Rau hits out at anti-population growth lobby
State Planning Minister John Rau has accused anti-population growth lobbyists of masquerading as critics of the planning system.
Rau told an audience of developers at an Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) lunch yesterday that they should beware critics of the planning system who were really “zero population growth” obsessives.
“The fact of the matter is – like it or not – South Australia grows by about 17,000 people per annum,” he said.
You might like
“I frequently encounter on radio and when I read the letters to the editor, and when I visit Norwood Town Hall occasionally, people who believe that China’s one child policy is really, really soft, and that we should have zero population growth, we should have people at the borders stopping people coming here from Victoria, we should ban all immigration.
“And these people … masquerade as critics of the planning system. Because the planning system gives them a soapbox to stand on and argue about what their real point is – which is they don’t want any more people.
“Now if you want to have a debate about not wanting any more people, I’m really comfortable with that. Let’s have that debate.
“But I think most of the people in this room would acknowledge and understand that having more people in South Australia is overwhelmingly a good and positive thing, not a negative thing. So point number one – beware the critic who is wearing a planner’s clothes, who is actually a zero population growth obsessive.”
