Leader William Bourke Founder William Bourke Headquarters Sydney | President William Bourke Founded 2010 | |
Sustainable Australia is an Australian political party formed in 2010, that describes itself as being "from the political centre" and aiming "to secure an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia". It has a focus on reducing levels of immigration.
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Federal and State Registration
The Party has been registered federally since 2010. In 2016 it also registered in the A.C.T., and contested the 2016 elections for the ACT’s Legislative Assembly. It has expressed the intention to be registered in NSW and Victoria for their 2018 and 2019 state elections.
Left-Right Spectrum
Sustainable Australia is a centrist party with strong focus on environment, resource levels, infrastructure, and population. It criticises excessive urban densification and sprawl. It strongly supports public transport; but in the 2016 Australian Capital Territory elections it opposed the proposed “Tram”, calling it “a Trojan horse for over-development”.
Policies
The Party’s website lists over 20 policies, including: Animals and Biodiversity, Economy and Jobs, Education, Environment, Foreign Investment, Housing Affordability, Sustainable Population and Immigration, and Transport.
Attitudes to Population Growth and Opposition to a "big Australia"
Sustainable Australia is not a one issue party, but its policies clearly call for a significant slowing of Australia’s rapid population growth, which is a point of distinction from the current policies of the Australian Greens. In this it more closely resembles the Australian Democrats, among centrist Australian political parties, which traditionally sought to keep immigration numbers per year close to emigration per year.
Sustainable Australia currently supports a non-discriminatory permanent immigration intake of around 70,000 persons per year, down from the 2015 level of over 200,000 per year. Its website states that 70,000 is closer to Australia’s long-term traditional average intake.
In 2010 the Party opposed Kevin Rudd's belief in a big Australia, saying that a "big Australia" population would be "disastrous", is "way beyond [Australia's] long-term carrying capacity" and that "population growth is not inevitable". Queensland coordinator Aaron Webber "became alarmed when hearing of Kevin Rudd's push for a 'Big Australia'". The party claims that "'stable population' policies would mean a more sustainable 26 million at 2050, not the Labor/Liberal 'big Australia' plan for 36 million and rising." The party ran a candidate in the Griffith by-election, for Kevin Rudd's old seat.
History
#Sustainable Australia was formerly the Sustainable Population Party. Its current name was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission on 18 January 2016. The Party missed out on registration for the 2010 federal election by several days, but leader William Bourke ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in New South Wales on an independent ticket with poet Mark O'Connor. The party was registered shortly after the election on 23 September 2010. The party was registered as "Stable Population Party of Australia", but on 28 February 2014 the Australian Electoral Commission approved a name-change to the "Sustainable Population Party". On 19 January 2016, the AEC approved a further name change to "#Sustainable Australia" (including a hashtag symbol).
The party ran at least two Senate candidates in every state and territory in the 2013 Australian federal election and many local candidates also. The Party ran a candidate in the Griffith by-election and also contested the April 2014 re-run in Western Australia of the 2013 federal Senate elections. The party endorsed a local candidate for the 2015 Canning by-election—Angela Smith—an environmental scientist and resident of Canning. In September 2015 the party campaigned on a number of key issues including education, paid jobs, infrastructure, health care, renewable energy and housing affordability.
In the North Sydney by-election, 2015 its candidate and founder William Bourke got one of the party's best results with over 2,000 votes.
The party has been involved in Glenn Druery's Minor Party Alliance.
In the 2016 federal election Sustainable Australia fielded two senate candidates in each of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, as well as a candidate in the Division of Sydney for the House of Representatives.