Gillard puts brakes on 'big Australia' Updated 1 hour 57 minutes ago
Gillard: "We need to stop, take a breath and develop policies for a sustainable Australia."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is breaking free from one of her predecessor's main policy stances by announcing she is not interested in a "big Australia".
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd was in favour of population growth, with his government predicting it to hit around 36 million by 2050, largely through immigration.
But Ms Gillard has indicated she will be putting the brakes on immigration in order to develop a more sustainable nation.
"Australia should not hurtle down the track towards a big population," she told Fairfax.
"I don't support the idea of a big Australia with arbitrary targets of, say, a 40 million-strong Australia or a 36 million-strong Australia. We need to stop, take a breath and develop policies for a sustainable Australia.
"I support a population that our environment, our water, our soil, our roads and freeways, our busses, our trains and our services can sustain."
But Ms Gillard says that does not mean putting a stop to immigration all together.
"I don't want business to be held back because they couldn't find the right workers," she said.
"That's why skilled migration is so important. But also I don't want areas of Australia with 25 per cent youth unemployment because there are no jobs," she said.
But an urban planning group is trying to convince Ms Gillard of the benefits of a big population.
Urban Taskforce Australia chief executive Aaron Gadiel says a large population increases the tax base to fund improvements to infrastructure and welfare services.
"We shouldn't be trying to fight it, what we should be trying to do is ensuring that we've got the investment and infrastructure that makes that process easier to manage," he said.
"I think people should be focussing on how much state, federal and local governments have been investing in urban infrastructure to help absorb population growth."
A survey earlier in the year by the Lowy Institute found that almost three- quarters of Australians want to see the country's population grow, but not by too much.
The Lowy Institute surveyed more than 1,000 people and found that while there was support for increased immigration, Australians were not quite prepared to embrace the Government's predicted 36 million.
The poll showed 72 per cent of people supported a rise in Australia's population, but 69 per cent wanted it to remain below 30 million people.
New poll results
Meanwhile, a new Galaxy poll published today shows voters believe Ms Gillard will give Labor a better chance of winning the Federal Election than Mr Rudd, although they do not support the way she came to power.
Voters who were polled still believe Mr Rudd should be given a job on the frontbench.
The poll puts Labor in an election-winning position, jumping ahead of the Coalition by two percentage points on a two-party preferred basis, leading 52 per cent to 48 per cent.
A Herald/Nielson poll released yesterday showed Labor's primary vote climbing to 47 per cent, while support for the Coalition fell 1 point to 42 per cent.
However Opposition Leader Tony Abbott earlier dismissed the figures and said he was not worried.
"Right now the new Prime Minister is enjoying a predictable bounce in the polls that was to be expected the Government has tried to fix the headlines," he said.
"But they can't fix the problems and the headlines won't stay fixed unless they fix the problem."
The latest poll has indicated that most of all voters just want the Government to get on with the job of running the country and are urging Ms Gillard to fix the mining tax debacle, stop wasting money and sort out the health system.
Voters insist Ms Gillard must move quickly to settle the mining tax issue, with 30 per cent of poll respondents saying it should be her first priority and 24 per cent saying she should fast-track health and hospital reforms.
Her third priority should be to get the Budget back into the black, they say.
Only 11 per cent of the 800 voters polled believe Ms Gillard should revive the emissions trading scheme to tackle climate change and 13 per cent feel she should get tougher on asylum seekers.
Labor's primary support has locked in at four points higher than after the Budget, on 41 per cent, but the Coalition has dropped only one point to 42 per cent and that loss has been at the expense of the minor partner, the National Party.
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