
country WA, locals don't want the job, as their wives don't want
to move, where there is not an abundance of shopping etc. Then
our ecomonic salvation, 200 billion $ worth of investment in gas
etc in the NW. Those skilled workers don't seem to exist in
outer Sydney or Melbourne.

*The people ARE to blame for the growth economy. But not because they strongly support it.*

The people want ever higher paying jobs and ever more money in
their pockets. That is the reality I am afraid.

You'd be amazed, at how much political parties spend to find out
what the bulk of the public really thinks. Not me, not you,
but the majority and what will buy their votes. That is what
politics today is all about and its how politicians win elections.

“…but there were loud screams that the birthrate was too low, that Australia was doomed, or would become a Muslim country, with more muslim migrants and less Australian babies.”

Loud screams from who Yabby? Not from the apathetic general public. A lot of noise from the vested-interest big business sector, yes.

Any thinking person would have advocated a much lower immigration rate, or at least a much lower Muslim component, if they were worried about that sort of thing, rather than pushing for a higher birthrate to try and balance it out a bit.....twenty years down the track when those babies become productive members of society!

“Except for asylum seekers, you've seen the comments on OLO, they want more.”

Some people want more. Most don’t. At any rate, I’ve always advocated a doubling of our refugee intake, within a net zero immigration program, within which we could also have an essential skills component and some family reunion.

No I don’t think that there would be too much of an outcry from the general public if immigration was progressively wound down over the next few years, especially with the very strong perception that immigrants take established residents’ jobs.

continued

“The people want ever higher paying jobs and ever more money in their pockets.”

Of course! So they want genuine per-capita economic growth, not growth that is overwhelmingly based on population growth and which just goes towards providing the same level of sustenance for the new residents that are creating the increased turnover!

You know how hopeless this population growth – economic growth spiral is Yabby. And so does anyone who stops and thinks about it for five seconds!

Costello knows about this stuff. But there was no way that he would ever have acted on it by way of making some sort of attempt to mitigate the magnitude of this continuous expansionist nightmare.

Neither has he been neutral. He has promoted this absurdity more than most. He had to go and make the baby bonus his baby, and tell us to have one for Mum, one for Dad and one for the country! This wasn’t within his role as treasurer.

As far as I’m concerned, all manic growth spiralists need to be condemned, and Costello more than just about any other.

He and Rudd would work well together…. for the destruction of Australian society.

* A lot of noise from the vested-interest big business sector, yes.*

Oh no, its far more then that. Demographers, econimists etc, tell
us that we will be a nation of retired old farts, with no young
taxpayers, when the baby boomers retire. So its about ratios of
working taxpayers/oldies on a pension. Then you have plenty of
lobby groups like mil-observer and his LaRouche cult and others.
Not everyone thinks like you and me, Ludwig.

Don't forget, there are a whole bunch of people who work in the
building industry, who need new houses to build, to have a job.
Australia is not much good at making things and competing globally,
but building houses is not something you can do in China, so
its an important industry and all the people who work in it, want
jobs. Politicians know that.

*No I don’t think that there would be too much of an outcry from the general public if immigration was progressively wound down over the next few years*

There are no votes in it Ludwig and until there are, politicians
won't think that way. They would rather give building industry
workers a job and gain their vote that way.

Apart from some property developers etc, big business today thinks
globally, so if a business plan works in Australia, it can be
implemented in other countries. They don't need more Australians
to grow their businesses.

CSL, BHP, Computershare, News Corp, Westfield, Brambles, Leighton,
and a host of others, all have global models and don't wait for
populations to grow, to increase their businesses, so the
Australian population is not really an issue for them