Transparent and democratic urban planning is essential in underpinning good environmental and social outcomes and delivering liveable cities. This is particularly the case with large and complex cities like Perth.

CLIFFORD HAYES MP: What does this State Government want to be remembered for? I imagine the Premier would like his Government to be remembered by his “getting things done” mantra of construction, construction, and even more construction.

The Sustainable Australia Party says that World Environment Day should be a time to reflect on the ongoing destruction of habitat both around the world, and here in Australia, and what we can do to stop it.

Dear Member / Supporter --

How did they corrupt our planning systems?

We know that the property industry wants our major cities to look like New York. But how could they possibly achieve something so undesirable and detrimental to most Australians?

With up to 26 per cent of the entire Australian workforce – or 3.4 million people – set to lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic[1], the Sustainable Australia Party has called for a balanced debate on population and immigration.

The Australian Government must reassess its international student intake, both for the good of the nation and the students themselves, writes William Bourke. 

Dear Member / Supporter --

Help register our WA state party

The coronavirus pandemic must be a wake up call about the dangers and limitations of our politicians' obsession with endless growth, and the need to focus more on health and wellbeing.

In the 1990s Tasmanian state governments introduced a range of progressive planning and environmental laws including the State Coastal Policy, the Threatened Species Protection Act, the Land Use Planning Act and the establishment of the Resource Planning Development Commission (now the Tasmanian Planning Commission) and the Resource Management Planning and Appeal Tribunal.

Dear Member / Supporter --

Who owns our politicians and media?

The coronavirus crisis has helped us to understand the power and influence of the property industry. Consider the following media reports from this week.

The announcement by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he will bring forward a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the United Kingdom to 2035 is very welcome.

Herald Sun: A motion to sack the embattled Casey Council, which is at the centre of one of Victoria’s biggest corruption scandals, will be made in the upper house today as frustration grows over the state government’s inaction. Sustainable Australia's Clifford Hayes MP will make the move in the Victorian Legislative Council today urging the Andrews Government to dismiss the council.

The Hon. Kelvin Thomson:

When the economist Leith Van Onselen was recently asked on ABC radio whether his support for a substantial cut in Australia’s migration program meant he was xenophobic, he replied that he supported a return of our migration program to the numbers we had when Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, and Bob Hawke were Prime Minister, and that he presumed that they weren’t regarded as xenophobes.

The Sustainable Australia Party has called for a ban on all property developer donations and contributions to political parties, following revelations yesterday at Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

Last year the Liberal Government passed the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act, and it came into effect in December. In doing so it earned attacks from Bill Shorten and Kristina Keneally during the Bennelong Byelection that it was “China phobic”.

Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese's call for a "mature debate" about population is welcome, and would have been even more welcome any time over the past decade, says former federal Labor MP for Wills, Kelvin Thomson.

Sustainable Australia’s National Media Spokesperson Kelvin Thomson has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government that it plans to introduce a national gas reservation scheme.

The government’s newly-announced first home buyers scheme comes with ‘huge risk’, according to the founder of the Sustainable Australia Party, William Bourke.

Ageing countries have higher economic growth - and the improved health and longevity of older people increases their economic contributions.

Party candidate for Tweed Ronald McDonald, who was a late entry into the race for the seat, told the Tweed Daily News the party's main platform was "sustainability for everything”...

Click to hear Neil Mitchell’s full interview with Clifford Hayes...

Tonight, a new arrival at one of the Australia’s major airports will become the 25th million Australian. Whether temporary or permanent this person will head into one of the major capital cities, either Sydney or Melbourne.

Sustainable Australia Party has successfully registered to contest the Victorian election in November and will campaign for better planning to stop overdevelopment across the state. This follows the centrist party’s recent registration for the New South Wales election in March 2019...

In Australia, an increasing number of people (voluntarily) work past 65, off-setting an increase in the average age and stabilising our workforce participation ratio. Record immigration is the non-solution in search of a non-existent problem.

Sustainable Australia Party founder William Bourke warned that assets of a suburban life such as houses with backyards will become increasingly impossible to own.

Sustainable Australia's Voter Van hits Adelaide (including Hahndorf)...

Sustainable Australia Party keen to contest elections next year...

William Bourke talks about the launch of Sustainable Australia's Tasmanian State party...

Party president William Bourke spoke with 3AW's Tom Elliott and says they're aiming for a more diverse economy.

We're launching a NSW State party...

President of Sustainable Australia William Bourke joins Luke Grant on the Michael McLaren show to discuss the exponential growth of population in major Australian cities.

"Politics is won from the centre, and I liken Dick’s choice — to abandon the middle for One Nation — to the race between the tortoise and the hare."

Greens elitism pushes people to right-wing parties we now see gaining or regaining interest from middle Australia.

Immigration reform should start with parent visa anachronism: Sustainable Australia Party

Sustainable Australia’s first state/territory campaign will see the party contest all five ACT electorates, represented by a diverse range of candidates from an Indigenous Elder to a 20 year old ANU science student.

Sustainable Australia welcomes the NRMA acknowledgement that Australia’s population growth is the cause of our ever-worsening traffic congestion.

Turnbull government’s higher education “reforms” a financial attack on students

There’s only one serious solution to our clogged cities.

Multinationals Should Pay 50% If Not Paying Their Fair Share of Tax

In 2000, then Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock stated that Australia’s population of 19 million would reach about 24 million by 2050.[1] Just 16 years later, that population target has already been reached and official projections show the nation could have 40 million people by 2050.

The answer to our problems lies simply in handing the power over Senate preferences back to the voters: William Bourke, Sustainable Australia

William Bourke campaigns during the 5 December 2015 North Sydney by-election. This was a Chatswood community event on 26 November, run by the Willoughby Progress Association...

Aid to live safely and sustainably far more effective: Sustainable Australia

Federal parliament needs more women and scientists: Sustainable Population Party

"One extra person can produce enough waste to undermine the recycling efforts of 20 citizens."

“It used to be easy to deliver infrastructure when the government owned the land, but because our major cities are already planned and built up, there is no room to retro-fit new infrastructure without expensive additions like land buy-backs and tunnelling,” said William Bourke, President of Sustainable Australia Party.

Total labour-force participation matters, not age: Sustainable Population Party

Our ageing population presents serious economic challenges. Right?

If we achieve high employment, a diverse economic base, and sustainable resource management, GDP will take care of itself.

The global and Australian experience is that migrants aim to live where they believe job prospects are best and also where they have relatives. That is almost always in our few biggest cities. Migrants generally don’t aim to live in remote areas and we simply can’t force them to.

The issues of refugees and population growth should not be cynically linked for political purposes.