Our Party

The Hon. Kelvin Thomson

"I joined the Sustainable Australia Party because its core campaign issues resonated strongly with me... a sustainable environment, better planning, affordable housing and secure jobs through a more diverse economy."

Former Federal Shadow Minister for the Environment joined SAP in early 2019 and sits on the party's national committee. Kelvin served as an Australian Labor Party Councillor for the City of Coburg from 1981 to 1988, Member of the Victorian Parliament for Pascoe Vale from 1988 to 1996, and Federal Labor Member for Wills for over 20 years from 1996 until the 2016 Election.

Party background

Sustainable Australia Party is an independent community movement, with a positive plan for an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia. We believe in a science and evidence-based approach to policy - not a left or right wing ideology.

SAP is campaigning to:

Protect our environment
Stop overdevelopment
Stop corruption

And much more...

We are a group of committed Australians from backgrounds in business, science, the environment, health, academia, demography, politics and many other ordinary citizens; from World War 2 Diggers to migrants born on every inhabited continent on Earth.

Why we exist

Australia's political system has been corrupted by vested interests, particularly powerful property developer lobby groups pushing an unsustainable real estate-driven economy.

As a result, our politicians push the folly of unlimited growth in both resource consumption and population. Among many growing problems, this corruption drives relentless overdevelopment via suburban sprawl and high-rise density, resulting in the destruction of Australia's environment and quality of life.

This necessitated the formation of a political movement based on sustainability and democracy to stop the mismanagement of our beautiful, yet arid and ecologically fragile continent - both for us and future generations of Australians.

What is sustainability?

Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. First and foremost, this requires us to operate our society (and economy) within safe environmental limits.

Also see 'Closing the sustainability loop' by party founder William Bourke: CLICK HERE

Elections

The party (formerly Sustainable Population Party) contested its first (federal) election in 2013 and achieved its first (state) elected MP in Victoria in 2018.

Misrepresentation by political opponents

Based on the clear environmental science and within a broad policy platform, SAP strongly advocates for lower population growth in Australia (and globally).

This includes lowering Australia's annual immigration intake - from John Howard's post-2000 ramp up to around 200,000 per annum - back to the long term (twentieth century) average of 70,000.

The party (formerly Sustainable Population Party) believes that any serious plan for a sustainable Australia must include a meaningful sustainable population policy.

In terms of numbers, current rapid population growth policies of successive Liberal/National and Labor/Greens federal governments have Australia on track to grow from 19 million people in 2000 to over 40 million by 2050...

It doesn't stop there... It then grows to 80-100 million by 2100!

Because of this call for lower immigration, political opponents and ideologues misrepresent SAP as 'anti-immigration' and worse. These misrepresentations come from parts of The Greens, Labor, online bloggers and even some journalists(!) whose ideologies deny the impact of population growth on the environment.

SAP is pro-migrant and and pro-immigration. The party boasts migrant members born on every inhabited continent on Earth, but remains steadfast in calling for a rational and mature debate on numbers, within a broader sustainability debate.

Former Federal Shadow Minister for the Environment The Hon. Kelvin Thomson - who joined SAP in early 2019 - addresses and rejects the misrepresentations and myths here.